New York, Oct. 4 (US): New York City teachers and other school staff are supposed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when the bell rings Monday morning, in one of the first school district states in the country to require staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Mayor Bill de Blasio gave an ultimatum to the city’s 148,000 public school employees on Friday, saying that unvaccinated employees would be given unpaid leave and not be allowed to work this week. The city plans to bring in replacements when needed, the AP reports.
Implementing the mandate smoothly could be a challenge for de Blasio, a Democrat who has boasted of the city’s record of keeping school buildings open for most of the past school year when other districts went into distance education. New York City is not offering a remote option this year.
De Blasio said 90% of Department of Education employees have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 93% of teachers and 98% of principals, as of Friday.
The vaccination mandate in the nation’s largest school system does not include the option of testing, but does allow for medical and religious exemptions. It was supposed to go into effect last week, but was delayed when the Federal Court of Appeals issued a temporary injunction. The Appeals Committee reversed this decision three days later.
A similar mandate is due to go into effect in Los Angeles on October 15.
Mark Cannizzaro, chair of the Board of School Supervisors and Administrators, said that despite an increase in vaccinations last week, some school administrators were unable to find enough staff to replace unvaccinated workers.
“While we are grateful for the increase in the percentage of staff vaccinated system-wide since the deadline was extended, there are still too many school leaders who were unable to find eligible replacements for Monday,” Cannizzaro said.
A United Teachers Federation spokesperson said the city “needs to work hard to make sure there are enough vaccinated staff to open schools safely Monday morning.”
Teachers and other school staff who sued over the school vaccine authorization asked the US Supreme Court on Thursday to issue an emergency order blocking its implementation. The request was denied on Friday.
Many students and parents support the mandate of the vaccine as the best way to keep schools open during the pandemic.
“It’s safer for our kids,” said Joyce Ramirez, 28, who was picking her three kids out of an elementary school in the Bronx last week.
Ramirez said she hopes the requirement will reduce the chances of teachers contracting the virus and lead to classroom or school closures.
Cody Miller, a 15-year-old sophomore at a Manhattan high school, said all teachers should be vaccinated. “I think they should,” said the teen, who got vaccinated once Pfizer was approved for people 12 and older. “There’s a lot of kids, it’s a big environment, you know?”
But Mali Deruchi, another Bronx mother, had mixed feelings. “I kind of feel like this is a decision they should be able to make themselves,” said Deruchi, 29, who feels masks and other precautions can check the spread of the virus within schools.
Some teachers have reservations about the mandate, but they comply with it.
Maurice Jones, 46, a support staff member at a middle school in Manhattan, said he received the vaccination months ago but sympathizes with his co-workers who did not. “If they have to do more tests, they should do more tests,” Jones said. “I don’t think they should lose their jobs.”
Roxanne Rizzi, who teaches technology at an elementary school in Queens, waited until Friday to get her first coronavirus vaccine.
“I had to do it for my family’s finances,” she said.
Rizzi, 55, resisted the vaccine because she contracted COVID-19 in November and thought her natural immunity would protect her. She said she would continue to protest the mandate.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people should be vaccinated even if they have already contracted the virus. The agency says COVID-19 vaccines provide better protection from natural immunity and help prevent reinfection.