18 workers fired under NC order mandating COVID shot or test

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2021 file photo, a healthcare worker prepares to administer a COVID-19 vaccine at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. Local North Carolina health officials on Friday confirmed the first positive COVID-19 test for the omicron variant. The case came from a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student who traveled out of state over Thanksgiving. The student was isolated and has recovered, with the exposure limited to one known contact, according to the university and Mecklenburg County Health Department. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 reported it has detected the variant in 29 sates. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2021 file photo, a healthcare worker prepares to administer a COVID-19 vaccine at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. Local North Carolina health officials on Friday confirmed the first positive COVID-19 test for the omicron variant. The case came from a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student who traveled out of state over Thanksgiving. The student was isolated and has recovered, with the exposure limited to one known contact, according to the university and Mecklenburg County Health Department. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 reported it has detected the variant in 29 sates. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

 
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Eighteen North Carolina state workers been fired over their refusal to comply with an executive order Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper issued this summer compelling employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine or be tested weekly, as of Dec. 17.

The North Carolina Office of State Human Resources provided the dismissal figure to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The 18 fired state employees include six workers from the Department of Health and Human Services, five from the Department of Public Safety, three from the Department of Transportation and one each from four other cabinet-level agencies. They represent just 0.03% of the workforce Cooper’s order covers.

Under a separate directive, the state health department in October announced it dismissed 16 workers at state-operated healthcare facilities but did not immediately share with the AP whether more employees have since been fired.

The latest human resources report shows nearly 77% of the more than 53,000 cabinet-level employees included in Cooper’s order are vaccinated, with the transportation and public safety departments having the lowest vaccination rates at 64% and 67%, respectively.

“The vast, vast majority of them are in compliance with the executive order, and that means either being vaccinated or tested,” Cooper said in a news conference this week.