NYC Imposes COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate For All Public Workers

NEW YORK CITY — All New York City public employees now face a choice: Get the coronavirus vaccine or submit to weekly testing.

A sweeping vaccine mandate for roughly 325,000 municipal workers, from police to teachers, will begin Sept. 13, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

De Blasio cast the vaccine requirement as a necessary step in the fight against the highly contagious delta variant. He said the mandate coincides with the first day of school and the critical month of September.

"This is about our recovery, this is about what we need to do to bring back New York City, this is about keeping people safe, this is about making sure our families get through COVID,” he said Monday.

The city already set a vaccine mandate for health care workers at city-run hospitals and clinics.

And almost as soon as de Blasio unveiled the mandate last week, he strongly hinted it would go wider.

On Monday, he unveiled a wide set of mandates and stricter mask rules for all city government employees — the largest municipal workforce in the nation.

About 45,000 city employees who work in congregate and residential setting will face a vaccine-or-testing mandate earlier on Aug. 16, de Blasio said.

City employees who are unvaccinated also face increased enforcement on an indoor mask rule, he said.

“We will have to unfortunately be very tough: If a city government employee does not wear a mask indoors and they’re unvaccinated, there will unfortunately will have to be consequences,” he said.

Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi acknowledged there's "variation" in vaccination rates among city departments. The New York Police Department, for instance, has a 43 percent vaccination rate, NBC4 reported.

The citywide rate for adults is 71 percent, data shows.

“Part of the goal of the COVID safety requirement is to lift all boats by getting everyone to a higher standard and increasing vaccination rates, particularly where they may be lagging,” Chokshi said.

City government leaders stressed their tolerance for unvaccinated employees is at an end.

Renee Campion, the city's labor relations commissioner, said the vaccine-or-testing rule is a "work requirement."

“If employees refuse to comply, they just can’t be at work,” she said. “And, in fact, they will not be paid.”

The mayor's announcement received a quick response from Henry Garrido, executive director of the powerful DC37 union.

“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.”

Starting Aug. 2, the city will launch an app — NYC COVID Safe App — that lets city employees show their vaccination or testing status, de Blasio said.

De Blasio and Chokshi both encouraged private businesses and institutions to set similar rules.

For other businesses in NYC, particularly health care settings: I urge you to follow the City’s lead and create a similar requirement for your own workforces.
— Commissioner Dave A. Chokshi, MD (@NYCHealthCommr) July 26, 2021