Following the lead of the state and the federal government, Arlington County is considering a mandate for its employees and contractors to be vaccinated.
Last week President Biden announced that federal employees must either sign forms attesting to be vaccinated or submit to mandatory masking, weekly testing and distancing. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced a similar policy for more than 100,000 state employees yesterday.
Now Arlington — like neighboring Fairfax County — is also considering a vaccine mandate, amid a continued rise in local Covid cases fueled by the delta variant of the virus. The proposal was revealed to county employees during an online town hall with County Manager Mark Schwartz, we’re told.
“During an online employee town hall the county manager informed staff it is his intention to require vaccination or submit to weekly testing,” a tipster tells ARLnow.
In a statement, below, Arlington County confirmed that such a policy is indeed under consideration. A final decision is expected later this month.
“The health and wellbeing of our residents and our employees is our top priority. Arlington County has offered vaccines to all employees, and continues to follow Virginia Department of Health guidance regarding vaccination. The County continues to assess its COVID-19 policies and practices as new guidance emerges from Centers for Disease Control and Virginia Department of Health. The County Manager has asked staff to prepare, for review, a program that would mandate vaccination and testing for County employees and contractors. A final decision on whether to pursue such a program will be made during August. In the meantime, we encourage Arlington employees and residents to access no-cost, no-appointment testing and vaccination opportunities.”
Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II
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St. Charles offers a play-based curriculum in a welcoming, Christ-centered environment.
Our program focuses on socio-emotional development and kindergarten readiness through hands-on and engaging activities. Our programs offer different schedules ranging from 7:30 am-5:30 pm for students, ages 2-5. We feature a full-day Jr. kindergarten class for older 4’s/5’s. Our facility includes a full-sized gymnasium, school chapel, and library. All of our students enjoy music and physical education weekly. Children have an opportunity to participate in enrichment classes such as soccer, basketball, ballet, and science.
We offer Summer Camp with weekly themes and twice a week water play, including Fun Friday moon bounce. Please join us for our Open House Feb. 3 at 9:30 am and 11:00 am. Click here to sign-up.
For more information or to schedule a tour, visit us at www.stcharlesarlington.org or call (703) 527-0608.
If you are a lifelong learner over 50+ who wants to make new friends, power up your brain, and enjoy a wide-variety college-level courses, Encore Learning is for you. An Arlington based nonprofit, Encore Learning offers courses in the arts, theater, literature, history, technology and more. This semester we offer our most popular course, Global Hot Spots as well as 25 new courses. Courses are presented either online or in-person at George Mason University at Virginia Square and other Arlington locations.
Join the free presentation to learn about courses and meet the instructors. This is Encore Learning’s signature event to highlight the upcoming semester with brief presentations by each instructor.
The Spring Course Preview event is Thursday, February 2nd at 9:30 AM via Zoom:
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