By Patrick Saunders, contributor 

Stone Mountain, GA — Some city of Stone Mountain employees started a petition against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate as the city council continues to debate instituting one.

About one-third of the city’s 32 employees are known to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to City Manager Chaquias Miller-Thornton. The city surveyed its staff to give them a chance to weigh in on a mandate. Employees expressed a variety of concerns.

“One is medical reasons, one is not thinking that they have enough information about the vaccine or effects of the vaccine, some think the vaccine was pushed out in a sense of urgency and emergency and that there wasn’t enough development, and there were some employees that believe … they should make their own decision about their own body when it comes to this vaccine,” Miller-Thornton said at Tuesday’s council work session.

The city council will review the comment cards from the employee survey to decide their next steps. The issue has been a hot topic among candidates for mayor and city council.

For more information from Tuesday’s Stone Mountain City Council meeting from the Tucker Observer, click here.

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