Oct. 29 (UPI) -- New York City's COVID-19 vaccine requirement for all city workers takes effect on Friday afternoon, and officials say there's still a share of the roster that still haven't received a shot.
City workers have until 5 p.m. Friday to receive at least their first vaccine dose. If they don't, they will be placed on leave starting Monday.
If unvaccinated employees don't comply, it could lead to small manpower shortages across city sectors, including the police and fire departments and sanitation workers.
Some sanitation workers skipped trash pickups this week as a protest against the mandate.
Related
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that he'll order mandatory overtime and extend shifts to make sure any staff shortages don't affect critical services.
"My job is to keep people safe, my employees, and 8.8 million people," de Blasio told reporters.
"Until we defeat COVID, people are not safe. If we don't stop COVID, New Yorkers will die. We must, must stop COVID and the way to do that is vaccination. And that must include our public employees."
De Blasio said the city needs to "lead the way" in vaccinations and other coronavirus measures, noting that illness-related shortages last year prompted police to establish emergency contingency plans that are available, if needed.
New York City's Police Benevolent Association said Thursday that as many as 10,000 officers could be pulled from duty if they remain unvaccinated.
"New York City cannot afford to have a police department that is weak, disorganized and totally dominated by the irrational whims of City Hall," union president Patrick Lynch said in a statement. "Unfortunately, that's what the NYPD has become."
A firefighters union protested the mandate on Thursday outside de Blasio's mansion.
