Will vax mandate leave New York City with fewer workers?

Firefighters rally outside Mayor Bill De Blasio’s residence Gracie Mansion on Thursday. Pic/AP/PTI

Mounting trash, closed firehouses, fewer police and ambulances on the street. That's the possibility New York City is bracing for coming Monday as a Covid-19 vaccine mandate looms and thousands of municipal workers remain unwilling to get the shots. Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and most other city workers face a 5 pm Friday deadline to show proof they've gotten at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Workers who don't comply will be put on unpaid leave starting Monday. Mayor Bill de Blasio held firm on the mandate as firefighters rallied on Thursday outside his official residence, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage pick ups in protest and the city's largest police union went to an appeals court seeking a halt to the vaccine requirement. Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the hard deadline "sets the city up for a real crisis."

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