A large number of Firefighters demonstrated during the afternoon of this Monday in New York, United States, against the mandatory vaccination against covid-19 that the government of President Joe Biden imposed to control the negative effects of the pandemic.
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a large number of firefighters -and other communities- demonstrated during the afternoon of this Monday in New York, United States, against the compulsory vaccination against covid-19
“Do we ask if you are vaccinated when you call the emergency?” “Needed yesterday, unemployed today,” read some banners in the middle of a crowd of mostly men.
The protesters reject those who represent for them “the end of freedoms”: the US president, Joe Biden, and the Democratic Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio.
All city employees were invited to demonstrate from the Brooklyn Bridge to the City Hall, but the firemen were the most numerous.
The fire fighters were recognizable by their barracks T-shirts, some of which They listed the names of colleagues killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
According to the New York Fire Department (FDNY), 60% of its employees were vaccinated as of Monday (about 17,000), well below the average for adults in the city (84%).
Among protesters who distrust journalists, and amidst numerous American flags and pro-Trump slogans, John, a 35-year-old firefighter, explained not being against the vaccine, but against the fact that it is mandatory.
“I would never want someone to feel obliged to disclose information about my health ”, he said, not wanting to give his last name.
Firefighters rally in New York
Adriane Williams, 43-year-old, employed in the offices of the FDNY, assures that she will not get vaccinated, even if it has to cost her the job.
“It is a choice between my profession and my life, and I have to choose my life ”, he assures, despite the fact that vaccines are considered very safe by a majority of experts and that the side effects are benign in the vast majority of cases.
“But it shouldn’t be forced to choose”, He continues, stating that he fears losing his job and finding himself “without anything”, after having been “a civil servant for 19 years.”
After the teachers and health personnel in September, whose vaccination rate now exceeds 95%, New York extended the obligation to immunize 160,000 municipal employees, of which 46,000 had not received their first injection in the past week.
The city’s police union immediately announced that I would attack this decision in court.
To motivate the most undecided, the mayor’s office promised a bonus of $ 500 in salary to those who receive the first dose before October 29. Then, the pay of the recalcitrant will be suspended for a first time.
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