More CPD employees comply with city’s vaccine mandate, vaccination rate drops

More Chicago Police Department employees have recorded their vaccination status on the city’s online portal but the response rate remains dismal, according to figures released by the city Monday.

The police department’s response rate climbed to 77.9%, which is up more than 4 percentage points from last week. The department remains the only agency to not be at least 80% in compliance.

Police Supt. David Brown said there are 35 police officers on a no-pay status for failing to comply with the city mandate to disclose whether they’ve been vaccinated. As many as 50 officers were placed on a no-pay status when the mandate went into effect last month.

“This means officers who were in no-pay status have come back and complied with the mandate,” Brown said during a news conference Monday.

The vaccination rate among CPD employees has steadily declined as more workers report their status. The department’s vaccination rate was 77.6% as of Monday, down from 83.8% on Oct. 18.

Brown said a decline was expected as more employees comply with the mandate, but the department is working to encourage officers to get vaccinated. The police department’s 12,835 employees make it the largest city employer.

Overall, the city’s Department of Human Resources reported that 89% of all city employees have documented their vaccination status and 81% of workers reporting they’ve been fully vaccinated.

City Council is the only other department to not have at least 90% of its employees report their vaccination status. City Council is at 85.6% compliance.

The Chicago Fire Department’s response rate to the portal jumped from 88.6% last week to 92.6%. CFD’s vaccination rate also fell slightly from 77.9% last week to 76.7% on Monday.