Johnson County Sheriff’s office won’t require weekly COVID tests for unvaccinated staff
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office will not require employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to undergo weekly testing.
The decision goes against the county’s rules for employees, requiring anyone who works for the county to either provide proof of vaccination or otherwise submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. It’s a similar policy to those implemented in both Jackson County and Kansas City.
“The sheriff felt our employees know the best for themselves and the best for their families and felt that employees can make that decision,” detective Sgt. Jesse Valdez said.
Last week, Johnson County officials said beginning Aug. 23 employees would have to be tested weekly if they were not vaccinated. Some employees who work in departments where they are providing direct care to residents are subject to tests up to twice weekly. As of Aug. 11, 46% of the county employees had reported being fully vaccinated.
“The County Manager’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office have had conversations about our employee COVID-19 mitigation plan. The Sheriff’s Office is not required to comply, and the plan specifically notes the office is not included,” Penny Postoak Ferguson, county manager for Johnson County, said in a statement. “Any employee can voluntarily test if they wish, and the Sheriff’s Office requested test kits for this purpose.”
Of the 600 employees within the sheriff’s office, about 50% have been fully vaccinated, Valdez said. In an interview with the Shawnee Mission Post, Sheriff Calvin Hayden said about 130 sheriff’s department employees have contracted COVID-19 and said that “natural immunity is working pretty darn well.”
Public health experts, however, have repeatedly said people who have previously contracted COVID-19 should still get vaccinated. A CDC study showed that vaccinations offer greater protection than previous COVID-19 infections. It’s also unclear how long the protective antibodies from previous infections will last.
Valdez said COVID-19 has affected some employees but mentioned that employees in the sheriff’s office can’t work from home due to the nature of the job.
“Our employees know that if they are feeling bad, if they come in contact with somebody (who’s infected), or a family member comes in contact with somebody and they feel that they might have been exposed, those employees are staying at home and they have access to tests,” Valdez said.
Sheriff office employees are required to wear masks in their detention centers, the courthouse and the justice annex, Valdez said.
New COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed in recent weeks in the county, with county health officials warning that hospitalizations have been on the rise.
On Friday, the county’s positivity rate — the percentage of positive tests over the past 14 days — was 9.4%, the highest since cases peaked in the winter.
