About 4,000 New York City municipal workers are facing termination for not being vaccinated against COVID-19

About 4,000 New York City municipal workers are facing termination Friday for not being vaccinated against COVID-19.

Less than 1% of the city’s workforce will lose their jobs if they don’t show proof of vaccination — potentially the country’s largest workforce reduction linked to COVID vaccines.

The 4,000 employees include 3,000 workers who are on unpaid leave and 1,000 new workers who were hired after Aug. 2, 2021, who were told they had to be vaccinated as a condition of employment.

“I want them to stay, I want them to be employees of the city, but they have to follow the rules that were made before my administration,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference Thursday. “We have to be very clear. People have to be vaccinated if they are a New York City employee. Everyone understood that and we have to follow that.”