San Francisco becomes first US airport to mandate vaccinations for all workers

The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Tuesday announced a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all employees, becoming the first U.S. airport to do so, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) shared in a statement on Tuesday that the new mandate will go into effect immediately. 

Contractors will be required to have employees be fully vaccinated or submit weekly COVID-19 tests if exempted from getting vaccinated, according to the Chronicle. 

Airport employers are also required to submit status reports on their workforces until all of their employees are vaccinated or face potential fines, the Chronicle reported. 

“As SFO prepares for the upcoming holiday travel season, and the return of pre-pandemic passenger levels, we have an obligation to provide a safe airport facility for the traveling public and our on-site employees,” SFO Director Ivar C. Satero said in a statement.

This comes as President Biden announced earlier this month that all private employers with 100 or more employees will be required to mandate COVID-19 vaccines and daily testing.

The U.S. is currently seeing another surge of COVID infections, as the highly contagious delta variant is hitting the unvaccinated hard.

SFO announced last month that it will administer free COVID-19 testing for its employees, adding that it hopes to extend the service to passengers in the near future