Survey: Around 90% of San Diego Police Officers Oppose COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

Approximately 90 percent of San Diego police officers expressed opposition to coronavirus vaccine mandates, while 65 percent of officer stated that they would mull resigning from the force if the city imposed such requirement, according to a survey.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

About 45 percent said they would rather be fired than comply with a mandate, according to the survey, which was conducted in the past week by the San Diego Police Officers Association.

According to the union, 733 members — about 38 percent of the officers the association represents — responded to the survey. Less than 1 percent of the officers who took the survey said they had no stance on vaccine mandates; 8 percent said they were undecided as to whether they would quit if the city required vaccines and 23 percent said they were undecided about whether they would rather be fired than comply with a mandate.

The results, which were shared with union members late Wednesday in an email obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune, came as the police union — under pressure from some members — was pushing back against the city’s decision to require its employees to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 2.

The survey comes after President Joe Biden ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to require vaccination at companies with at least 100 employees. The president also ordered all federal employees to receive the vaccine, with no option of being frequently tested to opt out.

“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us. Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free,” Biden said in his White House speech.

“These pandemic politics as I refer to are making people sick, causing unvaccinated people to die,” the president added.

Some law enforcement organizations came out swiftly against Biden’s orders, including the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), which represents approximately 30,000 federal law enforcement officers and agents across the U.S.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s action to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all federal employees is misguided. Today, 75 percent of American adults have at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. We are well on our way to herd immunity based on voluntary vaccination. A mandate at this time only undermines these voluntary vaccination efforts and reduces public comfort in getting vaccinated,” FLEO president Larry Cosme said in a statement.

“This executive order villainizes employees for reasonable concerns and hesitancies and inserts the federal government into individual medical decisions. People should not be made to feel uncomfortable for making a reasonable medical choice,” he added. “As FLEOA has consistently said, we encourage our members to seek individual medical guidance and, in most cases, get vaccinated. However, we understand that threatening people’s livelihood and penalizing employees for making independent medical decisions is not the answer. We will continue to review the legal landscape for this order and act as appropriate to support our members and voice their concerns. We are nation built on freedom. We are law enforcement officers who defend that freedom. And we deserve the freedom to make our own health decisions.”