D.C. government employees who work for the city’s attorney general will be required to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, while the city’s mayor has not imposed a vaccine requirement on the vast majority of the District’s workforce.

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       Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) announced to his staff Wednesday that they must get the shot by Sept. 13, when their office is scheduled to resume in-person work. Employees who document a medical or religious reason for preferring not to get vaccinated, or those who say they will not get inoculated until the Food and Drug Administration approves the vaccines on a permanent basis, will be required to get tested for the virus once a week.

       Most D.C. government agencies that fall under the purview of the mayor, rather than the elected attorney general, either worked in person throughout the pandemic (such as police officers and trash collectors) or required employees to resume working in person last month. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has not required vaccines for employees, though she has said she is discussing the matter with the labor unions that represent city workers.

       Fairfax County is the first jurisdiction in the region to require vaccination against the coronavirus for all of its 12,500-person workforce.

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