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       D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced Tuesday all city employees would be required to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing for the coronavirus, with vaccination required for new employees.

       The employees will be required to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 19 or take weekly coronavirus tests.

       Bowser stopped short of issuing a full mandate, and officials argued that educating employees about the vaccine and allowing for a testing option — instead of issuing a blanket requirement — would ultimately increase vaccine rates. If it doesn’t, City Administrator Kevin Donahue said the city would consider other strategies.

       “I think we can boost the numbers much higher on the track that we are on now,” Donahue said.

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       So far just 59 percent of the city’s 37,000 employees have reported their vaccine status, according to D.C. data. Of those, 54 percent are vaccinated.

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       “The goal is to get everyone vaccinated,” Donahue said. “There is an opportunity working with our employees in the unions to get our vaccine numbers much higher than they are now. I believe, without getting to the point where we have to impose a mandate as a condition of employment for everyone.”

       The Bowser administration had said last week that a decision on a city workforce vaccine requirement was imminent, and that officials were working with local labor leaders to determine how it would be enacted and enforced. At Tuesday’s announcement, the mayor was flanked by the city’s most powerful labor leaders, a sign that they backed her decision.

       With caveats, Washington Teachers’ Union follows national unions and says it would support a vaccine mandate

       Coronavirus cases have been rising in the Washington region, including in D.C., with the rise partly fueled by the highly contagious delta variant.

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       “We know that we have been very steadfast and successful in crushing the virus in the District, and know we will do that with the delta variant,” Bowser said.

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       Bowser’s move follows announcements last week by the governors of Maryland and Virginia that they are requiring some state employees to get vaccinated or take weekly coronavirus tests by Sept. 1. And last week, D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D), an independent elected official, announced that employees in his office would be required to get vaccinated by Sept. 13 or get tested weekly.

       Karina Elwood contributed to this report.

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