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Dyer Says Fresno Workers Must Vax or Get Tested Weekly for COVID
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 3 years ago on
August 4, 2021

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Fresno city employees will have to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing, Mayor Jerry Dyer announced on Wednesday.

“We’re not here today to question why people do not get vaccinated. We’re not here to vilify those people, whether they’re employees or other,” Dyer said at a City Hall news conference. “We are going to continue and encourage people to be vaccinated because we do not want to go backwards. Our intent is to encourage vaccinations as we continue to move forward with our booming economy here in Fresno.”

Employees who cannot show proof of vaccination will have to submit test results every week. This is in addition to existing policy requiring unvaccinated workers to wear masks indoors.

Dyer said of the 4,149 city employees, only 36% are vaccinated based on internal surveys.

Bredefeld Disagrees

Shortly after Dyer’s news conference, Councilmember Garry Bredefeld spoke to the media, blasting the decision.

“This is nothing more than government overreach and infringing on people’s rights, their freedoms, their personal decisions regarding their own health and their family’s health. This is more authoritarian government and eroding of our rights,” Bredefeld said.

Council President Luis Chavez said information should be based on public health data.

“You’re going to hear a lot of hyperbolic rhetoric from people that have a very strong position,” Chavez said. “I know that we get caught in, I call it the politics of the pandemic, where if for some reason you support wearing a mask, you support getting a vaccine, you’re somehow on some side of the political spectrum. I think to me, this conversation needs to refocus on what it is. And it’s about saving lives.”

“I’m always going to stand up for people’s rights for them to make their own decisions about what’s in their best interests. They know better than Dr. Dyer or Dr. Chavez or Dr. Arias,” Bredefeld said, reference Councilman Miguel Arias.

There was one point that Bredefeld and Chavez agreed on, sort of.

Both said private businesses have the right to check vaccination or negative testing status. Chavez said it was a “smart approach.” Bredefeld called it “unwise.”

Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld talks about this opposition to the city’s vaccine/testing policy (GV Wire/Jahz Tello)

Testing Required of Unvaccinated Only

Johns Hopkins University reports that even those vaccinated can still transmit COVID.

“New data was released by the CDC last week showing that vaccinated people infected with the delta variant carry viral loads similar to those of people who are unvaccinated,” John Hopkins said.

Dyer said the vaccinated will not need to be tested as an incentive for the unvaccinated.

“We could test everyone. We could require a mask of everyone, but we’re trying to take a very measured approach and incentivize people who are unvaccinated to get vaccinated. And I’ve said early on, if you require everyone to wear a mask, which is probably good advice, but what’s the incentive for people to get the vaccine?” Dyer said.

Even testing in lieu of getting the vaccine is too far for Bredefeld.

“(Mayor Dyer) calls it incentivizing people, but he’s forcing people and harassing people to get a vaccine that is experimental that many people don’t want to take. And again, I support vaccines. I have taken the vaccine, but I also believe in the freedom of people having their own choices for their medical needs and own choices about what they put in their body,” Bredefeld said.

The Fresno City Council is scheduled to discuss the issue at a closed session meeting Thursday at 1 p.m. Any vote on policy would be followed by a public announcement of the result.

Read City Memo on Vaccination/Mask Policy

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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