Editor’s note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
EDWARDSVILLE — City employees who work in Edwardsville must receive the COVID-19 vaccination by Oct. 15, according to a city government announcement issued Thursday.
“Given the importance of the continuity of public services provided by the city, providing a safer workplace, and protecting public health, the city has determined that it is vital to the safe operation of the city for employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccination,” the announcement states.
The city says it will follow all laws related to medical or sincerely held religious beliefs.
“The city believes this is another way to protect the health, safety and welfare of local residents and members of the municipal workforce,” the announcement states.
The Madison County city falls under what the Illinois Department of Public Health considers Region 4. Other Region 4 counties include Bond, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington.
And, according to data released by the state health department Wednesday, 18,611 Edwardsville residents have been fully vaccinated — or 54.24% of the entire population.
Overall, according to the IDPH, 305,257 Region 4 residents have been fully vaccinated out of the estimated 660,225 who live in the region, or 46.2%. That’s an increase of 1,518 people people from the previous week; however, it’s a drop from the period of Aug. 19-25 when 4,491 became fully vaccinated and a drop from the period of Aug. 12-18 when 8,409 people became fully vaccinated.
Madison and St. Clair counties continue to vaccinate the most people in Region 4, combining to fully vaccinate 959 people in the past week. Similar to the Region 4 totals, that’s down from about 3,700 during the period of Aug. 19-25 and down from more than 7,000 the week of Aug. 12-18, according to state health department data.
As of Wednesday, Madison County had fully vaccinated 125,860 people, or 47.59% of the population.
Garen Vartanian is a reporter and editor with the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
