Fewer Than 1% of NYC Workers on Leave Due to Vaccine Mandate

(Bloomberg) -- Fewer than 1% of New York City’s workforce is on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a briefing. 

There number of those off the job for failing to comply with the inoculation requirement dropped to 2,600 Wednesday. That’s down from 9,000 on Nov. 1 when the mandate took effect.

Workers who submitted requests for accommodations from the requirement have been allowed to continue working while being tested. As of Wednesday, there are 12,400 such requests pending, the mayor said. Those are being reviewed and de Blasio said that once final decisions are made, “most people will ultimately make the decision to get vaccinated, and we welcome that.”

There have been nearly 28,000 new vaccinations among the workforce since the mandate was announced and over 8,000 since the requirement’s official deadline, de Blasio said. Overall, 93% of city employees have been vaccinated.

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