TIMELY REMINDER: Vaccine Requirements Work
November 2, 2021
| Nearly 92% of city employees in New York have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in part thanks to the city’s vaccine requirement implemented yesterday. Despite claims from Republicans, NYC is the latest example of vaccine requirements’ success and is a reminder that these requirements are the best way to put this pandemic in the rearview mirror. Despite being led to believe there would be mass resignations, thousands of city employees, police officers, and firefighters have gotten their first dose of the vaccine in recent days. CNN: “About 92% of the city’s employees have received at least one dose, including about 2,000 in the past 24 hours, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday morning. The number of city employees on leave appears to be less than 3% of the municipal workforce.” New York Times: “In the 12 days from when the mandate was first announced and Monday’s deadline, the vaccination rate shot up at many city agencies. At the city’s Emergency Medical Service, which operates ambulances, the vaccination rate jumped to 87 percent from 61 percent. The Sanitation Department’s vaccination rate jumped 20 percentage points, to 82 percent from 62 percent.” Washington Post: “NYC police unions warned vaccine mandates would pull 10,000 officers off streets. So far, the number is 34.” It’s a similar story at businesses and institutions across the country, as vaccine requirements have led to sky-high vaccination rates. Reuters: “Vaccination rates against COVID-19 in the United States have risen by more than 20 percentage points after multiple institutions adopted vaccine requirements in recent months, while case numbers and deaths from the virus are down, Biden administration officials said on Wednesday.” New York Times: “Days away from its deadline, Tyson Foods reaches a 96 percent vaccination rate.” NPR: “On Aug. 6, United became the first U.S. airline to tell its workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they wanted to keep their jobs. The company says 99.5% of United employees have been vaccinated, not counting the roughly 2,000 who have applied for religious or medical exemptions.” Washington Post: “Most health-care systems that require vaccination have touted widespread compliance. In interviews, administrators at some of the nation’s largest hospital systems said the mandates worked: Officials said that they have very high vaccination rates they attributed to the requirement and that they have seen coronavirus infections — and sick leaves — noticeably drop.” |
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