Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday he is “100 percent” behind requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for the NYPD — where more than half of the workforce remains unvaccinated — though he stopped short of issuing a mandate.
“Yes, I would 100 percent,” Shea said during a morning appearance on NY1 when asked if he supported a mandatory immunization policy similar to the one imposed on Big Apple teachers.
“There’s just so much unnecessary loss [of life] in my opinion right now … We lost somebody last week that was an extremely healthy man that had at one point in his career not gotten sick for 17 years. Think about that. Never called in sick and 17 years and we lost him.”
“I think everyone should be lining up to get it that hasn’t gotten it yet,” Shea added.
The commissioner did not say he would impose the mandate, though, putting it on lawmakers to make that call.
“In a perfect world, I would hope it would come from even above … certainly at the state level or even the federal level,” he said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also stopped short of supporting a vaccine mandate for offices — similar to the rule requiring city school staff to have at least one shot — when asked Tuesday.
“We are looking at all alternatives, and we will keep updating people as soon as each one is ready,” de Blasio said during his daily briefing.
The NYPD’s police unions have not weighed in publicly on the mandate and did not respond for comment Tuesday.
Shea’s comments come on the heels of him issuing his most impassioned plea to date to officers to get the vaccine.
The NYPD, which was one of the first groups eligible for the vaccine, has an immunization rate of 47 percent, according to data released by the department last week.
That leaves roughly 28,000 uniformed and civilian members of the police force who are unvaccinated.
Those unvaccinated employees are now required to wear masks at almost all times while on the job, indoors and outdoors, or face discipline, according to a new mandate released last week.
