Enforced by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and kept by his successor, Eric Adams, the vaccine mandate refers to all municipal workers and requires city employees to provide proof of vaccination by Friday or risk being fired.
But de Blasio announced the mandate against a starkly different political and cultural backdrop.
In mid-October, when the former mayor announced the requirement, other cities and the Biden administration were aggressively seeking vaccine mandates that had much broader support from the public. Adams refused to reverse the mandate despite enormous shifts in attitudes toward vaccine mandates in the intervening months.
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Court rulings have stopped the Biden administration from executing a vaccine mandate for federal employees that would have been similar to New York City’s worker requirement, and the Supreme Court struck down a separate mandate that would have applied to larger private employers.
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Other cities have backed away from vaccine mandates in the face of fierce opposition and threats of personnel loss.
In Portland, city officials ultimately exempted their police department from a citywide vaccine mandate after encountering intense resistance from Portland’s police union.
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In Las Vegas, officials lifted a vaccine mandate in late January for new police officers as the city works to attract fresh recruits.
But New York City has so far not budged in response to opposition, ignoring protests and lawsuits against the vaccine mandate.
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The mayor’s office did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s appeal for comment on the terminations but told the Associated Press on Monday that 1,430 city workers who failed to receive a vaccination or an exemption by Feb. 11 were terminated.
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The city had already placed most of the workers on leave after a previous deadline, but they hadn’t yet been fired as court challenges proceeded. Most of the fired workers came from the New York City Department of Education, according to the Associated Press.
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Some teachers had tried to oppose the vaccine mandate in court in the weeks before the deadline, noting a religious objection to the shot after their requests for religious exemptions were dismissed. The Supreme Court blocked their emergency appeal last week.
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As many as 3,000 workers were expected to face potential termination ahead of the deadline: a number that represents roughly 1% of city workers — as well as perhaps the most significant mass firing in response to vaccine mandates in the country.
The dismissals come as Democratic leaders persist in rolling back the mask and vaccine mandates that once had more popularity.
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