Thousands of city workers are facing termination following Friday's deadline to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Many of those workers took their frustrations to City Hall.

This deadline affects all city workers.  Friday is the last day anyone who has not gotten vaccinated can get their shot if they want to keep their city job, according to Mayor Eric Adams. 

Dozens of people showed up outside City Hall to rally, including George Gutierez, a Department of Education employee who has had his job for nearly 15 years. Gutierez says he is stressed, frustrated, and is being pushed out unfairly.

"I was happy with the job I was doing my job. I was going to work every day throughout the entire pandemic. It was a career I planned on doing for another 20 years and now in the middle of that career I am potentially going to be out of it," Gutierez said.

People showed up from all over to City Hall -where they joined other city workers and parents, many of them frustrated and saying they are not anti-vaccine but against mandates. 

Adams says those who will be terminated for not getting the vaccine aren't being fired, but rather are going to be treated as if they are quitting because they are refusing to abide by this policy.

News 12 was told by the city that 95 percent of city workers are vaccinated. That remaining 5 percent still accounts for thousands of people, including teachers, sanitation workers, police officers, firefighters and others.

News 12 reached out to the mayor's office for the latest information regarding the number of city workers who are not vaccinated. They said they should have an answer within the next couple of days.