NEW YORK ā Mounting trash. Closed firehouses. Fewer police and ambulances on the street.
Thatās the possibility New York City is bracing for come Monday as a COVID-19 vaccine mandate looms and thousands of municipal workers remain unwilling to get the shots.
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Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and most other city workers faced a 5 p.m. Friday deadline to show proof theyāve gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Workers who donāt comply will be put on unpaid leave starting Monday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio held firm on the mandate even as tempers flared on Friday with six firefighters suspended for taking a fire truck to a lawmaker's office and threatening his staff over the vaccine mandate.
The incident was a dramatic escalation after firefighters and other workers rallied Thursday outside de Blasio's official residence, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage pick ups in protest and the cityās largest police union went to an appeals court seeking a halt to the vaccine requirement.
Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the hard deadline āsets the city up for a real crisis.ā Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, warned longer response times will ābe a death sentence to some people.ā
De Blasio said Thursday that the city has contingencies to maintain adequate staffing and public safety, including mandatory overtime and extra shifts ā tools that he said were typically used āin times of challenging crisis.ā
The mayor called the sanitation slowdowns āunacceptableā and said the department will move to 12-hour and begin working Sunday shifts to ensure trash doesnāt pile up.
āMy job is to keep people safe ā my employees, and 8.8 million people,ā de Blasio said at a virtual news briefing. āAnd until we defeat COVID, people are not safe. If we donāt stop COVID, New Yorkers will die.ā
People who refuse to get vaccinated are now a big factor in the continued spread of the virus. Backers of mandates say New Yorkers have a right not to be infected by public servants unwilling to get the shots.
Mandates have gotten support in the court systems as well, as on Friday, when a federal appeals panel upheld New York stateās vaccine mandate for health care workers.
Nearly one-fifth of city employees covered by the impending city mandate had yet to receive at least one vaccine dose as of Thursday, including 21% of police personnel, 29% of firefighters and EMS workers and 33% of sanitation workers, according to city data. City jail guards have another month to comply.
As of 8 p.m. Thursday, 33,400 city workers remained unvaccinated. The city said it would provided updated vaccine rates on Saturday.
The fire department said it was prepared to close up to 20% of its fire companies and have 20% fewer ambulances in service while changing schedules, canceling vacations and turning to outside EMS providers to make up for expected staffing shortages.
āThe department must manage the unfortunate fact that a portion of our workforce has refused to comply with a vaccine mandate for all city employees,ā Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who had COVID-19 in January, said his department was sending reminders to workers whose records indicated they hadnāt yet received a shot and that NYPD vaccination sites will remain open all weekend. Shea said thousands of officers whoāve applied for medical and religious exemptions will be allowed to work while their cases are reviewed.
Nearly 1,000 officers were vaccinated on Friday alone, the NYPD said, rushing to meet the deadline for the mandate and an extra incentive: workers who get a shot by Friday will get $500.
āOn Monday, when this thing really starts being enforced, weāre going to check the vaccination status and if youāre not vaccinated, no pay and youāre going to be not able to work,ā Shea said in a video message Wednesday to officers. āI donāt think anyone wants that to happen. I donāt think you want it to happen. I certainly donāt. We need you out there.ā
Fire department officials are holding virtual meetings with staff, imploring them to get vaccinated.
A Staten Island judge on Wednesday refused a police unionās request for a temporary block on the mandate, but she ordered city officials into her courtroom next month to explain why the requirement shouldnāt be reversed. If the mandate is deemed illegal, workers put on leave will be given back pay, the city said.
Mike Salsedo, 44, was among hundreds of firefighters protesting Thursday outside de Blasioās residence, Gracie Mansion. He said he believes he has natural immunity to COVID-19 after having the disease last year and doesnāt need to be vaccinated, a stance thatās contrary to the consensus among public health experts.
āIām a man of faith, and I donāt believe that putting something manmade into my body is good,ā Salsedo said.
Another firefighter, Jackie-Michelle Martinez, said the ability to choose was āour God-given rightā as she questioned the cityās decision to move away from its previous policy, which allowed workers to stay on the job if they had a negative COVID-19 test.
āIf the weekly testing is working, why are you, Mayor de Blasio, eliminating it?ā she asked.
COVID-19 is the leading cause of death of law enforcement officers in the U.S., killing 498 officers since the start of 2020 compared to 102 gun deaths, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks police fatalities.
De Blasio on Thursday credited the impending deadline for moving the needle on vaccinations across city government. In the last week, the number of affected workers whoāve gotten at least one dose rose from 71% to 79%.
When the state required all workers at hospitals and nursing homes to get vaccinated, a last-minute rush of people to comply meant that a few facilities experienced staffing challenges.
āWe expected that a lot of the vaccinations would happen toward the end of the deadline,ā de Blasio said. āWe also know a lot of people make the decision once they really realize that theyāre not going to get paid. Thatās just the human reality.ā
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