NYC to Appeal Judge’s Ruling to Reinstate Public Workers Fired Over Refusal to Comply With Vaccine Mandate

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New York City is appealing a judge’s Monday ruling that reinstated public workers that were fired for not complying with the city’s Covid vaccine mandate for city government workers.

“The city strongly disagrees with this ruling as the mandate is firmly grounded in law and is critical to New Yorkers’ public health. We have already filed an appeal,” said the New York City Law Department in a statement. “In the meantime, the mandate remains in place as this ruling pertains solely to the individual petitioners in this case. We continue to review the court’s decision, which conflicts with numerous other rulings already upholding the mandate.”

Meanwhile, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene unanimously voted to rescind the vaccine mandate for the private sector. NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced the move in September. The mandate expires on Nov. 1.

Department of Mental Health and Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan explained the decision.

“As the mayor alluded to, we’re looking at all of our policies and thinking about a glide-path towards normal — whatever the new normal looks like. It’s important not to see these things in isolation, and say, ‘Well, what’s the narrow rationale for this one decision?’ And see it as disconnected from the rest, because we are in the process of transition,” he said. “We are no longer in the emergency phase of the pandemic, but we haven’t yet defined what the new normal looks like, or endemicity, and this is our process of getting there.”

When asked on Tuesday whether the rescission was a mistake, President Joe Biden deferred to NYC.

“No, I don’t think,” said Biden, who received his Covid booster shot. “That’s a local judgment.”