New York City public employees raced to get their vaccinations up for grabs in a last-minute surge Friday before the city’s 5 p.m. deadline, threatening to put them on unpaid leave if they aren’t vaccinated by November 1.
The majority of the 300,000 employees in key city departments have now received their own COVID-19 Mayor Bill de Blasio Announced late on Friday.
But the FDNY’s vaccination rate was still just 72 percent by the end of Friday, up from 67 percent.
The NYPD vaccination rate was 84 percent for 55,000 officers on the force, up from 80 percent Friday morning, the mayor He said in a tweet.
EMS workers saw a vaccination rate of 84 percent, up from 77 percent.
But the mayor said only 76 percent of employees in the sanitation department have been vaccinated, but only 67 percent.
The FDNY finished the bottom of the list, with 72 percent as the department faces member protests against local leadership. The FDNY said it could close 20 percent of its businesses across the city due to members planning to claim or resign over the mandate.
The vaccine cash reward likely helped speed up the last-second leap: City employees who started their own series of vaccinations when the mandate was announced on October 20 were offered a $500 paycheck as an incentive.
“Never doubt the people who serve our city. The mayor said in a follow-up tweet.
.
