Roughly 2,300 members of the New York City Fire Department claimed they were sick and didn’t show up to work on Monday as the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers went into effect. 

All city workers were required to have received at least one dose of the vaccine by October 29. City leaders suspect many of those who didn’t roll up their sleeves feigned illness to avoid being disciplined for failing to comply with the health requirement. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said last month that workers who didn’t get at least their first shot by the deadline would be placed on unpaid leave.

FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said on Monday that firefighters had plenty of time to get vaccinated, and he implored those who have yet to get jabbed to get their shots so they can return to work. Normally, on any given day fewer than 1,000 department member would be out sick, he said. The FDNY employs about 11,000 uniformed workers. 

De Blasio also said he believes that many of the 2,300 firefighters who called in sick were pretending to be ill and violating oaths they took to serve the public. 

“This is something we don’t tolerate”

“We have every reason to believe we have a lot of people out there claiming they are sick when they are not,” de Blasio said in a press conference Monday, noting there could be “real consequences” for employees who are determined to have lied about their health status. “This is something we don’t tolerate.”

“It is imperative that everyone come to work and do their job. The taxpayers of this city rely on all of our public services, particularly our first responders,” the mayor added. 

Commissioner Nigro agreed that the surge in FDNY members on medical leave is tied to the city’s vaccine mandate taking effect. To date, three-quarters of the city’s firefighters are vaccinated, well below the 91% rate for the city’s 300,000 municipal workers as a whole. 

“Since the mandate was issued, our medical leave spiked up and we know that,” Nigro said, noting that roughly 700 people a day visited the department’s medical office last week.

“The majority of them are unvaccinated. This is completely unacceptable,” he said.

The widespread absences are not affecting the FDNY’s response times because firefighters who are reporting for duty are picking up extra shifts, Nigro said. “Thanks to those stepping up to fill spots, our department is functioning quite well.”