(AP) — More than half of Honolulu first responders who applied for exemptions from the city’s vaccine mandate cited religion as their reason for not getting inoculated. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports 57% of all exemption requests among Honolulu first responders pointed to faith. The city requires all government employees to be vaccinated unless an exemption is granted. Exemptions include religion or medical conditions and only those who qualify may use testing to bypass the vaccine requirements. The Honolulu Police Department had the most exemption requests with over 300 applications. City officials say about 90% of all employees were fully vaccinated as of Oct. 8.
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