OMAHA- After access to the vaccine came — in late December for firefighters and early February for most police officers — a majority of the first responders got the shot. Yet records provided by the city after a World-Herald records request indicate that 27% of Omaha firefighters and 41% of Omaha police officers remain unvaccinated.

Dr. Mark Rupp, the chief of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's infectious diseases division, commended those workers who have been vaccinated but expressed disappointment that so many have yet to get the shots. He likened the coronavirus vaccine to needed safety gear — the heavy coat that firefighters wear while battling flames or the bulletproof vest that officers wear to felony drug busts.

"Many first responders take all kinds of actions to maintain their safety and their health," Rupp said. "Why wouldn't you want to have the equivalent of that to protect from an unseen virus?" Being vaccinated, he said, is especially important for health care providers and first responders who come into contact with hundreds of people every day.

The City of Omaha has not required its workers to get the vaccine, and no plans are in place to do so. But officials have kept track of first responders who have been vaccinated. And a new city policy effective this month gives those who are vaccinated an additional benefit, a change that some first responders say is essentially forcing them to get the shot.

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