NYC COVID Vaccine Mandate: City Pols, Leaders React

NEW YORK CITY — A broad coronavirus vaccine-or-testing mandate for New York City's 300,000-strong municipal employees prompted mixed reviews by city leaders.

The requirement starting Sept. 13 positions the city — the largest municipal workforce in the nation — as a potential example for other governments and private businesses as they weigh similar measures to fight the highly contagious delta variant.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday, while hailing the city's 71 percent vaccination rate among adults, acknowledged several city departments are falling behind.

"These are good signs, obviously, overall, but we know we've got a lot more to do in terms of the City workforce," he said.

Sure enough, within hours of de Blasio's announcement, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced all his state government employees will face a vaccine-or-testing mandate.

"As the state’s largest employer — we’re leading by example," he tweeted. "Vaccines are the solution. We encourage local governments and other businesses to follow suit."

Those mandates went farther than another vaccination measure unveiled moments later by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Local community organizations in 117 ZIP Codes across the state — most of which are in New York City — with low vaccination rates will receive $15 million to encourage residents to get shots, Cuomo said.

The governor didn't directly comment on de Blasio's announcement, which also set up an app that will run in parallel to the state's Excelsior Pass that shows New Yorkers' vaccination status. Cuomo seemed to hint such a measure would have to go through the state Legislature.

Other elected New York City leaders and union officials weighed in on the mandate.

Henry Garrido, executive director of the powerful DC37 union, gave the first review — and it wasn't all positive.

"If City Hall intends to test our members weekly, they must first meet us at the table to bargain," Garrido said in a statement. "While we encourage everyone to get vaccinated and support measures to ensure our members' health and well-being, weekly testing is clearly subject to mandatory bargaining. New York City is a union town and that cannot be ignored."

The 4,300-strong FDNY EMS Local 2507's President Oren Barzilay issued an even stronger condemnation, declaring the union "strongly opposed" to the new workplace mandate. Barzilay argued the changes must be made through collective bargaining and said many in the workforce remain troubled by the lack of final FDA approval for coronavirus vaccines.

"The union is open to dialogue with the city about the details around Covid vaccinations and
testing," Barzilay said in a statement. "More immediately, will testing be done on duty or has overtime been authorized to accomplish this new mandate? Will the city provide for and pay for weekly testing, or are our EMT’s [sic], Paramedics and Fire Inspectors expected to fund this out of their own pockets?"

Health experts say COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

But the United Federation of Teachers gave the mandate good marks. De Blasio specifically timed the mandate's start date to coincide with the beginning of school, when all students will be back in classrooms for the first time since March 2020.

"This approach puts the emphasis on vaccination but still allows for personal choice and provides additional safeguards through regular testing," UFT tweeted. "There are still many things to do before we are prepared to safely open our schools in September."

This approach puts the emphasis on vaccination but still allows for personal choice and provides additional safeguards through regular testing. There are still many things to do before we are prepared to safely open our schools in September. https://t.co/8mZj2dHjON
— UFT (@UFT) July 26, 2021

Some prominent elected officials praised the move.

"Mayor de Blasio’s announcement today is a common-sense investment in the overall safety and ultimate recovery of our city, while also respecting reasonable accommodations on an individual basis,” Donovan Richards, who is Queens borough president, said in a statement. “We’ve come too far and lost too much in the fight against COVID-19 to not defeat this once and for all."

Council Member Mark Levine, in a tweet, called it an "important, necessary step to protect the health of workers & the public, as the threat of Delta rises."

His colleague Brad Lander, who won the Democratic primary for comptroller, said he only wished the deadline was sooner.

NEW: NYC will require vaccination or weekly testing for all 300k City workers—including police, fire, teachers.

This is an important, necessary step to protect the health of workers & the public, as the threat of Delta rises.

Details from @lizkimtweets: https://t.co/9hCvyFCC2r
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) July 26, 2021

Really glad @NYCMayor is requiring vaccination (or weekly Covid test) for all NYC employees — teachers, cops, City Council staff.

Wish the deadline were sooner (Sept 13th is far away), but very glad it will be in place for first day of school.https://t.co/dd8s1uPuZH
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) July 26, 2021