NYC Mayor Eric Adams Finally Lifts COVID Vaccine Mandates for Public Employees—but Won’t Automatically Reinstate Thousands of Fired Workers

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Monday that the Big Apple is dropping its mandatory COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public employees—but also said that the nearly 2,000 people fired for refusing the vax will not automatically get their jobs back and instead will have to reapply.

It’s exactly this kind of capricious and cruel response that has made so many Americans distrustful of COVID policies from the Federal Government to the local level.

Adams tweeted out the news:

With more than 96 percent of city workers and more than 80 percent of New Yorkers having received their primary #COVID19 series and more tools readily available to keep us healthy, the #COVID19 Vaccination Will Become Optional for City Workers.

Read more: https://t.co/OSuNs7Deku

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) February 6, 2023

The mayor said in his statement:

…this is the right moment for this decision.

No, the “right moment” for this decision was years ago. In fact, the requirement to inject oneself with Pfizer BioNTech mRNA shots that are not even to this day approved by the FDA (they’re still under “emergency use authorization” if you can believe that) should never have been mandated in the first place. Adams continued:

I continue to urge every New Yorker to get vaccinated, get boosted, and take the necessary steps to protect themselves and those around them from COVID-19.

Any ounce of credibility Adams still had evaporated with that one sentence. Who in their right mind would be urging every New Yorker to receive a vaccine and/or booster that is ineffective and potentially dangerous? The people who are still holding on to this vaccine-as-cure-all fantasy truly seem delusional at this point.

But what about the 1,780 city workers who were summarily fired when they refused the shot? Well, they won’t get back pay, for starters, and they will have to reapply if they want their old positions back. If they’re rehired, will they start at the same salary they had when they were axed? Will they retain whatever rank or seniority they had earned? It’s not clear at this point.

⁦@NYCMayor⁩ not good enough people were fired, forced from their careers, homes, discriminated against or forced to put something in their body they did not want & some of them were harmed. #TheFinestUnfiltered https://t.co/pdapbABfYP

— John D. Macari Jr. 🇺🇸🗽 (@JohnDMacari) February 6, 2023

The NY Post reports on how the mandate affected one New York firefighter:

Jairo Sosa, 37, who worked for 7 1/2-years as a firefighter before his “forced resignation,” said he would love to get his job back. He has a wife and three young kids ages 5, 3, and seven months old.

“It’s a great job. I love going out and serving my community. I was working in the same community I grew up in — Washington Heights,” Sosa said.

He was awarded a medal in 2021 after rescuing a 5-year-old girl.

“You get a medal one year then you get terminated the year after,” Sosa said.

That’s just one story, but there are at least 1,779 more.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams had ended the vaccine mandate for city workers

Hundreds of people were stripped of their livelihood for refusing this mandate over the last two years and they will NOT be reinstated

Absolutely disgusting

— Clayton Keirns (@CKeirns) February 6, 2023

So much about the nation’s COVID policies on the federal, state, and local levels was outrageous and dictatorial, and firing thousands of people during one of the most trying times in their lives was flat-out wrong.

Admit your mistakes, Eric Adams, and restore these people’s jobs, back pay, and seniority.

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