Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

October 28, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. We're going to be talking today about a lot of the ways we recover and move forward after COVID, a recovery for all of us. But to fight COVID, end the COVID era, and move forward even more aggressively with our recovery, it's all about vaccinations. And good news – every day, we're seeing more and more good news about vaccinations for our youngest New Yorkers for kids five to 11 years old. I'm very excited about this because this is what's going to be another game-changer for us, making families safer, of course, our children's safer, our whole community safer. And it's coming real, real soon. We're going to talk about that today.

But first, another milestone. And I love when we hit these milestones, because it just says how extraordinary New Yorkers have been in fighting back against COVID, doing the right thing, helping everyone move forward. And again, God bless our health care heroes. As of today, we have hit 12 million doses administered in New York City since this began. This is an unbelievable number, 12 million individual times someone put their arm out and a vaccinator was there to help them. That says so much about why this city is coming back and coming back strong. So, great milestone today.

And another milestone in Washington – on Tuesday, an FDA committee recommended the Pfizer vaccine for authorization for our young people of five to 11. We anticipate CDC guidance at some point next week, probably toward the end of the week. This is a moment parents have been waiting for, to know their kids will be safe. Now, New York City will be ready. We are so ready, so happy that this moment is coming. Our health care teams are ready. Within 24 hours of the CDC guidance, vaccination for the youngest New Yorkers, five to 11, will be available at the City-run sites within 24 hours of the announcement. And then, within 48 hours, the vaccinations will be available at pediatricians’ offices, pharmacies, and other types of vaccination sites. We're going to be doing a huge outreach effort, media effort, community outreach, to get parents updated, to get them to bring their kids in, get them vaccinated, get them safe. We have a special hotline for parents so they can speak directly to medical professionals with any concerns. This is a big deal. And, of course, we know a lot of parents who are going to want to talk to their own doctor, which they should do. In fact, they should start doing that right now, because it's coming. But I want you to hear how important this is from the City's doctor. All of us have a doctor and he is our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi.

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. And today, like you, I'm grateful to announce further details about our plans to vaccinate five- to 11-year-olds. To start, I wanted to acknowledge, as a father myself, that parenting during the pandemic has been tough. Every parent has sleepless nights, worrying about their children, but the last 20 months have seen more than their fair share. That's why this pandemic milestone, moving forward with vaccinating more of our children has been so eagerly anticipated. And I know it's one that's emotional for so many New York City parents and caregivers. For many, the prevailing feeling is excitement, particularly after hearing about the scientific evidence presented to the FDA earlier this week. Pfizer shared results of a study of over 2,200 children, showing that the vaccine was safe, well tolerated and over 90 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19, even with the Delta variant circulating. Children had robust immune responses to the two doses of vaccine, which are one-third the dose currently being administered to adults and adolescents. This is to reduce side effects. And there's still – the two doses are still administered three weeks apart.

In sum, the FDA Advisory Committee recommended authorization of the vaccine because its benefits significantly outweigh any small risks. For other parents, despite this reassuring data, I know there may be a more complicated set of emotions at play, but it usually boils down to how you feel about your child's safety. So, let me try to speak to that. First, remember how closely the COVID-19 vaccines have been scrutinized and studied. They've been given to over half the entire world's population and over 15 million kids, 12 to 17, across the U.S. have already been given the Pfizer vaccine safely, including over 400,000 right here in New York City. Second, while COVID-19 is thankfully sickening fewer children than adults, it remains a risk. Across the country, more than 6 million children have been infected, some with long-term effects. More than 23,500 or hospitalized from it. And sadly, it is the nation's eighth leading cause of death for children five to 11, according to the FDA committee. And third, the leading pediatricians and family doctors across New York City and the country are endorsing vaccination. The President of the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that their recommendation was “for the same reason pediatricians recommend seatbelts and car seats, because it's about protection and security.”

So, let's talk a little bit about next steps, building on what the Mayor has already laid out. The formal FDA authorization is expected as soon as tomorrow. And the CDC Advisory Committee is slated to further discuss the science next Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, the CDC will make a final decision and subsequently issue clinical guidance. This may sound like a technical step, I know, but it's important for doctors and pharmacists to have the detailed information they need to administer this formulation of the vaccine. This could all occur by next weekend, at the earliest. In parallel, the Health Department is working intensively with nearly 1,500 community pediatricians and family doctors, as well as pharmacies across the city to help them engage their patients and families, and to forward-plan on the logistics of vaccination. I loved hearing from one pediatrician who is sharing tips about vaccinating kids like having crayons and coloring books at the ready. He said, his go-to line before giving the shot was it's okay to feel a little scared, that's just the first step to feeling brave.

