NYC fires 1,430 municipal workers for failing to get vaccinated against Covid

New York City has fired 1,430 workers, representing less than 1 per cent of the city’s municipal workforce, for failing to comply with Covid-19 vaccine requirements that have been in place for city workers for nearly five months.

In a statement on 14 February, Mayor Eric Adams announced that 1,428 workers, who had already been on unpaid leave, were terminated for failing to get a first dose of available vaccines. Two recent hires, who received notices two weeks ago under tighter requirements, were also terminated.

Roughly 95 per cent of the city’s massive workforce, with roughly 370,000 employees, is vaccinated, marking an increase from 84 per cent from when the requirement was first announced in October.

“Our goal was always to vaccinate, not terminate, and city workers stepped up and met the goal placed before them,” Mr Adams said in a statement on Monday.

Vaccination rates are high across city agencies relative to the nation’s vaccination rates, though the rates are still uneven – New York City Police Department and corrections workers are among agencies with the lowest compliance rate, with 88 per cent of workers receiving at least one dose, while roughly 95 per cent of workers at the Fire Department and Department of Sanitation have received one dose.

Among those who were terminated after the deadline under the city mandate, 914 were within the Department of Education, and 101 worked for the Housing Authority. Thirty-six worked for the Police Department.

Under the requirements, which were put in place by former Mayor Bill de Blasio and kept in place by Mr Adams, all city employees must have received at least one dose, while new hires must have received at least two doses for vaccine schedules that require a second jab.

Last month, the city sent notices to roughly 4,000 workers to fulfil the requirements or risk losing their jobs. Most of those workers were on leave after missing an earlier deadline.

Public school teachers’ union the United Federation of Teachers moved to sue the city to block the firings, but a judge ruled in favour of the city last week. On Friday, the US Supreme Court dismissed a last-minute appeal from a group of Education Department employees.

Hundreds of people marched across the city last week to protest the requirements and pending terminations.

“City workers served on the front lines during the pandemic, and by getting vaccinated, they are, once again, showing how they are willing to do the right thing to protect themselves and all New Yorkers,” Mr Adams said in his statement on Monday.

Roughly 76 per cent of all eligible Americans have received at least one dose of vaccines, while more than 64 per cent have received at least two doses of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 93 million Americans have received a booster dose.

In New York City, more than 85 per cent of all eligible residents have received at least one dose, while 76 per cent are considered fully vaccinated, according to the city’s Health Department.