Who Are the 1,430 Employees New York Just Fired For Refusing Vaccination?

95% of New York City employees are vaccinated, as are 99% of new hires. Curiously, the city's Department of Education had by far the most employees fired. 

Given the agencies from which employees were fired for defying the mandate, it would appear that many refused because they believed disinformation and misinformation available on social media and from other sources, rather than that they were adherents of right wing ideologies. JL

Amanda Eisenberg reports in Politico:

The workers let go were new hires who got their first dose but never submitted proof of their second dose, and staff who were placed on leave without pay and opted out of their health coverage because they refused to get vaccinated. The New York City Department of Education lost 914 staffers to the mandate. Other agencies that fired staff over the vaccine mandate include the New York City Housing Authority (101 layoffs), Department of Correction (75), Department of Sanitation (40) and the NYPD (36). 30 agencies, in total, lost staff.

New York City fired 1,430 municipal workers after they refused to get fully vaccinated for Covid-19 or submit proof of their shots, City Hall confirmed Monday. That figure represents less than 1 percent of the city’s 370,000-person workforce.

The details: The workers who were let go fell into two categories: new hires who got their first dose but never submitted proof of their second dose, and staff who were placed on leave without pay and opted out of their health coverage because they refused to get vaccinated. The city fired just two workers in the first category and 1,428 employees in the second. Another almost 1,000 city workers in the second category who were on leave without pay chose to get the shot before the termination deadline last week.

“Our goal was always to vaccinate, not terminate, and city workers stepped up and met the goal placed before them,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “Out of all the new city employees who received notices two weeks ago, only two who worked last week are no longer employed by the city. I’m grateful to all the city workers who continue to serve New Yorkers and ‘Get Stuff Done’ for the greatest city in the world.”

The breakdown: The New York City Department of Education lost 914 staffers to the mandate — significantly more than any other agency and beyond the anticipated figure of about 700 staffers. The employees from the DOE and other agencies have not been working or collecting paychecks since November 2021, but they have been holding on to coveted civil service jobs, according to City Hall.

“They have not been teaching in schools, patrolling our streets, or maintaining our parks — yet they have been taking salary lines away from agencies and stopping the city from hiring individuals who are willing to do the jobs New Yorkers need them to do,” according to City Hall.

Other agencies that fired staff over the vaccine mandate include the New York City Housing Authority (101 layoffs), Department of Correction (75) and Department of Sanitation (40). About 30 agencies, in total, lost staff.

Key context: The vaccine mandate, which was enacted by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in October, replaced the test-or-vaccinate policy favored by workers unwilling to get their shot. Once the mandate took effect, vaccine rates skyrocketed across agencies, particularly among the members of the NYPD, FDNY and Department of Correction. Adams kept the termination policy in effect, which was anticipated to affect up to 4,000 workers.

What’s next: The city is still looking to improve its vaccination rate. The Adams administration reinstated $100 incentives at certain sites for people getting their first shot or their booster.