NYC’s employee vaccine mandate is now in effect. Here’s what it could mean for first responders

The percentage of FDNY employees who have received at least one dose increased to 80% from 78% on Saturday, and NYPD vaccination rates remained the same from the previous day, at 84%, according to the data.

New vaccination rates released by de Blasio’s office at 8 p.m. ET Sunday show that 11 of 44 city departments listed by the mayor increased by at least 1% since Saturday night.

As of Sunday night, 22,800 workers remain unvaccinated, according to the data. That’s down from 46,300 reported October 19, the day before the vaccine mandate was announced.

From Saturday night to Sunday night at least, 1,400 NYC employees received at least one dose, based on the data provided the mayor’s office.

‘People are not safe’

The city’s sanitation department was at a 67% vaccination rate as of Thursday, de Blasio said during a news conference.

At the press conference, the mayor said emergency services will continue to function despite expected shortages and expressed confidence in the tools available to those agencies to help boost vaccination numbers.

“Until we defeat Covid, people are not safe. If we don’t stop Covid, New Yorkers will die,” De Blasio said. “We must, must stop Covid, and the way to do that is vaccination.”

He added he expected a rapid rise in vaccinations as employees “realize that they are now dealing with the reality that their pay is about to end.”

“We saw thousands upon thousands of vaccinations in the last days,” the mayor said Thursday. “So, this is I think, a time where you’re going to see some real changes.”

The source who spoke to CNN said as many as a fifth of the city’s fire companies could be closed as a result of unvaccinated staff shortages and added a fifth of the department’s ambulances could go out of service.

The fire department is planning to cancel vacations and enact mandatory overtime, the source said.

Firefighters union official says ‘all we are asking for is extra time’

FDNY-Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro said he doesn’t know how many firefighters would not be permitted to work Monday morning due to still being unvaccinated, stating the FDNY does not share those numbers with them.

Ansbro said the vaccine mandate is “causing an exodus” of firefighters from the department and the remaining firefighters are “going to have to work to the breaking point” to make up for the staffing shortages. Ansbro maintained their union is “not anti-vaccine, we are anti-mandate.”

In response to reports firefighters were taking sick leave to protest the vaccine mandate, Ansbro said many firefighters who decided to get vaccinated are talking sick days because of reactions to the Covid-19 vaccine.

“Everyone knows the vaccine causes mild flu-like symptoms regularly, so these members are not coming to work feeling those symptoms,” Ansbro said.

FDNY-Fire Officers Association President Jim McCarthy said Monday morning “all we are asking for is extra time” regarding the city mandate, so their members can have more time to make decisions on whether to get the vaccine, to file any religious or medical exemptions, or potentially decide to retire.

In a statement shared with CNN, Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said the department will “ensure the continuity of operations and safety of all those we have sworn oaths to serve.”

“The Department must manage the unfortunate fact that a portion of our workforce has refused to comply with a vaccine mandate for all city employees,” he said. “We will use all means at our disposal, including mandatory overtime, mutual aid from other EMS providers, and significant changes to the schedules of our members.”

A Staten Island judge denied a request by the city’s largest police union Wednesday to block the vaccine mandate. The decision was a “violation of police officers’ rights and would lead to fewer officers on the streets,” said Patrick Lynch, head of the New York City Police Benevolent Association.

Officers, firefighters avoid vaccination

To avoid getting vaccinated, thousands of NYPD employees applied for a “reasonable accommodation” before the mandate went into effect, Shea told local station WNYW.

Anyone who goes to work Monday who is not vaccinated and does not have a pending reasonable accommodation request submitted by Wednesday will “be sent home without pay,” Shea told the news station.

Meanwhile, an FDNY official told CNN Saturday some firefighters are going on medical leave because of the mandate, leading to some companies being temporarily out of service.

Nigro, the FDNY commissioner, called the extended sick leave “unacceptable,” saying it went against firefighters’ oaths to serve and “may endanger the lives of New Yorkers.”

The department official who spoke to CNN Saturday did not have information on how many firefighters total were on sick leave or medical leave, but said the department has not closed any firehouses.

“In 21 years, we’ve been through the Trade Center, hurricanes, Covid, and just to come out and put this mandate on in such a short period of time, it’s just not right,” Julian Eyre said that day.

He told CNN he’s choosing to retire after 21 years with the fire department rather than get the vaccine.