All New York City municipal employees will be required to have the COVID-19 vaccine under a new mandate announced by Mayor de Blasio on Wednesday.
The city workers — including firefighters and cops — will have to get their first shot by Oct. 29, de Blasio said.
The mandate comes into effect Oct. 29 for the entire municipal workforce.
Uniformed correction officers have until Dec. 1 to receive their first jab amid an ongoing staffing shortage at Rikers Island.
Under the mandate – first reported by The Post on Tuesday — city employees will receive an extra $500 in their paycheck as an incentive if they get their first vaccine dose through next week.
De Blasio said unvaccinated employees will be placed on unpaid leave after the deadline until they can show proof of vaccination to their supervisor.
Previously, only Department of Education staff and city health workers were required to be vaccinated, but de Blasio had long considered extending the mandate to all 300,000 city workers.
The current vaccination rate among the city’s workforce stands at about 83 percent. That number is significantly lower among cops and firefighters.
The NYPD has a vaccination rate of 69 percent among its 55,000 cops and civilian members.
Among members of the FDNY, the vaccination rate was even lower. Just 59 percent of smoke eaters have gotten the jab.
Pat Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, has said “the COVID-19 vaccine is a medical decision that members must make in consultation with their own healthcare providers.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has said that he fully supports a mandate for police officers, citing the virus’ recent toll on cops.
“We lost three members last week, two of them to COVID, and I think it’s all unnecessary, to some degree. And I just, everyone I think, all across this country, really, should be embracing these vaccines,” Shea said Tuesday during an interview on NY1.
The virus was the leading cause of death among police officers across the country since the pandemic began — far exceeding the death toll by gunfire, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
In a statement announcing the mandate, de Blasio said: “We have led the way against COVID-19 – from fighting for the right to vaccinate frontline workers, to providing nation-leading incentives, to creating the Key to NYC mandate.
“As we continue our recovery for all of us, city workers have been a daily inspiration. Now is the time for them to show their city the path out of this pandemic once and for all.”
The news about the mandate did not sit well with one Brooklyn elected official.
“The mayor has no idea what he’s doing. We’re going to lose half of our cops and half of our fire department if this goes through, and then what?” the official said.
Many first responders had been happy with the previous rule that required them to be vaccinated or subjected to regular COVID-19 testing.
Despite its ability to stave off a deadly disease that has killed more than 720,000 in the US alone, hundreds of protesters flocked to Times Square last weekend to voice their outrage about vaccine mandates.
“This means standing up for our freedom and indivisible rights, to come together as a group and let each other know we are not alone,” said Brett Copp, 56, a city worker from Staten Island who went to the “Rally for Freedom” protest Saturday at 41st Street and Broadway.