Boston Mayor Signals Vaccine Mandate Coming for City's 18,000 Employees

BOSTON — July 22, 2026 — Boston Mayor Janey signals employee vaccine mandate and releases Patrick Rose accountability review. Mayor Kim Janey announced Tuesday that the city is "leaning toward" a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all roughly 18,000 municipal employees, saying the Delta variant's rise demands action beyond the city's existing paid-time-off and priority-clinic programs. Janey simultaneously released findings from a review by Office of Police Accountability and Transparency Director Stephanie Everett into how accused child molester Patrick Rose remained a Boston police officer for two decades after a 1995 internal affairs investigation sustained a misconduct finding against him. The three-finding review recommends that witness interviews begin within 48 hours of a charge notification, that discipline decisions follow a visible matrix with written justification required when commissioners deviate, and that BPD notify OPAT whenever officers face criminal charges. "It is shameful that it seems that the actions taken were to protect one of their own rather than to protect children," Janey said. All officers involved in the original Rose case have since retired.