We have also already ordered 231,000 doses of pediatric vaccine, which will begin to arrive in the city next week. And we will launch a public information campaign, addressing parents' questions, working closely with our Department of Education partners, as always. The latest news about the COVID vaccine for young children should give us all hope. The vaccine will protect children, it will reduce the spread of COVID, and keep our community safe. And one last thing, Mr. Mayor, as we await these final steps – remember, that we have another safe and effective vaccine for kids in the flu shot. It's available now and recommend for everyone six months and older. Visit nyc.gov/flu to make an appointment. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Chokshi. We are really, really excited about this. We're going to be updating people early next week on the latest. And again, we're ready, potentially even late next week for these vaccinations for our youngest New Yorkers to begin. The moment we get that final word from Washington, 24 hours later, we'll be up and running at our City sites. And thank you to you, Dr. Chokshi, your team, everyone at H+H as well, everyone who’s getting ready to do this. There's a lot of excitement. It's going to be a very, very important moment for this city.

Now, everyone, let's go on and talk about another element of recovery. And I keep saying recovery for all of us and that means reaching people who are hardest hit by COVID, reaching people who often were left out, or didn't get the investment they deserved. When you think about how we help people move forward after COVID, how we address some of the wrongs of the past, how we really make sure people have opportunity, one of the things you have to think about is broadband. Now, look, broadband – anyone who used to think it's a luxury now understands it’s a necessity. It's a necessity for so many things. If you want to participate in the job market, you need it. If you want to access remote learning, you need it. If you want to access tele-medicine, you need it. It is crucial. Before COVID, we knew a huge number of New Yorkers did not have access and those folks were overwhelmingly in communities of color, lower-income communities, immigrant communities. In 2020, we announced the Internet Master Plan to start fixing this foundationally. You're going to hear some great news today. We're going to be reaching tens of thousands of residents of NYCHA developments this year with broadband access for free, even more next year. And then, over the next three years, going up to 2024, well over a million – 1.6 million New Yorkers will be reached by this approach. And it depends on creating real competition, so we bring lots of actors in to help us get it done. It depends on bringing minority- and women-owned businesses in, creating opportunity while we're also fixing a historic wrong. There's a lot that is being done and it's going to be the biggest step ever to close the digital divide in the history of New York City. It's a profoundly important initiative. It's well underway. And one of the people who has been an architect of this initiative, clearly been a labor of love for him. He has believed that if we got the right players involved, that we created real competition, if we created real urgency, we could make an impact, the government could lead the way and create a reality where broadband access truly became inclusive. I want to thank him and his team for their great work. My pleasure to introduce the Chief Technology Officer of New York City John Paul Farmer.

Chief Technology Officer John Paul Farmer: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As you said, this is a very big deal. For far too long – for decades, really – internet infrastructure and service hasn't been equitably available. There's been a practice of digital redlining and that's prevented broadband from being affordable for all. Even before the pandemic, New York City stated that broadband is essential and now there can be no doubt. And that's why New York City is leading the way at implementing the Internet Master Plan to do, really, three things – to build new infrastructure, such as fiber; to put on the table through a single process for the first time ever over 100,000 assets that are controlled by New York City – we're talking about rooftops, rooms and buildings, poles – this is how broadband service gets delivered, and we're making that easier than ever, and that's allowing new entrance into the market. And, finally, we're enabling service – we're enabling true competition so that people have choice, they have options. They have affordable options in many cases for the first time. This is what sustainable change looks like. So, instead of the same few companies, you'll have companies large and small to choose from. You'll have minority- and women-owned business enterprises, bringing jobs and opportunity to build this infrastructure, to provide this service to folks all across New York City in every borough.

We're thrilled today to be able to share that we've got 11 partners – these are companies, these are community-based organizations. And roughly half of these that have stepped forward are actually MWBE’s or minority-led themselves. So, this is really how we transform the marketplace, how we build a broadband marketplace that works for everybody. And we're starting right now this year by providing new affordable service to 40,000 NYCHA residents in every borough.

