More than 2,000 New York City firefighters reportedly have taken medical leave as part of a “sickout” in protest of the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to The Hill.
New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Monday that medical leave requests have “spiked” since the city first unveiled the mandate, which went into effect this week. About 700 people have called out sick per day, he said, noting that, normally, only about 200 people call out sick per day.
Out of the department’s 350 units, 18 were out of service on Monday, Nigro added.
“Our fire officers’ union is not participating in this medical leave … but our firefighters most definitely are,” he said this week. “I asked them to rethink this, to remember their oath of office.”
The fire fighters’ union, Uniformed Firefighters Association, has denied organizing an official “sickout,” but reiterated that workers will continue to push back until the mandate is revoked.
“By the commissioners own admission, the majority of members on sick leave are unvaccinated,” the union’s president, Andrew Ansbro, said on Twitter. “They would not be working because they were sent home by @NYCMayor de Blasio’s dangerous mandate. You can’t have it both ways. This crisis is clearly on the Mayor.”
The union representing New York City’s police officers has also vowed to fight the vaccine mandate. Last month, the New York City Police Benevolent Association filed a lawsuit to overturn the mandate, arguing it will “impose irreparable harm on police officers.”
“A police officer with sincerely held medical, health, or religious concerns with the vaccine will face irreparable harm if forced to submit to vaccination prior to the Court’s determination whether the vaccine mandate is unlawful,” the lawsuit states.
“These officers have rights to medical autonomy and religious observance that would be violated by forcing them to submit to a vaccination,” the lawsuit continued. “Once a vaccination occurs, that bell cannot be un-rung.”
