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New York City’s public employees raced to get their vaccination shots in a last-minute surge on Friday ahead of the city’s 5 p.m. deadline, threatened with being placed on unpaid leave if unvaccinated by Nov. 1.
A majority of the 300,000 employees at the city’s major departments have now received their COVID-19 Mayor Bill de Blasio announced late Friday.
But the FDNY still only a 72 percent vaccination rate by the end of the day Friday, up from 67 percent.
The NYPD vaccination rate was 84 percent for the 55,000 officers on the force, up from 80 percent on Friday morning, the mayor said in a tweet.
Emergency Medical Service workers saw an 84 percent vaccination rate, up from 77 percent.
But only 76 percent of employees at the Department of Sanitation are vaccinated, but from 67 percent, the mayor said.
FDNY rounded out the bottom of the list, with 72 percent as the department faces member protests against local leadership. FDNY said it could potentially shut down 20 percent of its companies across the city due to members who plan to require or quit over the mandate.
A cash reward for the vaccine likely helped accelerate the last-second leap: City employees who began their vaccine series when the mandate was announced on Oct. 20 were offered a $500 paycheck bump as an incentive.
“Never doubt the people who serve our city. They won’t stop until the job’s done,” the Mayor said in a follow-up tweet.
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