And to tell you what this means, you just have to look at some of the statements from folks, like a man in Wald Houses, who told us about how he lost his job during COVID, and being able to get affordable broadband was the difference. It was the difference between him being connected or not. That's being connected to job opportunities, being connected to family and friends, being connected to health care. We are hitting substantial numbers, over 70 percent of the priority neighborhoods identified by the Task Force on Racial Equity and Inclusion. And this is really historic work. As the Mayor mentioned, this is the largest step that New York City has ever taken. But I want to go beyond that and share, this is the largest step that any American city has ever taken in closing the digital divide, driving digital equity. And we're looking forward to making this impact and being a model for others around the country.

Mayor: Thank you so much, John – and you and your whole team. Really, really appreciate this incredible work and all the partners you're bringing in. Now, I want you to hear what this means for the residents of public housing – hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who are the backbone of the city, do a lot of hard work to keep this city moving, and they need this opportunity. I want to hear from someone who has done absolutely extraordinary work over the last two years not only at NYCHA, but as Executive Director of our Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity. She has been a star in terms of bringing forward initiatives that here and now can help reach people and address inequality as we fight back from COVID. She's also Executive Vice President for Community Engagement and Partnerships at NYCHA. My pleasure to introduce to Sideya Sherman.

Executive Director Sideya Sherman, Task Force for Racial Inclusion and Equity: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. To echo your sentiment, if the pandemic has taught us anything it's that broadband access is essential to our daily lives. We use the internet to work, to learn, to socialize, to participate in civic life, as well as access critical health and government services. So, that's why I'm really thrilled to be here today to be part of this announcement and to celebrate the fact that over a million New Yorkers will have access to reliable broadband internet service, particularly prioritizing NYCHA residents and NYCHA communities, as well as other low-income communities and New Yorkers of color.

Since last April, the Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity has been laser-focused on ensuring that we are driving resources and investment to communities that have been hardest hit by COVID. We are also making sure that government works better on behalf of those who have been historically excluded. Many of these hard-hit communities, like my neighborhood, Harlem, have experienced long-standing health and social economic inequities, including lack of reliable broadband access. This didn't happen by accident. This was the result of decades of choosing not to invest in communities of color and low-income communities. To echo CTO Farmer’s statement, this is digital redlining – a pattern of racial discrimination and intentional disinvestment. And there are no quick fixes.

Even before the pandemic, we knew that we needed to invest in a long-term solution for expanding broadband access. This is why the City launched the Internet Master Plan in 2020. It really is a first-in-the-nation roadmap to dramatically expand broadband access and connectivity, starting with those communities that have been the least connected. By expanding connectivity, the City is driving equity and righting a historic wrong. Not only are we expanding access for customers, we are also creating competition, and creating market access for MWBE’s so that consumers ultimately benefit. We know getting every New Yorker online won't happen overnight, but it's happening. I had the pleasure of recently joining the CTO and members of MOCTO and NYCHA residents at the Atlantic Terminal Houses in Brooklyn, where internet service is live and community outreach is already happening on the ground to get folks connected. I want to applaud MOCTO, as well as EDC, and all of our other partners who have worked together to make this a reality. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you so much, Sideya. And again, thank you for the extraordinary work that you and your colleagues are doing. It's making a big difference. And now, I want to give us a national perspective on how important this initiative is. It’s important for the people in New York City. It's important for the folks that live in public housing, but it has ramifications for the whole country as we try and create equity and end the digital divide everywhere. And someone has been leading the way in the Biden administration, you're going to hear from. And I want to – I want to just first say, the Biden administration is doing amazing work on the question of equity across the board. We're hearing some really important breaking news right now from Washington about Build Back Better and the extraordinary investments that could be coming that could change the lives of tens of millions of people. So, really excited that we may be about to turn a big, big corner for the sake of the city and this whole nation. And also, the focus on infrastructure, and getting it right, and making sure it's equitable – that's what the by the Biden administration is focused on to their great credit.

Well, one of the leaders when it comes to broadband and making sure that broadband access is for everyone is the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Alondra Nelson. Welcome, doctor.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you so much, doctor. And, doctor, I'm holding up the plan to emphasize the point. We're so proud of it. It's going to make a difference for millions of New Yorkers. But I appreciate what you're saying, if it can help other folks around the country, here's a roadmap. A lot of work went into it. Here's a roadmap that can work here and everywhere. And thank you for your support. And I'm also proud of you as a New Yorker. I love seeing so many New Yorkers down there, serving our nation and remembering where they came from. Thank you so much, doctor.

