What you should know
- New York City is bracing for a worker shortage as the COVID-19 vaccine mandate looms and tens of thousands of city employees remain unvaccinated.
- Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and most city workers are facing the 5 p.m. deadline Friday to prove they have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Mayor Bill de Blasio stood firm on the mandate as firefighters rallied outside his official residence Thursday, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage collections in protest, and the city’s largest police union attended a appeals court seeking to stop requirement for vaccinations.
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NEW YORK – Piling garbage, lack of firefighters, fewer police and ambulances on the streets of New York, are some of the effects that we could notice in the Big Apple as zero hour arrives for public workers to comply with the mandate vaccination.
Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and most city workers have until 5 p.m. Friday to show proof that they have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Workers who do not comply will receive unpaid leave starting Monday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio stood firm on the mandate as firefighters demonstrated outside his official residence Thursday, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage collections in protest, and the city’s largest police union attended a appeals court seeking to stop requirement for vaccinations.
Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the deadline “prepares the city for a real crisis.” Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, warned that longer response times “will be a death sentence for some people.”
De Blasio said Thursday that the city has contingencies to maintain adequate staffing and public safety, including mandatory overtime and extra shifts – tools that he says are typically used “in times of challenging crisis.”
The mayor called the cleanup delays “unacceptable” and said the department will switch to 12-hour shifts and Sundays to ensure garbage does not accumulate.
“My job is to keep people safe: my employees and 8.8 million people,” De Blasio said at a virtual press conference. “And until we defeat COVID, people will not be safe. If we don’t stop COVID, New Yorkers will die. “
People who refuse to get vaccinated are now a major factor in the continued spread of the virus. Supporters of the mandates say New Yorkers have the right not to be infected by public servants who are unwilling to get vaccinated.
Nearly a quarter of city employees covered by the impending mandate have yet to receive at least one dose of vaccine as of Thursday, including 26% of police personnel, 29% of firefighters and EMS workers, and the 33% of sanitation workers, according to city data. The city’s prison guards have another month to comply.
Percentage of agencies with at least one dose |
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| Agency | Tuesday, 10/19 | Wednesday, 10/27 |
| LPC | 100% | 100% |
| Mayor’s Office | 96% | 96% |
| OMB | 96% | 97% |
| DOE | 96% | 96% |
| DOHMH | 95% | 95% |
| H+H | 95% | 95% |
| DCLA | 93% | 93% |
| DCP | 93% | 95% |
| FISA-OPA | 92% | 94% |
| DORIS | 92% | 94% |
| MOCS | 92% | 94% |
| HPD | 91% | 91% |
| NYC | 88% | 90% |
| OATH | 87% | 91% |
| LAW | 87% | 91% |
| OCME | 87% | 93% |
| DCWP | 87% | 89% |
| DFTA | 87% | 90% |
| COIB | 86% | 91% |
| SBS | 86% | 93% |
| DDC | 86% | 89% |
| DYCD | 85% | 86% |
| DOI | 85% | 91% |
| DOB | 83% | 86% |
| DoITT | 82% | 90% |
| TLC | 81% | 84% |
| DOF | 81% | 86% |
| PARKS | 77% | 84% |
| ACS | 76% | 81% |
| NYCERS | 74% | 76% |
| DOP | 74% | 79% |
| DEP | 73% | 83% |
| DCAS | 73% | 77% |
| HRA / DSS | 73% | 83% |
| DOT | 72% | 79% |
| NYPD | 70% | 74% |
| DHS | 67% | 77% |
| DSNY | 62% | 67% |
| FDNY (EMS) | 61% | 80% |
| All FDNY | 60% | 71% |
| FDNY (Firefighters) | 60% | 65% |
| NYCHA | 59% | 62% |
| DOC | 51% | 53% |
The fire department said it was prepared to shut down up to 20% of its fire companies and have 20% fewer ambulances on duty while changing schedules, canceling vacations and turning to external EMS providers to make up for staff shortages. expected.
Ansbro said that up to 40% of fire stations may have to close.
“The department must deal with the unfortunate fact that a portion of our workforce has refused to comply with the vaccine mandate for all city employees,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who had COVID-19 in January, said his department was sending reminders to workers whose records indicated they had not yet received a vaccine and that the NYPD vaccination sites will remain open all weekend. .
More than 700 officers were vaccinated on Thursday alone, the NYPD said, rushing to meet the mandate deadline and an added incentive: Workers who receive a vaccine by Friday at a city-run vaccination site will receive $ 500.
“On Monday, when this really begins to apply, we will review the vaccination status and if you are not vaccinated, you will not pay and you will not be able to work,” Shea said in a video message. Wednesday to the officers. “I don’t think anyone wants that to happen. I don’t think you want it to happen. I certainly don’t. We need you out there. “
Fire department officials are holding virtual meetings with staff, explaining the mandate and pleading for them to get vaccinated.
A Staten Island judge on Wednesday rejected a police union’s request for a temporary restraining order on the mandate, but ordered city officials to go to his courtroom next month to explain why the requirement would not. it should be reversed. If the mandate is deemed illegal, licensed workers will have their back pay returned, the city said.
Mike Salsedo, 44, was among hundreds of firefighters protesting Thursday outside the De Blasio residence, Gracie Mansion. He said he believes he has natural immunity to COVID-19 after having the disease last year and does not need to be vaccinated, a position that runs contrary to consensus among public health experts.
“I’m a man of faith, and I don’t think putting something man-made on my body is good,” Salsedo said.
Another firefighter, Jackie-Michelle Martinez, said that the ability to choose was “our God-given right” in questioning the city’s decision to walk away from its previous policy, which allowed workers to stay on the job if they had COVID- 19 test.
“If the weekly test is working, why are you, Mayor de Blasio, eliminating it?” she asked.
COVID-19 is the leading cause of law enforcement death in the United States, killing 498 officers since early 2020 compared to 102 firearm deaths, according to Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks police deaths.
De Blasio on Thursday credited the looming deadline for moving the needle on vaccines throughout the city government. In the last week, the number of affected workers who received at least one dose increased from 71% to 76%.
When the state required all workers in hospitals and nursing homes to be vaccinated, a flood of last-minute people to comply meant few facilities experienced staffing challenges.
“We expected that many of the vaccines would be given towards the end of the term,” De Blasio said. “We also know that many people make the decision once they realize that they are not going to be paid. That’s just the human reality. “
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