NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- The number of NYPD members who went on unpaid leave Monday for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine ended up being quite small, according to Commissioner Dermot Shea.
Shea said just 34 cops out of a total of 35,000 and 40 civilian members out of 17,000 in the NYPD didn’t meet the deadline of getting the COVID-19 vaccine by Monday or applying for an exemption. He said the department was in “strong shape,” including among 911 operators.
“That's very fluid, that could go up as the day goes on, it could also go down as people get their vaccinations status,” said Shea.
Many are still being allowed on the job after applying for religious or medical exemption applications by the deadline last week, which will now be reviewed.
Mayor de Blasio said offering the exemptions to city workers was “the right thing to do.”
“We took the position that there was a valid type of medical exemption, but it was narrow. It was rare,” said de Blasio. “And there was a valid type of religious exemption, but also narrow and rare.”
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The mayor denoted that in the experience of the city with earlier mandates, like with the Department of Education, many applied for exemptions, but very few were granted.
“If the employee wants to provide more information, wants to appeal, I mean, there are several steps in the process, so it will take days to play out for sure,” said de Blasio.
New York City PBA President Patrick Lynch had warned last week that thousands of cops were set to be pulled off the street because of the mandate, although the overall number of those that will go on leave once the exemption process has finished is yet to be known.
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The NYPD’s current vaccination rate is at about 85%, while amongst all city workers, it sits at 91%. Since the mandate was announced Oct. 20, there were over 22,000 new vaccinations in the city.
Less than 6% of the city’s entire workforce of 378,000 took unpaid leave Monday, while 12,000 applied for exemptions.
“We have very strong numbers among our workforce,” de Blasio said, adding that “contingency plans are there” and “we’re not seeing any disruption to city services.”
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