Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city looks at “all options” when it comes to a possible COVID-19 vaccine mandate for police officers – an idea endorsed by the NYPD commissioner, but opposed. the largest police union.
“We are looking at all options,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio during his weekly appearance on Brian Lehrer’s WNYC radio show.
“In the next few days I will talk about additional steps for different parts of the city, our workforce and beyond, different things that we are going to be looking at, different things that we are going to do,” de Blasio said.
“But that is still days away because we are doing a very careful analysis of what the next step is that makes sense.”
De Blasio has been raising a possible vaccination mandate for the NYPD, the nation’s largest police department, for several weeks.
The department’s vaccination rate has lagged the rest of the city, and some officers flatly refuse to receive the vaccinations.
As of Wednesday, 68% of the NYPD staff were vaccinated, according to Commissioner Dermot Shea, compared to 76% of adult New Yorkers who have been fully vaccinated. The NYPD has about 34,500 uniformed employees and about 17,700 in non-uniformed support positions.
The debate over the vaccination mandate has heated up in recent days after Shea again said he would support the measure and Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters that he would be in favor of the same for firefighters.
At the same time, the Supreme Court denied a challenge to a city vaccination mandate for public school teachers, showing a possible legal avenue to expand the requirement to other city agencies.
Healthcare workers are required to be vaccinated by the state, and New York City residents must show proof of vaccination to eat at restaurants or attend sporting events.
Initially, De Blasio allowed public school teachers to get vaccinated or regularly test negative for COVID-19, but this summer he tightened the rule by requiring all teachers to be vaccinated without a test option.
Thousands of teachers and other school employees were vaccinated in the days leading up to the deadline, city officials said.
“We are looking for a variety of tools,” de Blasio said Friday. “So far, I really like how the mandates are going. They are pushing vaccination, they are reducing COVID. There are many other tools we have and we will talk about them in the coming days.”
Currently, under an executive order signed by the mayor last month, NYPD officers are required to get vaccinated or show a negative COVID-19 test every week.
The police department said Friday there were no pending changes to its vaccination policy.
Agents in other cities, like Los Angeles and Seattle, face deadlines this month to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs.
In Los Angeles, authorities said more than 30% of officers remain unvaccinated despite the Oct. 20 deadline.
In Seattle, several hundred officers have failed to submit proof of vaccination before the October 18 deadline.
In Massachusetts and Oregon, state troopers face firing for failing to meet immunization requirements.
Shea, who has been vaccinated against COVID-19, said Wednesday at the city council briefing with de Blasio: “I would support a vaccination mandate. I have said it from day one. I think for science, for health, for the emergency situation we are in, it makes sense. “
Nigro voiced support for the vaccination mandate Wednesday at a fire department rally commemorating members who have died, including some from COVID-19.
“I think it will save lives,” Nigro said. “We have lost 16 members of this department. Today we have here two families who are crying for having lost a member of their family to COVID. I think it is time, people have had a lot of time to think about this so that our members are mandatory. They are out there serving the public. “
The city’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, said it has not been informed by the city or the police department of any changes to the current vaccination or testing policy. The union represents police personnel with the rank of officer – some 23,000 people on active duty with the department.
“In the PBA’s view, the COVID-19 vaccine is a medical decision that members must make in consultation with their own healthcare providers,” said union president Pat Lynch. “We have pushed for the vaccine to be available to all members who request it, and we will continue to protect the rights of members who do not get vaccinated.”
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