It’s like a headline out of the past: more than 850 teachers and classroom aides have been given their walking papers for failing to get the COVID vaccines in New York City. This brings the total of school employees fired during the COVID crisis to almost 2,000. They’ve all been fired for refusing to have their bodies injected with a vaccine that does not prevent the virus, does not stop its transmission, and whose sole claim to fame is that it reduces the severity of illness once you get the ‘rona. But even that is under hot dispute these days.

The New York Post sums up the insanity:

About 1,300 DOE employees who took a year’s unpaid leave —  with benefits — agreed to show proof of COVID vaccination by Sept. 5 or be “deemed to have voluntarily resigned.”

Of those staffers, 450 got a shot by the deadline and “are returning to their prior schools or work locations,” DOE officials told The Post. They include some 225 teachers and 135 paraprofessionals.

The 850 let go makes roughly 1,950 DOE staffers terminated since the vaccine mandate took effect on Oct. 29, 2021.

Insane. There is a teacher shortage in New York and they just keep firing teachers for not taking the vax which doesn't prevent infection or transmission anyway. https://t.co/wPp8xnw1qt

— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) September 17, 2022

The employees have all been fired for balking at the education workers’ vaccine mandate imposed by former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2021. Didn’t we finally get rid of this guy, de Blasio? Wasn’t Eric Adams supposed to be a saner, better mayor? So far he has been one big, fat failure, and took months to finally remove the ridiculous requirement that toddlers wear masks to school. Why he isn’t lifting the teacher vax mandate is beyond me.

Want some irony? The state is currently experiencing a massive teacher shortage. They’re even importing teachers from the Dominican Republic to help out. Perfect time to fire a whole bunch of folks.

Dr. Stan Harper, superintendent of the Salmon River Central School District in upstate New York, explains the scarcity of educators:

This shortage started in 2008 with the recession and the budgetary issues that we had, and then in 2012 with new APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review). That combination of no money and severe regulations…we lost a generation of teachers. Now it peaks due to COVID, due to, are they being paid enough? Are the teachers getting respect?

Look at the demands that are on teachers today.

In all, NYC has fired more than 2,600 municipal workers who are not fully vaccinated, according to numbers from City Hall. This passionate firefighter went viral last week for pointing out the incredible hypocrisy behind the mandates. His story is heartbreaking:

Friday last week, a former firefighter captain EXPLODED on the NYC council members for ending his 20 year career over vaccine mandates 😍

This video demonstrates the fire and passion every citizen should have over outrageous goverment overreach of the past pic.twitter.com/rqPbTeivtJ

— CensorThis (@Censor__This) September 12, 2022

I and others at RedState have written extensively about the failure of the vaccines, the ridiculousness of the lockdowns and mask mandates—and the incredible human costs—click here to see our prior coverage. COVID for most of America is over, and while it is certainly still a factor, it is no longer the crisis it once was. Reading news like this out of New York feels like traveling in a time machine to the Big Apple in 2020 and picking up a newspaper.

They promised us they would rely on The Science™, and they have done anything but. Mayor Eric Adams was supposed to be a breath of fresh air after the disastrous reign of Bill de Blasio; instead, he has continued the vindictive, ineffective policies of the past. It’s not science, it’s punishment.