City workers must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination today or lose their jobs

City employees, including police officers and firefighters, who have not been vaccinated will face termination today if they do not receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

News 12 Staff

Feb 11, 2022, 11:46 AM

Updated 965 days ago

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City employees, including police officers and firefighters, who have not been vaccinated will face termination today if they do not receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The impact could cause some staffing shortages in certain spots, and it will leave some families without a paycheck. While data shows around 95% of the city's workforce is vaccinated, they are still on track to lose thousands of employees. Mayor Eric Adams says workers have to play by the rules.
These terminations will affect all city employees from teachers to sanitation workers to police officers and firefighters. If they don't hand in their vaccination cards showing they have at least one shot, they will be terminated immediately.
Andrew Ansbro, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, says they've been fighting this mandate since October. He says there are about 500 firefighters in the process of trying to get legal accommodations, so they won't have to comply. So far, 12 firefighters have been denied accommodations and face termination Friday.
"It's 12 today and it could be 12 more next week and 20 more the week after that as soon as the legal department of New York City gets through and reads these reasonable accommodations with either accepting them or denying them," says Ansbro. "And the vast majority have been denied. This is just the beginning unfortunately, and people are going to have to make a decision whether or not they're going to want to pay their bills or submit to a medical procedure."
This could be the largest firing event of it's kind due to a mandate that the country has ever seen.