Mayor Stands Firm On Firing City Workers Over Vaccine Mandate

NEW YORK, NY — An untold number of city workers will still be fired this weekend for not complying with a vaccine mandate despite a new legal challenge to the order, according to Mayor Eric Adams.

The mayor stood firm Friday — the deadline for the vaccine requirement — that city workers who failed to get their shot would be terminated, though he would not reveal the exact number of workers that would face the consequence.

The firings will come despite a new lawsuit filed challenging the mandate on the grounds of religious freedom and protests this week from those who refuse to comply.

"Those who are using the criminal justice system I respect them to do so, but right now, the law of the land: you have to get vaccinated," Adams said at the opening of a COVID center in Brooklyn on Friday.

It is estimated that around 3,000 workers who have not complied with the vaccine mandate will face termination, less than 1 percent of the city's work force, according to reports.

The mayor contended Friday that that number could go down given some workers who got the shot but had yet to file their paperwork. He said an exact number of employees who face firing will be calculated over the weekend.

The city will also evaluate how many of the employees who are fired will need to be replaced by new hires, he added.

The New York City vaccine mandate, put in place under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, would be the largest workforce reduction in the country over vaccine requirements, according to the New York Times.

The latest lawsuit comes after a previous legal challenge from labor unions, who were able to briefly pause the mandate but were ultimately overruled in court.

Most city workers have complied with the mandate: the vaccine rate among the 370,000-employee workforce stands around 95 percent, according to the mayor's office.

"It's not about termination, it’s about vaccination," he said. "I don’t want to see the city close down again, and all we can do is continue to encourage people ... Hopefully people will listen to what we’re saying hear my voice and just get vaccinated."