New York: The mandate of the vaccination of New York City for city workers came into force Monday amid fierce resistance among most workers in some critical public safety work, including police officers and firefighters.
On Sunday, 1 in 4 firefighters in the city uniform still have not received the first dose of vaccines, as needed.
About 1 in 6 police officers were still not vaccinated.
It was not clear how much might rush to get a dose at the last minute for the weekend, or Monday morning.
Under the city’s mandate, those who have not received at least one dose of vaccine will be suspended without pay.
New York has more than 300,000 employees.
City officials said they were ready for the possibility of lack of staff, calling vaccinated employees for overtime shifts.
The head of the Union representing the New York City firefight, who has resisted the vaccine mandate, warns that public safety can be at risk.
The Fire Department said it was ready to take up to 20% of the fire company outside the service and and had fewer 20% ambulances on the road.
“We are here today because of the mandate that places not only to our members, but also all employees of New York City, are given nine days to make decisions that change life to their careers or whether they will take or not vaccines,” said the president of the Extinguisher Association Andrew Ansbro uniform fire at a early morning press conference.
Mayor Bill De Blasio said the highest city public safety priority was to stop the spread of Covid-19, which kept killing a handful of people in the city every day.