All New York City municipal employees will soon be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.
The city workers — including firefighters and cops — will be mandated to get their first dose by 5 p.m. on Oct. 29, the mayor said. Members of the city workforce who have not started their vaccine series by Nov. 1 will be placed on unpaid leave until they provide proof of vaccination, according to de Blasio.
“It’s a mandate now for all city agencies, all city workers. It’s time for everyone to get vaccinated,” he said Wednesday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“We need to reassure all New Yorkers that, if you’re working with a public employee, they’re vaccinated, everyone is going to be safe.”
Under the new mandate – first reported by The Post on Tuesday — city employees who begin their vaccine series will through next week receive a $500 paycheck bump as an incentive.
But under the policy, uniformed correction officers have until Dec. 1 to receive their first jab, due to an ongoing staffing shortage at the troubled Rikers Island.
“We need people to come back, and we need to address real situations there, so we’ve added a month for that small group only,” de Blasio explained. “But it’s still a mandate.”
Previously, only Department of Education staff and city health workers were required to be inoculated against COVID-19, but de Blasio has in recent months said he is open to extending the mandate to all 300,000 city workers.
Asked at his daily press briefing Wednesday about likely frustrations from city workers who already got vaccinated without getting a $500 reward, de Blasio insisted he appreciates that sentiment but is acting in a “practical” manner to keep New Yorkers healthy.
“Over time we’ve tried different approaches to figure out what’ll work … [and] what keeps people safe,” he said. “Do I understand how people feel? I absolutely understand how people feel. I didn’t get an incentive and I totally appreciate that look if someone else got an incentive you’re like, ‘Hey look, I wish I got that incentive,’ I get it. But I’m coming from a very practical place. I’m trying to get us to a goal. And I think this is a smart incentive to help get us there.”
The current vaccination rate among the city’s workforce stands at about 83 percent. But that number is significantly lower among cops and firefighters.
The NYPD has a vaccination rate of 69 percent among its 55,000 cops and civilian members. The department struggled for months to get more than half of its workforce inoculated, until it enacted stricter policies and school safety agents, which make up nearly 10 percent of the department, were forced to get the jab.
Among FDNY workers, the vaccination rate is an even lower 59 percent.
In response to the new rule, Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, vowed to take City Hall to court over it.
“From the beginning of the de Blasio administration‘s haphazard vaccine rollout, we have fought to make the vaccine available to every member who chooses it, while also protecting their right to make that personal medical decision in consultation with their own doctor,” he said in a statement.
“Now that the city has moved to unilaterally impose a mandate, we will proceed with legal action to protect our members’ rights.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has declared full support for a mandate for police officers, citing the virus’ recent toll on cops.
“We lost three members last week, two of them to COVID, and I think it’s all unnecessary, to some degree. And I just, everyone I think, all across this country, really, should be embracing these vaccines,” Shea said Tuesday during an interview on NY1.
The virus was the leading cause of death among police officers across the country since the pandemic began — far exceeding the death toll by gunfire, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
The news about the mandate did not sit well with one Brooklyn elected official.
“The mayor has no idea what he’s doing. We’re going to lose half of our cops and half of our fire department if this goes through, and then what?” the official said.
And Staten Island Councilman Joe Borelli had a warning for de Blasio.
“I think the mayor is going to find out it was easy when he had a compliant union like the UFT, but it’s going to be difficult when labor leaders are more resolved to push back,” the Republican said.
“The minute an engine company goes out the door shorthanded, we’ll all realize we’ve made a terrible mistake.”
Many first responders had been happy with the previous rule that required them to be vaccinated or subject to regular COVID-19 testing.
Despite the vaccines’ ability to stave off a disease that has killed more than 720,000 in the US alone, hundreds of protesters flocked to Times Square last weekend to voice their outrage about vaccine mandates.
“This means standing up for our freedom and indivisible rights, to come together as a group and let each other know we are not alone,” said Brett Copp, 56, a city worker from Staten Island who went to the “Rally for Freedom” protest Saturday at 41st Street and Broadway.
Additional reporting by Sam Raskin