Nearly 90 NYPD officers forced to go on leave over vaccine mandate

Nearly 90 officers with the New York Police Department (NYPD) are being forced to go on leave for not complying with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday.

Shea told NY1 on Tuesday that 89 officers are on leave without pay for not complying with the mandate.

The commissioner added that, while the number may change again, there’s no real concern to public safety.

“When you take into account our size, that’s 0.25 of 1 percent. It’ll probably move again for maybe another day or so,” Shea said. “When you look at where we are, we’re in really good shape.”  

This morning, @NYPDShea spoke with @patkiernan on @NY1 about the vaccine mandate.

Watch the full interview pic.twitter.com/dBLgJUtFSh

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) November 2, 2021

The number is a notable increase from Monday, when Shea told reporters that only 34 officers out of the roughly 35,000-strong work force were placed on no-pay status for not complying with the mandate. Shea prefaced Monday’s numbers by saying that the numbers were “very fluid.” 

“That could go up as the day goes on, it could also go down as people get their vaccinations status,” Shea said Monday.

Overall, Shea said 85 percent of NYPD employees are vaccinated.  

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) extended the city’s vaccine mandate to all public employees, giving them until Oct. 29 to have at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Employees who provided proof by the deadline will receive a $500 bonus, while those who did not will be placed on unpaid leave.

The New York City Police Benevolent Association announced last Monday that it would sue to block the NYPD from enforcing the mandate. A judge shot down the challenge on Tuesday, according to the New York Daily News.