New York City to fire 3,000 unvaccinated employees on Friday

New York City is set to fire 3,000 unvaccinated city employees on Friday. 

The city put a deadline of Feb. 11 for workers to get vaccinated or face termination, with Mayor Eric Adams (D) ready to enforce the mandate, CBS New York reported.

The notice has already been mailed to city employees, who were mandated under former Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) to get the vaccine. 

Adams says since the unvaccinated employees have already been on unpaid leave, services should not be disrupted by the firings. 

“We have to be very clear — people must be vaccinated if they are New York City employees. Everyone understood that,” Adams said.

“We don’t want to terminate anyone. We want people to be vaccinated and employed so that our economy continues to open.”

On Monday, hundreds protested the mandate, saying there should be an option to do regular testing instead of getting the vaccine, according to the local outlet. 

The firings come the week New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced the ending of some of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions. 

The state government will no longer require people to wear masks indoors or force businesses to check a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status. 

However, mask mandates on schools are still in effect, as Hochul says she wants to see higher vaccination rates among children.