Now, right here in New York City, a leader who has been a powerful voice for ending the digital divide. He's fought really hard in Albany to get the State legislation we need, and we need more help still on that front, but he's on it every day. This has been a passion for him, recognizing we can't have real equity in our society until we have broadband access for all. From Brooklyn, my pleasure to introduce State Senator Kevin Parker.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you so much, Senator. Thank you for your leadership.  

And now, I'm switching to another important topic, everyone. Halloween is almost here and it's time to choose your costume. I've chosen mine. I'm – this is my homage to Captain Kirk. But, everyone, we want people to have a great, great Halloween. It is going to be so much fun. It's going to be a great moment. The kids are going to be out there again enjoying Halloween. And everyone, I'm going to give you some quick tips about how to do it the right way. So, in the end, Halloween is one of the most magical times of the year. I'm talking – I'll tell you, as a parent, I have such beautiful memories of my kids on Halloween. What they were so excited about, their costumes, they are so excited about getting up there. So, the – to me, this is a chance for some joy again, for some happiness again. We know the city's getting safer every day, so we can do Halloween right this year. But there are some smart tips to having a good Halloween. First of all, stay outside. If you’re trick-or-treater or you're taking your trick-or-treaters around, keep them outside. It's safest outside. That's where everyone's going to have the best time. Second of all, if you're giving out treats yourself, wear a mask like we do to protect everyone against COVID. If you're going to be talking to a lot of kids, families just wear a mask, it's easy. And for kids and anyone else out there, who's wearing a costume mask, that doesn't do the same thing as the kind of masks we're used to, to help us prevent COVID. So, use one of the regular masks as well as your costume masks. So, everybody, this is going to be a joyous moment for our city. The Halloween Parade is back in Greenwich Village. It's going to be an amazing time. And I want to remind everyone of the prime directive, live long and prosper with candy. All right, now, beam me up. I'm supposed to change costumes immediately, right? It's supposed to just – okay, I'm going to have to put this back on.  

All right. Now, let me go to – let me go to our indicators. And I'll put on my regular suit. Who can I – as I said at the beginning, amazing, amazing news that we have now passed the 12-million-mark in doses administered to-date. 12,005,472 doses. Absolutely outstanding. Number two, daily number of people moved to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report, 79 patients, confirmed positivity level of 21.95 percent. Hospitalization rate per 100,000 people, 0.63. And new reported cases on a seven-day average, today’s report, 711 cases. And now a few words in Spanish, and we're going back to the vaccinations that will be available for the five- to 11-year-olds. 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

Okay, everyone, get ready because we're going to be vaccinating our kids. And now we're going to turn to our colleagues in the media. I'm going to get a little more official, I guess this is in – you know, in terms of the Federation, this would be official. But in terms of New York City government, I'm going to put this back on. 

Moderator: We will now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder today, we're joined by John Paul Farmer, Chief Technology Officer; Sideya Sherman, Executive Vice President for Community Engagement and Partnerships at NYCHA and Executive Director of the Task Force for Racial Inclusion and Equity; Dr. Dave Chokshi, Health Commissioner; Dr. Jay Varma, Senior Advisor; and Dr. Mitch Katz, President and CEO of Health + Hospitals. With that, we'll go to our first question today, Andrew from NBC. 

Question: Mayor, good morning. Hope you can hear me. I'm actually outside of Gracie Mansion right now, where there are a couple of hundred members of the Fire Department and other agencies who are not happy about the mandate. And one of the things that they're saying is that 70 percent of the Fire Department had COVID and that they should have an exemption for what they refer to as natural immunity. So, I'm wondering if your health team can respond to that. And, in particular, members who've had it very recently, should they be allowed to wait before they're getting vaccinated? 

