More than 24,000 city workers will be forced to stay home Monday when Mayor de Blasio’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate goes into effect, raising concerns about the impact on emergency response times in the five boroughs.
“That’s the question everyone’s asking: How many more minutes will it take to respond, how many more lives will be lost as a result?” one Manhattan patrol cop told The Post on Sunday.
“There’s a correlation between time and mortality that a lot of people in City Hall don’t understand. Unfortunately, the only way they’re going to get the message is by seeing the numbers rise and rise. And seeing how crime is already on the rise, they really need to look at their priorities and decide if this is a good idea, and they need to do it soon.”
Despite a 14 percent bump in the number of city government workers who have gotten at least one shot since de Blasio announced the mandate on Oct. 20, thousands of others would still rather be placed on unpaid leave than get jabbed.
That includes, roughly, more than 8,000 members of the NYPD, 3,700 FDNY employees — including smoke eaters and EMS — and nearly 2,000 sanitation workers, according to City Hall statistics.
The latest data from City Hall showed that 91 percent of the city workforce has adhered to the mandate to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine but that 24,200 are unvaxxed, as of 8 p.m. Saturday.
Members of the FDNY have been among those vehemently opposed to de Blasio’s order, which included a Friday 5 p.m. deadline for a $500 bonus for getting the shot.
On Saturday, 26 fire companies across the five boroughs were shuttered due to manpower shortages — with at least 20 still out of action Sunday.
Thousands of unvaccinated NYPD employees will be allowed to continue to remain on the job, but only if they applied for medical or religious exemptions which will be reviewed by the NYPD Equal Employment Opportunity Division.
But the impact on city services has already begun.
On Friday, Ladder Co. 45 in Washington Heights had to respond to a building fire on W. 186th Street without Engine Co. 93, which was undermanned and out of service.
Fire officials confirmed that ladder company firefighters had to run into the burning building to save two people — before any water was sprayed on the flames because the nearest backup engine company was 11 minutes away, fire officials confirmed.
“They’re lucky to be alive,” one emergency response expert said, calling the rescue “incredibly dangerous.”
That source added, “It’s forcing the guys and gals who are on duty to take extra risks here. Firefighting is a very coordinated, a very multitasked operation.”
In fiscal year 2021, the emergency response time average was 5 minutes and 23 seconds, while response time for structure fires was an average of 4 minutes, 52 seconds. For the NYPD, response time to critical calls clocked in at 6 minutes, 42 seconds for this same week in 2019, according to city data.
FDNY sources said desperate brass have ordered firefighters who went on duty Sunday night to stay at their firehouses until it can be staffed — with 2,000 smoke eaters currently on medical leave.
More than half of those have yet to be vaccinated, the sources said.
Meanwhile, sources said 700 cops on non-patrol assignments are being dispatched to city street beats to fill in the gaps.
“They want to maintain the staffing levels of patrol,” one cop told The Post, “to handle emergencies and take care of the public.”
The re-assigned officers will spread out over three shifts.
The impact on city residents goes beyond first-responders, with sanitation workers now working overtime to tackle mounting trash piles.
“To help meet service needs, sanitation workers are working 12-hour shifts and will be working Sundays as needed, including today to continue our work picking up trash and recycling,” department spokeswoman Belinda Mager said in an email Sunday. “
The Police Benevolent Association, the NYPD’s largest police union, mounted legal challenges to the mandate, though so far to no avail.
Hundreds of city workers have also taken to the streets, last week protesting the mandate at a rally outside Gracie Mansion in Manhattan.
The mayor issued an ultimatum when he announced the mandate, giving all city workers until 9 a.m. Monday to get at least one COVID-19 shot or get furloughed and go home.
