New York mayor takes on anti-vaxxers

After the teachers and health personnel, the Mayor of New York will force the police, firefighters and the rest of municipal workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19, a decision that tries to twist the arm of the anti-vaccine conspirators.

Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this Wednesday, October 20, that as of November 1, all municipal employees, including “the police, firefighters, and garbage collectors” will have to present a vaccination certificate in order to continue working.

“There is no greater privilege than serving the people of New York City and this privilege comes with the responsibility to keep oneself and the community safe,” de Blasio recalled, praising the performance of essential workers throughout the health crisis, “it is time they showed their city the way to end the pandemic once and for all,” he said.

The order comes with an incentive: It promises to pay $500 in the next payroll to workers who have received the first dose before October 29. From that date, recalcitrant people will stop receiving their salary “until they present proof of vaccination” or may even lose their jobs, as has already happened among teachers and health personnel who have refused to be vaccinated.

Only prison staff will have until December 1, due to a lack of personnel at the Rikers Island City Jail.

The main New York police union, the Police Benevolent Association, has already announced that it will appeal the order in court.

“Now that the city has unilaterally decided to enforce this order, we will proceed with legal action to protect the rights of our members,” President Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement on Twitter.

ome 71% of the 160,000 city employees affected by this decision have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, leaving about 46,000 people unvaccinated.

Until now, the mandatory nature of the vaccine had been limited to teachers and health personnel. The rest had the option of taking a negative test each week in order to go to work.

Hard hit by the pandemic in 2020, New York already requires the vaccination certificate for many indoor activities, such as restaurants, cinemas, theaters and gyms.