The FDNY shuttered 26 fire companies citywide on Saturday due to staff shortages caused by the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, according to furious elected officials, who ripped the move as "Unconscionable" - and warned it could have catastrophic consequences.
The shutdown came amid a pitched battle between City Hall, which on Monday will start enforcing a mandate that all city workers have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and jab-resisting firefighters, many reportedly saying they were already sick with the coronavirus and therefore have "Natural immunity."
FDNY spokesman Jim Long said the closings are not permanent, describing the companies as "Temporarily out of service" and the situation as "Fluid" since it was shifting firefighters to units where they were needed.
In anticipation of a shortage of firefighters, NYPD's Emergency Service Unit has requested the help of volunteer firefighters from Long Island and upstate to back fill the lost positions, according to an email obtained by The Post.
"The firefighters who are unable to work have all been tested within the week and are not COVID positive, and I doubt New Yorkers care about the vaccine status of the person applying defibrillators to their chest," he said.
The FDNY's vaccination rate stood at 72 percent for firefighters - and 77 percent agencywide - at the end of Friday, the city's deadline for workers to get at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data from City Hall.
The FDNY - as its top boss did Saturday - has blamed the staffing shortage on firefighters calling out sick, with one insider saying "Hundreds" of members have been taking medical leave to protest the mandate.
https://nypost.com/2021/10/30/fdny-firehouses-shuttered-over-vaccine-staffing-shortages/
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