Eight people will be offered their jobs back at the MBTA, after the transit agency rescinded its vaccine mandate for its workforce, according information provided by an MBTA spokesperson.
In an email to MBTA employees on Dec. 2, General Manager Steve Poftak wrote that the agency was rescinding the T's vaccine policy, which required the full vaccination of its workforce. The MBTA's policy followed an executive order issued by Gov. Charlie Baker in August 2021 that implemented a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all employees within the state's executive branch agencies, the email said.
Since issuing the policy, over 90% of the MTBA's workforce has been vaccinated, Poftak wrote in the email. Poftak cited that, along with the rise of additional vaccines, targeted boosters, antivirals and COVID becoming a "more manageable illness for the vast majority of individuals who contract it," as reasons for rolling back the vaccine requirement.
The MBTA still urges its employees to be vaccinated and boosted.
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Eight employees who were previously non-compliant will be offered their old jobs back, "through a negotiated settlement agreement with their union," a spokesperson confirmed in an email to NBC10 Boston.
