FDNY: 1st for vax, but not a must
Only ‘recommended’
New York City medics and firefighters will be among the first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine as early as midDecember — but they will not be required to take it.
The FDNY told its members, including Emergency Medical Service workers, in an internal order on Friday that it would soon provide the eagerly awaited shot to first responders.
“Vaccination will NOT be mandatory, but the department recommends that members consider the overall benefits,” FDNY brass wrote.
One veteran FDNY member said the lack of a mandate would put the public at risk.
“Unvaccinated first responders have the potential for being carriers, and therefore can infect others — from the firehouse to the public at large,” the member said.
“The public has no way of knowing who took the vaccine and who didn’t. You could be Typhoid Mary . . . Imagine a crew going into a nursing home, and three or four are not vaccinated. They could spread it to everybody and kill people.”
FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer would only say, “There is currently no legal requirement for anyone to take a COVID-19 vaccine.”
City Hall did not respond to a request for comment.
The FDNY edict could set the stage for distribution to teachers, cops and other frontline city workers.
The leaders of two FDNY unions agreed with the voluntary distribution of the vaccine but said they did not press the department to make it official policy.
“Members should take the opportunity to get the vaccine if it makes them feel safer, but it should be an individual choice,” said Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507, Uniformed
EMTs, Paramedics and Inspectors.
Anthony Almojera, vice president of the Uniformed EMS Officers union, said he was in favor of the vaccine but added, “I cannot force a needle in someone’s arm.”
“As long as the vaccine is proven safe and effective, we will implore as many people as possible to get it for their personal safety as well as the safety of their families and the patients they take care of,” he said.
On Nov. 20, Pfizer and BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration for emergency-use authorization for their vaccine, which was said to be 95 percent effective. A decision is expected in early December.
Distribution guidelines are still being finalized. A vote by an advisory committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected on Tuesday, although federal, city and state governments do not appear to be exactly on the same page.
Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the CDC, has said the government would likely recommend that the shot go first to nursing-home residents and then health-care workers.
Under the state’s plan, health-care workers, including EMTs, would get top priority to receive the shots along with nursing-home residents and those who care for them. The next phase of distribution would include first responders like firefighters and cops.
The city’s plan would focus first on “Phase 1a” with health-care workers and then a “Phase 1b” with those older than 65, nursing-home residents and essential workers.
Dr. David Battinelli, the chief medical officer at Northwell Health, the state’s largest hospital network, said it would not initially mandate that employees get a vaccine that hasn’t yet been licensed by the FDA.
“It will be entirely their choice,” Battinelli said.