New York City is reportedly suffering from a shortage of firefighters and emergency personnel on the eve of the Nov. 1 deadline, which requires city workers to have at least one dose of the COVID vaccine.
Report from New York Post he said 26 New York City Fire Department (FDNY) companies across the city were “closed” on Saturday due to the city’s vaccination mandate, to city officials.
“From 7.30 in the morning, 26 @FDNY businesses are closed, including 5 in my district due to @NYCMayor locking unvaccinated firefighters, ”Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI, Brooklyn) he tweeted October 30. “If someone dies from a slower emergency response, it’s because of Bill de Blasio and his over-mandates. I hope this fool fixes it as soon as possible! “
DFrom 7.30 in the morning, 26 @FDNY businesses are closed, including 5 in my district due to @NYCMayor locking unvaccinated firefighters.
If anyone dies because of a slower response to emergencies, it is because of Bill de Blasio and his overly difficult terms. I hope this fool fixes it as soon as possible!
– Nicole Malliotakis (@NMalliotakis) October 30, 2021
“The excessive sick leave of a group of our firefighters because of their anger over the vaccination mandate is unacceptable to all city officials, as opposed to their vows to serve and endanger the lives of New Yorkers,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro he said, according to a tweet by writer Ginger Adams Otis on October 29th.
The shortage of firefighters has affected the entire city and is not isolated to a single county or neighborhood, New York Post reported:
No county or neighborhood was spared as businesses from Engine Co. were closed. 55 in lower Manhattan, to Engine Co. 234 v Crown Heights do Engine Co. 231 in Brownsville. Others included Ladder Co. 128 in Long Island City and Engine Co. 158 in Ladder Co. 78 in Staten Island, according to information provided by Malliotakis and Councilor Joe Borelli (R-SI), citing the Uniformed Firefighters Association. Borelli said list 26 stems from an FDNY warning sent to members.
October 30 closure of the company, reports Publication, represents 7.6 percent of the city’s 341 engine and ladder companies, the publication said. Councilor Borelli called the number “unmarried” and added: “Firefighters who can’t work have all been tested in one week and are not positive for COVID, and I doubt that New Yorkers care about the vaccine status of a person wearing defibrillators on their chest, “the shop window said.
People walk past the FDNY Engine Co. station. 216 October 29, 2021 in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn County, New York. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
Nigro rejected Malliotakis’ claims New York Daily News reported:
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro denied a claim by spokeswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) that 26 FDNY companies were closed on Saturday because firefighters protesting against vaccines were calling sick.
[…]
During a visit by Daily News reporters, several firehouses were opened, which Malliotakis and union officials claimed were closed in Brooklyn. These included the 231 / Ladder 120 engine in Brownsville, the 323 engine in Flatlands and the 234 engine in Crown Heights.
When The News contacted two other fire departments, Malliotakis and union officials said they were locked up to operate even though they had no staff.
According to the PublicationFDNY spokesman Jim Long said the situation was not permanent and described the companies as “temporarily unsuccessful”.
“The situation remains fluid,” Long said. “We are hiring manpower to get the company back into operation or relocate other units to the coverage area.”
The NYPD Emergency Unit has called on firefighters from the northern state of New York and Long Island to fill in the blanks, Publication reported.
One man lives across the street from Engine Co. 284 in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, which was offline Oct. 30, reports Publication. A 63-year-old resident named Vinny Agro said: “We are cursed. We will make a toast like marshmallows, ”he said Publication reported. ‘Yes another sad day for New York City. “
“Most of the houses here are double frame houses. You throw a match at it and it rises quickly, ”he added Publication. “You need a quick response… That’s scary.”
FDNY ambulances are parked in the NYC Health + Hospitals / Gotham Health parking lot on October 29, 2021 in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn County, New York. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
At the end of the day on October 29, vaccination rates among FDNY firefighters were 72%, and almost 4,000 firefighters remain unvaccinated, reports Publication.
One Brooklyn county took more than two hours on Friday night to answer calls Publication.
“The 77th District in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, responded slowly to calls Friday night as four police officers took turns calling the sick from 4pm to midnight,” sources said. “Call logs in some cases showed a response time of more than two hours.”
Early Saturday morning, young boy died in the Washington Heights fire, and his grandmother was seriously injured, Fox News reports. Robert Resto, 7, died when a fire broke out in the basement apartment of a construction supervisor. Firefighters responded to the call at 1.30am and were reportedly unaffected by the lack of firefighters as they were expected to arrive at the scene within four minutes, Fox News reported, citing NYDN Article.
The Daily News reported that more than 36 ambulances were not operational on 30 October due to vaccine-related circumstances. FDNY officials said a large number of paramedics and emergency medical technicians were experiencing side effects from the vaccine due to their first coronavirus injections and called the hospital on Saturday.
City Hall officials said only 61 percent of NMP workers had been vaccinated since Tuesday, Oct. 26, but the number had risen to 84 percent on Friday at 8 p.m. Daily News.