New York Post

A slew of city orgs lag in vax

- Nolan Hicks, Julia Marsh

Fewer than half of all employees at key city public-safety agencies and other department­s that interact regularly with the public have gotten at least one shot of a coronaviru­s vaccinatio­n — a pace that lags far behind the Big Apple’s overall average, figures obtained by The Post show.

The Correction, Police, Sanitation, Parks and Homeless Services department­s as well as the Housing Authority all have vaccinatio­n rates below 50 percent.

The Fire Department has barely passed the halfway point, with only 54 percent of its staff vaccinated, data show.

Meanwhile, just 59 percent of the public school system’s staff have been vaccinated so far — a tally that includes principals, teachers and support staff.

Overall, 70.7 percent of adult New Yorkers in the five boroughs have gotten at least one shot — a rate matched or exceeded by just nine of the 36 municipal agencies that City Hall has monitored.

Officials cautioned the data only tallies city employees who received their vaccinatio­ns in New York City, meaning that it may undercount rates at agencies where a large percentage of workers live in the suburbs.

In a statement, City Hall said the data underscore­d the need for Mayor de Blasio’s mandate — and encouraged private employers to impose requiremen­ts, too.

“If you want to bring this city back and build a recovery for all of us, get vaccinated today,” said spokesman Mitch Schwartz.

“Our vaccine/test mandate will go a long way toward keeping the entire city workforce safe, and other public workforces across the country are already following suit,” he said.

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