“New York City Celebrates as Mayor Ends Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees”
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City, which once had the nation’s strictest vaccination requirements for COVID-19, is ending one of its last such mandates, saying it will no longer allow shots for city employees, including police officers, firefighters and teachers.
The vaccination mandate that led to the firing of hundreds of city workers who refused to get the shots will end on Friday, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.
Adams, a Democrat, said that with more than 96% of city employees and more than 80% of city residents having received their first batch of vaccines, “this is the right moment to make that decision.”
The city health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan said: “It is clear that these orders saved lives and were absolutely necessary to make the moment come true. We are grateful that now that we are past the emergency phase of the pandemic, we are able to change more of the rules that have brought us to this point.”
The vaccination order for city employees was one of the last COVID-19 measures still in effect in New York City. The city ended its vaccination requirement for employees of private companies in November 2022, and masks are now optional in most public spaces, including subways and buses.
New York City’s private-sector mandate forced all-star point guard and vaccine skeptic Kyrie Irving to miss most of the Brooklyn Nets’ home games last season.
Irving will no longer be affected by changes to New York City’s coronavirus guidelines. The Nets and Dallas Mavericks announced a deal Monday that will send Irving to Dallas.
New York City’s urban workforce of approximately 337,000 was one of the largest groups of government employees in the United States to be impacted by a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The 1.3 million-strong US military was vaccinated in December under an $858 billion defense spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden.
The approximately 1,780 New York workers who were fired for failing to comply with vaccination requirements for city employees will not automatically get their jobs back but will be able to apply for jobs at their former agencies, city officials said.
Unions representing some of the laid-off workers planned a press conference later Monday to demand their reinstatement with back pay.
Karen Matthews, The Associated Press
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