Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is reluctant to impose a vaccine mandate for city of Memphis employees. He fears the move might cause some police officers and firefighters to walk off the job and not come back. In an interview, the city's chief executive said the city would continue to wait on how President Joe Biden's push for employers with more than 100 workers to mandate vaccines is actually implemented before it makes a decision on whether to mandate vaccines. "The challenge that the city of Memphis and every other city government in the country and many other employers is — if you mandate it, you need to be prepared for a certain number of your employees to leave," Strickland said. The mayor singled out three city departments — all of which are less than 50% vaccinated — as causes of concern.