More than 100 municipal workers were terminated for refusing to get a second vaccination dose required under New York City’s COVID-19 mandates, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams confirmed Monday.
The 101 city workers who lost their jobs Friday for failing to comply with the mandate were among 3,247 notified by the city that they needed to receive a second dose by a March 11 deadline. Of those 3,247 city workers, 3,146 — or 97% — submitted proof of getting a second dose within the required timeframe.
The recent workforce culling comes a month after a much more substantial number of city employees were fired for not following vaccination mandates. Almost 1,500 city workers lost their jobs during that round of worker terminations, which was also prompted by failing to follow city vaccine guidelines.
Those workers who lost their jobs in February fell into two groups. One was people hired on or after Aug. 2, 2021, who, as a condition of being hired, were required to be fully vaccinated within 45 days. Their deadline to show proof of vaccination was later extended to mid-February.
The other group consisted of workers whose unions made a deal with the city to allow unvaccinated employees to receive health care benefits while simultaneously being on unpaid leave.
The group who faced termination on Friday was comprised of city employees hired before Aug. 2, 2021, who had not submitted proof of a second vaccination and who had not applied for a reasonable accommodation exempting them from receiving the vaccine, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office said Monday.
Adams praised vaccinated city workers on Monday in a written statement but had little to say about those who lost their jobs as a result of failing to comply with the mandate.
“City workers have served New Yorkers tirelessly on the frontlines of the pandemic. They have stepped up once again to get vaccinated, protecting themselves and the New Yorkers they serve,” he said. “Our goal was always to vaccinate, not terminate, and 97% of employees who were notified to submit proof of a second dose did so by the deadline.”
According to an Adams’ administration official, 95% of the city’s workforce is now fully vaccinated — meaning that they either have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the single dose Johnson & Johnson shot.
The mandate requiring city workers to be vaccinated was issued in October by Adams’ predecessor, former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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