Vaccine Rate Rises With NYC Mandate in Effect, but 22,000+ Workers Could Be on Unpaid Leave
What to Know
- More than 22,000 New York City municipal workers could be on unpaid leave as the city’s vaccine mandate takes full effect on Monday
- In the last 24 hours before the deadline, about 2,000 more employees got their shot, de Blasio said. More than half of unvaccinated workers have filed for exemptions, which are being processed
- As of Sunday morning, the police department, which employs about 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees, reported an 84% vaccination rate. The fire department said Sunday afternoon that 80% of its employees were vaccinated — 75% of firefighters, 87% of EMTS and 90% of civilian employees
More than 22,000 New York City municipal workers could be on unpaid leave as the city’s vaccine mandate takes effect.
The five boroughs have been bracing for the possibility of a worker shortage since Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last month that any public employees who fail to provide proof of at least one COVID vaccine dose will not be paid and risk losing their jobs after Monday’s deadline. The mandate has boosted vaccination rates among members of FDNY, NYPD, sanitation department and other city workers but 9% of the city’s 300,000 employees still had not gotten the shot as of Sunday, the mayor said.
In the last 24 hours before the deadline, about 2,000 more employees got their shot, de Blasio said. More than half of unvaccinated workers have filed for exemptions, which are being processed and it’s unclear whether they’ll be approved for medical and religious reasons.
See the latest vaccination rates by NYC agency here.
A clearer picture of where the city stands in terms of worker shortages is expected to be provided later Monday when a union representing FDNY workers, the agency with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the city, holds a news conference on the mandate’s impact.
Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro suggested Sunday that 2,000 firefighters called out sick on Sunday because they were “feeling flu-like symptoms, because that’s what the shot does to people.” FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro confirmed the huge number of medical leave but said they were in an apparent protest of the city’s vaccine mandate.
Sources told NBC New York that more than half of firefighters who called in sick didn’t recently get vaccinated.
“Irresponsible bogus sick leave by some of our members is creating a danger for New Yorkers and their fellow Firefighters. They need to return to work or risk the consequences of their actions,” Nigro said over the weekend.
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Meanwhile, Nigro has also sought to put out rumors of firehouses forced to close down through each of the five boroughs. He says each time it sees a company go out of service, resources are moved to get back that company back in service. The fire commission emphasized that the department has not closed any firehouses and said that FDNY’s response time to calls has not been impacted.
The FDNY is looking at the potential for 20% of fire companies to be closed and 20% fewer ambulances on the road come Monday. Ansbro said the share of fire companies that might have to close could be as high as 40%. And sanitation workers have already staged a slowdown in protests of the mandate.
Before the latest mandate went into effect, unvaccinated employees were able to provide weekly negative COVID-19 tests in order to come to work but the test-out option is no longer available.
As of Sunday morning, the police department, which employs about 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees, reported an 84% vaccination rate. The fire department said Sunday afternoon that 80% of its employees were vaccinated — 75% of firefighters, 87% of EMTS and 90% of civilian employees.
The mayor has, since announcing his plans to expand the mandate to all city employees more than a week ago, insisted first responders and others who serve and protect the people of New York City must also protect themselves, including from a virus that has now killed an estimate 34,500-plus in the five boroughs alone.
De Blasio has held firm to that contention even amid mounting protests from union members and advocates — the latest of those being a rally of hundreds of firefighters and others outside the mayor’s own official residence last week.
The courts have upheld the mayor’s mandate despite challenges by the firefighters’ unions and an ongoing appeal by the Police Benevolent Association, which represents the NYPD. De Blasio believes his mandate, which he says he enacted in the name of public health, will continue to prevail. Many experts agree.
Backers of mandates say New Yorkers have a right not to be infected by public servants unwilling to get the shots, as people who refuse to get vaccinated are now a big factor in the continued spread of the virus. Mandates have gotten support in the court systems as well, as on Friday, when a federal appeals panel upheld New York state’s vaccine mandate for health care workers.
City jail guards have another month to comply. The deadline for them to get at least a dose is Dec. 1.
New York City and New Jersey Vaccine Providers
Click on each provider to find more information on scheduling appointments for the COVID-19 Vaccine.
Data: City of New York, State of New Jersey • Nina Lin / NBC
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