STATEN ICELAND, NY – With all workers in New York City required to get their first COVID-19 vaccine before returning to work on Monday, vaccination numbers spiked across the city on Saturday.
The number of people getting vaccinated in the five counties has increased by more than 10,000 in the past 24 hours, according to state officials.
On Saturday, Governor Kathy Hochul’s office reported that a total of 10,577 city residents have recently been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Friday.
“NYC employees are doing everything they can to protect themselves, their communities and their city from COVID-19,” tweeted Mayor Bill de Blasio on Saturday.
NYC employees are committed to protecting themselves, their communities, and their city # COVID-19.
29 city agencies have vaccination rates of 90% or more and we are seeing dramatic increases in vaccinations among uniformed agencies. This is how we move forward together.
– Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) October 30, 2021
Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that all city workers must have proof of at least one Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination by Friday October 29, or they would be put on unpaid leave on November 1.
âThere is no greater privilege than serving the people of New York City, and that privilege comes with a responsibility to protect yourself and your community,â de Blasio said last week. “Now is the time to show your city the way out of this pandemic once and for all.”
City workers were given an additional $ 500 paycheck incentive to get vaccinated at a city-operated vaccination site before returning to work on Monday, November 1st.
VAX update:
-87.4% of adult New Yorkers have at least one vaccine dose (CDC)
-74.1% of all New Yorkers have at least one vaccine dose (CDC)
-103,348 doses administered in the past 24 hours
-27,133,175 total doses administered pic.twitter.com/3UVom3ghVQ– Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) October 30, 2021
Governor Hochul’s office said a total of 103,348 New York state residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine in the past 24 hours.
“The vaccine is the best tool we have to prevent our numbers from rising like last year,” said Governor Hochul. “Now that booster shots are available, it is critical that New Yorkers continue to do what is best for their communities and their loved ones.”
LOCAL DISCLAIMER TO CITY MANDATES
On Saturday, a number of district elected officials urged Mayor Bill de Blasio to immediately reverse the course of the vaccine mandate, which came into effect on Monday, citing concerns about FDNY staffing after an apparent sick leave on Friday resulted in several fire departments were out of order.
“As of this morning, 26 FDNY stations, including five in my district, have closed due to Mayor de Blasio’s decision to exclude unvaccinated firefighters from work,” said Nicole Malliotakis MP (R-Staten Island / Brooklyn) in a published Statement with Councilor Joe Borelli (R-South Shore).
A number of FDNY firefighters came forward on Friday in an overt protest that drew the wrath of the department’s commissioner who described it as “excessive” and “unacceptable”.
“The excessive sick leave of a group of our firefighters because of their anger over the vaccination mandate for all city workers is unacceptable, contrary to their oath, and can endanger the lives of New Yorkers,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said in a statement.