'It Worked': De Blasio Hails COVID Vax Mandates For Workers

NEW YORK CITY — A sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandate for New York City's municipal workers sent shot numbers soaring, even as pockets of outright resistance remained among some public safety agencies.

The city's workforce is now 91 percent vaccinated against COVID-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday — the first day enforcement began on the vaccine-or-no pay mandate.

About 22,000 workers rolled up their sleeves for the first time since de Blasio announced the mandate barely more than a week ago, the mayor said. And about 3,600 municipal workers got shots over the weekend after a Friday deadline to get shots, he said.

"This mandate was the right thing to do, and the proof is in the pudding," he said "We now see it worked."

But some problems belied de Blasio's and like-minded officials' victory lap and claims the mandate caused no disruptions in city agencies.

About 9,000 city workers are slated for unpaid leave — a number that accounts for less than 6 percent of city workers and includes significant percentages of FDNY firefighters.

FDNY firefighters' vaccination rate did balloon from 58 percent to 77 percent in the days after de Blasio announced the mandate, but many remain fiercely opposed to the rule.

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said he suspects many, if not most, of the 2,300 firefighters who called out sick over the weekend did so falsely. He said no firehouses closed, but 18 units were out of service.

“There are units that are under-staffed,” he said. “It could end immediately if members stopped calling in sick when they weren’t sick.”

“The biggest consequence here for each individual is their moral consequence, but the department is not without tools to look into discipline for these members,” he added.

But as Nigro and de Blasio emphasized the apparent sick out didn't cause FDNY service problems, the same can't be said for a slowdown last week by Department of Sanitation workers.

Neighborhoods from Staten Island to Brooklyn, to eventually the Upper East Side saw trash pile up, as sanitation workers were accused of protesting the mandate's then-upcoming Oct. 29 deadline by not picking up garbage.

Sanitation Commissioner Ed Grayson said workers toiled over the weekend, including a full service day on Sunday, to catch up.

"We had full staffing in place throughout the weekend," he said.

Workers in the sanitation department are 82 percent vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to mayor's office data. They were 62 percent vaccinated right before de Blasio announced the mandate.

Many NYPD officers had resisted getting the shot, but the department is now 85 percent vaccinated against COVID-19, said Commissioner Dermot Shea.

He said the remaining 15 percent are largely workers who requested medical or religious exemptions to the vaccine. Those claims will be processed soon, he said.

"We think we’re in really, really strong shape here,” he said.

De Blasio told city workers who remain on leave — or are calling out sick — risk the anger of the New Yorkers they serve.

"They start to get the public, in fact, angry, that people are paying taxes but not getting the service they deserve," he said.