FILE
NEW YORK CITY (77WABC) – Get vaxxed or get the ax?
New York City officials are now requiring Department of Education employees to be vaccinated this coming school year. All 148,000 education employees will be required to receive at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose by Sept. 27th. Kids are back in the classroom on Sept. 13th.
The vaccine mandate will apply to teachers, principals, substitutes, and maintenance staff, according to education department spokesperson Danielle Filson. The requirement also applies to school safety agents. The mandate does not apply to school bus drivers. It also does not apply to staff who work in public pre-kindergarten programs that operate outside of education department buildings, which includes a majority of students in the city’s universal pre-K programs.
Education staffers are the first group of city workers to face a full vaccine mandate. The announcement also opens the door to a broader vaccine mandate for NYC all workers.
Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated that the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine (it was previously listed as Emergency Use Authorization) helped clear the way for the vaccine mandate. The Moderna and the Johnson&Johnson vaccine have not received full approval yet but it appears it will happen soon.
“This is a game-changing moment,” de Blasio said of the FDA’s decision. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Before Monday’s announcement, the city was planning to allow teachers to submit to weekly testing if they are not fully vaccinated by the time classes start. Officials did not have not said yet what consequences education employees would face if they refuse to be vaccinated.
See the mayor’s full announcement below.
Today we’re announcing that ALL @NYCSchools faculty and staff must be vaccinated against #COVID19 this school year. Join me #onStatenIsland for more. https://t.co/zfSxXFII2v
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) August 23, 2021
