NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — With 72% of NYPD officers vaccinated, Commissioner Dermot Shea may need to send up to a quarter home with a vaccine mandate for city employees looming.
Shea shared the latest vaccination rates among the NYPD and said Tuesday morning that the department is prepared to enforce the first-dose deadline by Friday.
"We have to prepare as if this is going to go into effect Friday evening and that's exactly what we're going to do," he said on NY1. "We have vaccines available throughout the city for our members."
Shea's message comes a day after the Police Benevolent Association sued over the implementation of Mayor Bill de Blasio's latest mandate — requiring city workers to get fully vaccinated by Nov. 1.
Thousands of municipal workers, including police officers and firefighters, marched in protest against the mandate on the Brooklyn Bridge Monday.
Shea argued against any officers holding out any legal challenge.
City employees without a first dose will be sent home without pay by 5 p.m. Friday.
"Anyone at this point in time, unless something changes, will be put into a leave-without-pay status," Shea said. "What I would urge is for people not to wait to the last moment to see what happens with the lawsuit or anything else. Get the vaccine."
De Blasio stood by the city's latest mandate during his Tuesday news conference.
"We have to do what's right here in New York City, we have to do what's right to protect our employees and the people they serve, and I urge everyone else follow this path because it's the thing that will end the COVID era," he said.