Court puts hold on DOE vax mandate

A federal appeals court has slammed the brakes on the city’s mandate that all teachers and other school workers be vaccinated by Monday — but a reprieve for the holdouts may be short-lived.

On Friday evening, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted a temporary injunction against the mandate and sent the case to a three-judge panel for an “expedited review.” A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

“We’re confident our vaccine mandate will continue to be upheld once all the facts have been presented, because that is the level of protection our students and staff deserve,” said Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Education.

Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter sent an e-mail to DOE staff Saturday morning saying “we should continue to prepare for the possibility that the vaccine mandate will go into effect later in the week.”

Meanwhile, unvaccinated staffers must continue to submit their COVID-19 test results, Porter said.

The DOE said more than 82 percent of employees have been vaccinated. But as many as 28,000 school workers have yet to comply.

In addition, nearly 1,500 unvaccinated school safety agents — of 4,300 under NYPD supervision — could also be barred from working, creating a potential security crisis at schools.

The Teamsters union representing the agents, Local 237, is expected to file a labor complaint Monday because those on duty next week will be forced to work 12-hour shifts — 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday — to make up for the gaps in staffing.

“Rather than negotiating with Local 237 prior to announcing and implementing the vaccine mandate to avoid this very problem, the city and NYPD now place the burden of their ill-considered policy choice on the backs” of the school safety agents, the complaint says, according to a copy obtained by The Post.

One city school staffer told The Post she had no intention of getting the COVID-19 vaccine and was willing to give up her six-figure salary.

“I’ve never been so scared to do something, and I can’t bring myself to do it,” Christina Coscia, 40, said about her fears of the vaccine and its potential side effects. “I can’t have sleepless nights thinking about the what-ifs.”

Coscia, the site coordinator at the District 20 prekindergarten program in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, said she maintains a healthy lifestyle and does not worry about getting COVID-19.

If the court upholds the mandate, those who continue to decline the shot must take a year of unpaid leave with health benefits or exit the DOE with severance pay. The DOE offered medical and religious exemptions but is said to be granting them sparingly.

The vaccine mandates are designed to stop the spread of COVID-19. But Coscia, who is part of a coalition called Teachers for Choice, said she does not believe the shots are life-saving because even those who are vaccinated could get sick and spread the coronavirus.

Scientists, however, say that vaccinated individuals are at a much lower risk of having a severe case of COVID-19 even if they do get a breakthrough infection.

Meanwhile, some parents and staffers worried about safety amid a rising number of COVID cases among students and employees rallied at City Hall, calling for a remote instructional option.

I’ve never been so scared to do something, and I can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t have sleepless nights thinking about the what-ifs. — NYC Department of Education staffer Christina Coscia (left) on her fears of getting the vaccine