New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all the city's public employees, giving them $500 as an incentive and up to nine days to be vaccinated, failing which they will be placed on unpaid leave, the city announced Wednesday
NEW YORK CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2021) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all the city's public employees, giving them $500 as an incentive and up to nine days to be vaccinated, failing which they will be placed on unpaid leave, the city announced Wednesday.
"Starting today, City employees will receive an extra $500 in their paycheck for receiving their first shot at a City-run vaccination site," the city said in a statement. "This benefit will end at 5pm on Friday, October 29th, by which point City employees are required to have proof of at least one dose. Unvaccinated employees will be placed on unpaid leave until they show proof of vaccination to their supervisor."
New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi will sign a Commissioner's Order on Wednesday to formalize the mandate by de Blasio, the city said.
Chokshi's order will immediately apply to approximately 160,500 city workers, it said, adding that 71% of them have already received at least one vaccine dose.
Prior to Wednesday's mandate, the city had only made vaccinations compulsory for Department of education and New York City Health and Hospitals workers, who have achieved vaccination rates of 96% and 95%, respectively, according to the statement.
It said the new mandate will be effective on November 1 to the entire municipal workforce, including all New York City Police Department, New York City Fire Department, and New York Department of Sanitation employees. Civilian employees of the Department of Correction and uniformed members assigned to healthcare settings are also immediately subject to the mandate. Prison workers will be subject to the mandate effective December 1, due to staffing challenges on the Rikers Island prison, the city said.
"There is no greater privilege than serving the people of New York City, and that privilege comes with a responsibility to keep yourself and your community safe," de Blasio was quoted as saying in the statement. "We have led the way against COVID-19 - from fighting for the right to vaccinate frontline workers, to providing nation-leading incentives, to creating the Key to NYC mandate. As we continue our recovery for all of us, city workers have been a daily inspiration. Now is the time for them to show their city the path out of this pandemic once and for all."
New York City and many parts of New York State were shut down between April and June last year after they became the number one COVID hotspot in the United States at the height of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
