98% of San Francisco employees return to office after meeting vaccine deadline, city officials say

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Workers heading in to city hall on a Monday morning may seem routine-but some are calling it a significant step for the city.

"It is a turning point in the pandemic. All city workers- or 98% of them- are all back to work in this building, it's alive again and thriving," said San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin.

98% of the city's employees met today's deadline to be fully vaccinated against COVID.

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"Overwhelmed city employees stepped up, it took some work our HR people the unions EB kind of had to work through this but I feel like we are in a pretty good place," said supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

City leaders say even some of the hold-outs are still changing their minds.

"I was actually on the phone with the MTA and even as late as yesterday more employees were getting vaccinated so it has really been a success story,"

Convincing them to get vaccinated wasn't the only challenge. Some really enjoyed the benefits of working from home.

RELATED: Here's a breakdown of COVID-19 vaccination requirements for city employees in SF, Oakland and SJ

"Introverts may have liked some aspects of the pandemic now being surrounded by people, the challenge of that and fear around health stuff there were definitely some people who were reluctant even in my office," said supervisor Mandelman.

But it sounds like workers will receive a warm welcome when they get here.

'I've been in the building for most the pandemic and my staff has been back since the spring but it's going to be exciting to have more people here and get a little bit back to normal," he added.

VACCINE TRACKER: How California is doing, when you can get a coronavirus vaccine

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