Metro will require employees and contractors to provide proof they got a COVID-19 vaccine or submit to weekly testing, starting in early September. Employees can also request a medical or religious exemption to getting the vaccine.

“Our top priority is employee and customer safety. This new mandatory testing requirement is similar to those required by the District, Maryland, and Virginia for government employees, and will help strengthen our collective defensives against the virus and its variants,” reads an agency statement announcing the new policy.

Just 45% of Metro’s more than 12,000 workers are fully vaccinated, according to a statement from the transit agency, which asked employees to voluntarily share their vaccination status. In some departments, the figure is as high as 79%.

“We need to do better to protect our workforce and our customers from COVID infection, especially given the prevalence of the Delta variant in our region,” the statement continues.

Metro’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, supported the move to require vaccines or regular testing.

“Vaccines are the most effective way to save lives during this pandemic. I myself caught COVID and can tell you that I still live with the health consequences to this day,” said union president Raymond Jackson in a statement.

Metro reports 1,541 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its employees over the course of the pandemic, and six Metro workers have died of the virus.

Employees who don’t get vaccinated or upload weekly test results — either PCR or rapid tests are fine, per Metro — will be subject to “progressive discipline” and will be ineligible to work. All new hires will be required to show proof of vaccination.

At present, employees who opt to go the testing route will be responsible for scheduling their weekly tests and uploading the results to an online tracking system. Metro says it won’t cover the cost of the testing, a policy Local 689 says it wants to revisit in future negotiations.

Metro’s move follows similar steps taken in recent weeks by the federal government, the D.C. government, state governments in Virginia and Maryland, and multiple local counties and school districts in requiring vaccinations or testing for employees.