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Mayor Breed reiterates Nov. 1 return‑to‑office and vaccine deadline for San Francisco city employees
Summary
Mayor London Breed told the Board of Supervisors that city employees must return to in‑person work and be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1; she said 96% of roughly 35,000 city workers are vaccinated and staff who remain unvaccinated face suspension pending due process.
Mayor London Breed used her Oct. 19 scheduled appearance before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to remind the body that city employees are required to return to in‑person work and to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1.
“On Nov. 1, all city employees will be required to begin working in person again,” Breed said, adding that the same date is the deadline for being fully vaccinated to perform city duties. She noted that roughly 96 percent of the city’s nearly 35,000 employees are vaccinated — a figure she described as “higher than any other jurisdiction that we are aware of.”
Breed said the city has used clinics and outreach to raise rates, citing nearly 30 vaccination clinics and education programs targeted to employees and agencies. She also reported that the number of unvaccinated employees had fallen from “over 1,700” the prior week to 1,418 at the time of her remarks.
Sanctions and high‑risk settings: The mayor said employees who remain unvaccinated after Nov. 1 will be suspended with pay pending the outcome of personnel due‑process hearings and could ultimately be separated from city employment. Breed noted parallel earlier deadlines for employees in higher‑risk settings such as jails, hospitals and shelters; she listed counts for staff in several departments then in due‑process or subject to earlier deadlines, including members of the Police Department, Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department and Department of Public Health staff at city hospitals.
Masking policy clarification: Deputy City Attorney Anne Pearson addressed why masks were still required in the Board chamber despite some recent changes in the health officer’s order. Pearson said Department of Human Resources has adopted a citywide masking policy that is stricter than the most recent health‑officer order, and until DHR revises that internal policy masks remain required on city property and in city facilities.
Ending: Breed urged supervisors to work with the mayor’s office and agencies on outreach and noted San Francisco’s high vaccination rates as a positive marker for reopening and recovery. The administration’s stated enforcement approach is suspension pending due process for any employee who does not meet the Nov. 1 vaccine requirement.
