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The NYPD will now pay its unvaccinated cops to meet their weekly coronavirus testing requirements – reversing a stricter policy that requires officers who have refused to be vaccinated to prove they are not infected, The learned Post.
Police sources said the department’s leadership began preparing for the crushing of their unvaccinated members who were due for testing next week on Friday and had already withdrawn patrol officers to staff the medical division with staff to help. to tests.
Days earlier, the NYPD – which struggled to reach its vaccination rate of around 50% – put in place a plan for unvaccinated agents to provide evidence of a negative COVID test every week during their time. free.
If they had not provided evidence, they would have been sent home without pay, the policy read, which brought the department into line with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s executive order for unvaccinated municipal workers.
The move shocked police union leaders who said they had been told tests would be carried out on the job and threatened to take the grievance to the Collective Bargaining Council.
The policy will now not require officers to prove they are negative for the coronavirus from Monday – a deadline set by the mayor for his vaccination plan or weekly test.
The NYPD plans to set up testing centers in eight to 10 of the orders with the largest unvaccinated staff, according to an email from the Detective Endowment Association to its members. All other orders will come with self-test kits.
Members will be allowed to work pending results, PBA President Pat Lynch told members in a separate email.
The test plan will be rolled out sometime next week, according to the email telling cops that the September 13 deadline is “no longer valid.”
Lynch wrote “this information remains subject to change” and the union was awaiting “an official communication from the department implementing this program”.
The unions say they were informed of the change by Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on Friday afternoon.
The mayor’s press secretary took issue with the NYPD pushing back the deadline, saying, “The rule remains the same, nothing has changed.”
The NYPD did not immediately respond to the comments.
Members of the police department were slow to get the vaccine, despite being one of the first eligible groups and having lost more than 60 members of the department to the virus.
As of last month, only 47 percent of the approximately 35,000 uniformed officers and nearly 18,000 civilian members have been vaccinated. Almost 80 percent of the city’s residents have received at least one dose.
Unvaccinated agents are required to wear their masks almost at all times while on duty, following a strict masking policy last month.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore
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