New and Noteworthy from Gothamist, original article by Elizabeth Kim
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that all municipal employees, including first responders such as firefighters and police officers, will be required to receive at least one vaccine dosage by October 29th. They will no longer be allowed to opt out with weekly coronavirus testing after that date.
Employees who get their first shot at a city-run vaccination facility will get $500 added to their salaries as an incentive. Unvaccinated employees will be placed on unpaid leave until they can present proof of vaccination to their boss.
“There is no greater privilege than serving the people of New York City, and that privilege comes with a responsibility to keep yourself and your community safe,” de Blasio said in a statement. “As we continue our recovery for all of us, city workers have been a daily inspiration. Now is the time for them to show their city the path out of this pandemic once and for all.”
The order, which will be issued by New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi on Wednesday, will affect approximately 160,500 city employees, according to the mayor. Around 71 percent of those personnel have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccination.
Since the mayor originally announced his "vax-or-test" mandate in late July, the overall percentage of vaccinated personnel has progressively increased. As of October 15th, 83 percent of all municipal workers (approximately 305,000 individuals) had received at least one dose, an increase of 18 percentage points, according to the mayor's office. The city's workforce fluctuates, but there were roughly 367,000 city employees as of mid-August.
But the city has struggled to convince certain groups, notably first responders, to get the shot. Only 69% of police officers have been vaccinated to date. The rate for city firefighters is even worse, that of 59%.
Some local unions, who have sued over full vaccine mandates for teachers and health care employees, are expected to protest De Blasio's decision. Those attempts, however, did not succeed in overturning the regulation. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied a request from a group of New York City teachers to stop the mayor from enforcing the rule earlier this month.
"The bottom line is we're not going to pay people unless they're vaccinated. They'll lose their jobs," de Blasio said during a Wednesday interview on MSNBC.
"We've got to end the COVID era," he told MSNBC. "Our police officers, our EMTs, our firefighters, all our public employees, a lot of them come in very close contact with their fellow New Yorkers. They need to be safe, their families need to be safe, but we also need to reassure all New Yorkers, that if you're working with a public employee, they're vaccinated."
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Gothamist Article:
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-will-mandate-covid-19-vaccines-all-government-workers