Thousands of New York City workers to lose pay as vaccine mandate takes effect

Officials say any city worker that has not received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will be taken off the payroll beginning today.

News 12 Staff

Nov 1, 2021, 10:10 AM

Updated 1,272 days ago

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About 9,000 city workers are on unpaid leave for violating the city's vaccine mandate that's now in effect.
Officials said any city worker who has not received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine would be taken off the payroll beginning today.
“So now we know as of today 91% of city work force is vaccinated and growing. We want everyone to do the right thing. Everyone who hasn't done so has a chance to fix it, get vaccinated, and come back to work,” said Mayor Bill DeBlasio.

As of this morning, 84% of the NYPD, 77% of the FDNY and 83% of sanitation workers were vaccinated.
A total of 12,000 city employees filed for an exemption, which is one of the reasons organizations representing city workers like firefighters want testing to continue.

Different departments have different plans for dealing with staff shortages in the coming days and weeks. Firefighters will likely work 80 hours a week and possibly move to other companies, officials say. Sanitation workers may come in Sundays and work 12-hour shifts so garbage does not pile up.