De Blasio delivers ultimatum
N.Y. mayor mandates vaccinations for all municipal workers
NEW YORK — New York City will require its entire municipal workforce to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be placed on unpaid leave, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, an ultimatum that ensures a fight with some unions representing employees, including police officers and firefighters, who have refused the shots.
De Blasio gave approximately 46,000 unvaccinated city employees until Nov. 1 to get their first vaccine dose, and he offered an incentive: City workers who get a shot by Oct. 29 at a city-run vaccination site will get an extra $500 in their paycheck.
“My job as your mayor is to keep this city safe, keep this city healthy. And vaccination is the way,” he said.
Several unions castigated the mandates as unfair and vowed to sue.
New York City’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, said getting vaccinated is a “personal medical decision” that officers should make in consultation with their doctors.
“Now that the city has moved to unilaterally impose a mandate, we will proceed with legal action to protect our members’ rights,” said its president, Pat Lynch.
The city previously mandated vaccines for teachers and the state has previously mandated vaccines for health care workers. Previously, most city workers could avoid being vaccinated by showing proof of a negative COVID-19 test each week.
With the expanded mandate, more than 300,000 city employees will need to be vaccinated, roughly 160,000 more than previously covered by vaccination rules. Jailers on Rikers Island, where the city has been grappling with staffing shortages, won’t be subject to the mandate until Dec. 1.
De Blasio’s announcement came amid new uproar over NYPD officers defying even simple measures, like wearing face masks. On Monday, two police officers were seen on video shoving a man out of a Manhattan subway station when he confronted them for flouting rules requiring they wear masks.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Wednesday the incident was “absolutely inexcusable” and that the officers would be disciplined.
“Nobody’s getting fired over this incident. Nobody’s getting suspended over this incident,” Shea told reporters. “But at the same time,
I’m not in any way, shape, or form attempting to downplay that.”
About 71 percent of the NYPD’S workforce has had at least one shot of the vaccine, compared to just just under 80 percent of adult New Yorkers citywide.
New York City also recently adopted rules requiring adults to show proof of vaccination to eat indoors at restaurants or to attend sporting events.