Biden Says Pandemic Is Over, But Then This Happens in NYC

This is a story about mixed messages. President Joe Biden claimed that the pandemic is over during his interview with Scott Pelley on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night. And CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told CNN in January that vaccines are ineffective at preventing transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Add to these messages that the CDC actually acknowledged the benefits and protections that are provided by natural immunity resulting from infection by the virus.

Despite all this, workers across America continue to lose their jobs for refusing COVID-19 vaccines. 

For instance, the New York City Department of Education just terminated an additional 850 teachers for refusing the mandate for a vaccine. According to The New York Post, these recent firings now bring the total number of school employees who were terminated for failure to comply with the mandate to just under 2,000.

This who lost their jobs also lost health insurance benefits. 850 employees were fired, but 1,300 who were on an unpaid leave of absence decided to show proof of their vaccination by September 5th. 

450 got vaccinated before the deadline and they are returning to work, but the rest who did not show proof were “deemed to have voluntarily resigned.”

This mandate was initiated in October of 2021 by then-mayor Bill de Blasio. Those who objected at the time were about 5% of the 148,000 public school staffers, and they were placed on unpaid leave.

De Blasio said, “Every adult in our schools is now vaccinated, and that’s going to be the rule going forward.”

Mayor Eric Adams has maintained the mandate, recently noting that “city workers served on the front lines during the pandemic, and by getting vaccinated, they are, once again, showing how they are willing to do the right thing to protect themselves and all New Yorkers.”

Along with teachers as front-line workers, firefighters and police officers lost their jobs because of their personal medical decisions. 

The New York State United Teachers union indicated that approximately 180,000 teachers need to be hired in the state over the next decade.

Jolene DiBrango, the union’s executive vice president, said “The teacher shortage is definitely not looming anymore. It is here. It is in a full blown crisis mode.”