Headline Roundup • November 2nd, 2021
Thousands of City Workers on Unpaid Leave as New York City Vaccine Mandate Takes Effect
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Roughly 9,000 New York municipal workers have taken unpaid leave instead of complying with the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The workers on unpaid leave represent roughly 6% of the city's municipal workforce. Others, including roughly 2,300 FDNY firefighters, have taken medical leave; the city's fire commissioner said that "18 out of 350 firefighter units were out of service" as a result. The vaccination rate for city workers reportedly reached 91% this week, up from 86% last week.
The mandate and ensuing protests have been covered across the spectrum. Right-rated outlets highlighted people who stayed home sick or protested the mandate, especially firefighters and police officers, and framed the mandate as a danger to public safety because it purportedly forced members of law enforcement to neglect their duties. Some center- and left-rated outlets focused on the city workforce's rising vaccination rate; others highlighted Mayor Bill de Blasio saying he didn't expect disruptions to city services and threatening consequences for workers who faked sick in protesting the mandate.
Featured Coverage of this Story
(Jeenah Moon/AP)
Mayor de Blasio on Monday attacked city firefighters for feigning illness to protest vaccination mandates — and promised consequences for those who don’t report to their jobs.
De Blasio employed the threatening rhetoric on the first day that city employees who’ve refused to get the vaccination can be docked pay for doing so. As of Monday morning, he said a total of 9,000 city workers are on leave without pay, or about 6% of the entire city workforce, which is approximately 378,000 strong.
But on Monday, he seemed to...
Mark Lennihan/AP
Thousands of New York municipal workers, including police officers and firefighters, have chosen unpaid leave rather than getting inoculated against COVID-19, as the city's vaccine mandate went into effect.
Speaking on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, said he expected no disruptions as a result of some 9,000 city employees, or about 6% of the 378,000-strong workforce, getting put on unpaid leave for failing to get a shot. Those workers must show proof of at least one dose of a vaccination to return to work, according to the Oct. 20 order.
However,...
(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
About one-fifth of New York City’s firefighters were unavailable to report for duty on Nov. 1, most of them because they weren’t in compliance with the city’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The fire department (FDNY) suspended training and maintenance and still ended up understaffed, though it maintained that operations hadn’t been affected.
As of Nov. 1, when the mandate for city workers went into effect, about 23 percent of the city’s 10,000 to 11,000 firefighters remain unvaccinated. Many of them likely applied for medical or religious exemptions and wouldn’t have faced being put on...
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