Firefighters from FDNY began receiving coronavirus vaccines on Tuesday, but a planned rollout of the shots for the NYPD was scrapped, with a union note citing a delay at the end of the state.
“I got it because I want to protect the people I love, the people I work with, and the people they love.
“I just think it’s important to take care of as many people as possible.”
Between three locations – department head office plus the fire academy on Randall’s Island and the EMS academy in Fort Totten in Queens – the FDNY can now vaccinate about 450 members a day.
It also counts EMS employees who received the vaccine last week.
The deployment came in the wake of a survey conducted by the Uniformed Firefighters Association earlier this month, which indicated that more than half of smokers would refuse the vaccine.
The president of the Union, Andy Ansbro – who said that the hesitation was partly due to a ‘real education issue’ about who needs the vaccine, was among those who got the shot on Tuesday.
“Hopefully it will get the city and the country back on track,” he said.
Ansbro praised the recent efforts of the department and the union to ward off the fear of firefighters through information and was cautiously optimistic that they seemed to be working.
‘The union had a question and answer with a virologist and we answered all the questions our members sent us. “About two dozen members actually reached out to me and said that the work we had done had changed its mind,” he said.
“Right now, it seems like thousands of members have signed up to get it, and that’s very encouraging.”
The FDNY said on Tuesday that more than 1,000 EMS employees in the city have now been vaccinated.
There are approximately 4,400 FDNY EMS employees and 11,000 firefighters.
But while the bravest lined up, the most beautiful kept waiting.
A memorandum circulated within the Detectives’ Endowment Association union said a planned Tuesday launch for cops was suspended due to issues facing the state.
“The state has not released the vaccine in the amount needed for the NYPD,” the memo reads in part.
NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea confirmed the delay during a comprehensive briefing Tuesday morning, pointing out that the department was “anxiously awaiting their jabs.”
Union leaders blew up government bureaucracy over the delay.
“The lives of the police and the New Yorkers we serve are being seriously jeopardized by the delay in delaying the available COVID-19 vaccine for the NYPD,” DEA President Paul DiGiacomo said in a statement.
“Detectives have thousands of close interactions with the public every day as we continue to keep people safe, provide medical assistance and respond to calls for help,” he continued. “On the heels of the deaths of six detectives and current increasing virus numbers, DEA members need the vaccine before another family is tragically left behind – and they need it now.”
According to the department, forty-eight members of the NYPD died from the coronavirus.
Patrick Lynch, head of the police charity association, agrees with DiGiacomo.
“Once again, politicians in Albany and City Hall are wasting time with bureaucratic gymnastics instead of looking at reality on the ground,” he said in a statement. ‘New York police officers are not just at the forefront. We cover all parts of the front line: from hospitals and housing complexes to the store.
“We have more contact with New Yorkers daily than any other city agency,” Lynch continues. “We continue to make vaccination available to police officers as soon as possible.”
A spokesman for the state Department of Health said vaccines were on the way for police but that groups prioritized before them, including front-line health workers and those in nursing homes, were still being vaccinated.
“NYPD is the first respondent to be eligible in Phase 1b, which has not changed, and any suggestion that we withhold the supply of vaccines is apparently false,” Gary Holmes said. ‘We are still in the middle of phase 1a, which includes front-line health workers, nursing homes and certain congregational care institutions.
“Timing depends on when the vaccine is available, and we look forward to working with NYPD and all first responders in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.”
As they are trained and certified to fight fires and provide emergency medical services, firefighters are qualified for the first phase.
Shea said earlier this month that vaccines would not be mandatory for NYPD staff, but later opened the door for them to become potentially mandatory.