Orange County mayor: Employees who don’t comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandate won’t be fired

In Orange County's COVID-19 update Thursday, Sept. 23, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said county employees who do not comply with the county’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate will not be fired.

As of Thursday, Demings said 84% of all Orange County employees have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine or have had accommodations granted. Of those, 94% of non-union employees have received at least one shot and 69% of union employees.

Demings said those employees who refuse will be given a “written reprimand.” He also added the decision came after conversations with the firefighters’ union.

“I believe the decisions we’ve made have been in the best interest of everyone, including our firefighters," Demings said in the update. "This is the right balance, I think, going forward."

Since the mayor’s last news conference on Monday, he said 45 additional COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the county. That brings the county’s total death toll since the pandemic began to 1,922.