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Thousands of unvaccinated Big Apple city workers are set to lose their jobs Friday, which marks the end of the grace period to get a COVID-19 jab.
Nearly 4,000 of the city’s roughly 400,000 municipal employees are currently at risk of getting axed under the divisive mandate made by the previous administration in October, the city has said.
Current Mayor Eric Adams confirmed this week that he will go ahead with the terminations despite legal objections and a swell of protests, including a march to City Hall planned for early Friday.
“We’re not firing them. People are quitting,” Adams insisted at a news conference Thursday.
“The responsibility is clear … if you’re hired, if you get this job, you have to be vaccinated. If you are not following the rules, you are making that decision,” he insisted.
The latest figures show that around 95 percent of the city’s workforce have received at least one dose of the vaccine, up from 84 percent when the mandate was announced by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Of those likely to lose their jobs, Adams has repeatedly stressed that he wants to keep them, singling out police officers, firefighters and teachers.
But he said maintaining “a clear direction” was more important to ensure ongoing safety.
“We have to be very clear. People must be vaccinated if they are New York City employees,” he said.
“Everyone understood that, and we have to follow that.”
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