Schools
2K More NYC School COVID Vaccines In First Week Of Mandate
The overall number of unvaccinated public school workers shrank by 20,000 in the past two weeks, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
NEW YORK CITY — Faced with the prospect of getting a coronavirus vaccine or going without pay, 2,000 New York City public school workers — and counting — this week opted for the shot.
The updated vaccination numbers for staff gave Mayor Bill de Blasio a bit of good news in a daily briefing otherwise consumed by questions over a 47-page report detailing what city investigators deemed his misuse of a taxpayer-funded security detail.
Teachers, principals and other school staff had to get the coronavirus vaccine or they'd otherwise be on unpaid leave starting Monday. De Blasio credited the mandate for driving up vaccinations to 95 percent of educators.
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"Not only did we go into Monday with 95 percent of full-time employees vaccinated — now since Monday, 2,000 more employees get vaccinated," he said. "That number is going to grow. And we saw in the last two weeks, this is a staggering figure, as the deadline was coming up: 20,000 vaccinations in the last two weeks.
De Blasio and school officials have said that educators can go back to work once they get their first dose.
Find out what's happening in New York Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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