Mayor: Andrew, I appreciate the question. I want to say, I really feel like our health team has done an extraordinary job answering these questions really for months, trying to help people understand why decisions are made to protect everyone. By the way, I give President Biden, Dr. Fauci, everyone in the Biden administration credit. They've been explaining this for months now to help people understand why vaccinations are necessary. But it's worth repeating. It's worth continuing to answer. And certainly, the specific question you asked about if someone had COVID recently, what's the right protocol. So, but to this bigger point about what natural immunity can and cannot do and why vaccination matters and why it is the difference maker in avoiding hospitalization and, God forbid, death – first Dr. Chokshi then Dr. Varma. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you so much, sir. And I'll speak to the smaller point first, and then the larger point. With respect to what our policy is – for someone who has very recently had COVID-19, they should take the time to recover and, of course, should be isolating during usually the ten-day period after they've been diagnosed with COVID-19. After that is when we do have our strong recommendation that people should get vaccinated. And that gets to the bigger point here, which is when it comes to prior infection, we do know that it affords some degree of protection. That's not a contentious point. That's not what is being debated. What we have to talk about is that the strength and the duration of that immunity remains unknown. But what is known is that vaccination in that scenario lowers your risk further. We have good evidence, both from a national study, as well as a study here in New York City, that shows that the risk of reinfection is about 2.3 times lower when people are vaccinated after they've been infected compared to people who remain unvaccinated. So, the bottom line is that we know vaccination is safe, we know that it works, and we know that it helps to protect communities regardless of whether someone has been previously infected or not.  

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Varma. 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: I think Commissioner Chokshi has really touched on all of the really critical issues. I would just – since this question comes up a lot, I'll take just a brief moment to explain what the future might be. For some other infectious diseases, we have laboratory tests that are very reliable and widely available to help you determine if you're immune. We don't have that yet for COVID. All of the studies that show your protective ability really right now have to be done in research facilities. The standard antibody tests do not perform at the level of telling you whether you're fully protected. So, there may be some point in the future where we can use a prior infection as equivalent to receiving vaccines, to determine whether you are fully protected or not. But we really don't have that available to us at this time. And that is why the overwhelming scientific consensus is that because vaccines are highly effective, highly safe, that even people who have been infected in the past should continue to receive them, and that should be our standard for assessing whether or not you meet our vaccine verification standards or not. 

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Varma. And I want to emphasize, Andrew, and to all our colleagues in the media, Dr. Varma has literally traveled the world, studied these realities deeply. He is a national and international voice of great renown on this topic. I urge anybody in the media who wants further clarity on this issue, talk to him directly. But I really want to emphasize what he said, overwhelming scientific consensus. We have to note how the scientific and medical community has been almost entirely unified on this topic. And that's got to mean something. I understand there's a lot of distrust in institutions, but I really urge everyone to pay attention to the folks who have devoted their lives to saving other lives and protecting people's health are saying across the board why vaccination is necessary, even if people think they have some natural immunity. Go ahead, Andrew. 

Question: Mayor, the Fire union is encouraging even its unvaccinated members to show up at work on Monday to each of their firehouses. So, what is your plan? Will you have police at firehouses checking vaccination? Are you going to have Fire commanders doing it? And do you agree with their assessment that there is a risk that dozens of firehouses will have to close down due to lack of personnel? 

Mayor: No, we've been, obviously, working to prepare. The department, Commissioner Nigro, and his whole team, I think, are very able to put contingencies in place as needed. They've already talked about the fact that they have a variety of tools available, mandatory overtime, scheduling changes. There's other options they can turn to, to address the situation. So, I am certain, and I'm listening to Commissioner Nigro, who's been – literally given his entire life to the people of New York City, that we will be ready. If folks show up who are not vaccinated, their supervisors will address that as with every agency. And that means, of course, they're not getting paid at that point. The solution is just go get vaccinated, but that will be handled on a managerial level. 

Moderator: Next, we have Dave from ABC7. 

Question: Hey, Mayor. Can you hear me? 

Mayor: Yeah, Dave. How are you doing today? 

Question: I’m fine. I wanted to ask about the vaccine mandate also, but first of all, before I forget, I just wanted to see – I'm sure you heard the news yesterday about Leticia James running for governor. I just wanted to see your thoughts about it, and whether that pushes you one way or the other on your future. 

Mayor: I respect her a lot, and I've known her a long time and we've worked together many times over the years. But my decisions are based on my desire to serve the people of this city, this state in every way I can. I'm going to be moving on my own timeline in my own way. It has nothing to do with what anyone else decides to do. Go ahead, Dave. 

Question: My other thing, about the vaccine mandates. If we do get to Monday, not just the Fire Department and EMS, but also police, if there are fewer police on Monday, what can you tell New Yorkers who are concerned about that, worried about that? Will they be safe or not? 

Mayor: No, they will be safe. And this – again, this has been something under discussion, not just for weeks, for months. And the reason we made this decision was, how do we keep people safe? That was the entire question here. How do we keep the people in New York City safe? My job is to keep people safe, my employees, and 8.8 million people. And until we defeat COVID, people are not safe. If we don't stop COVID, New Yorkers will die. We must, must stop COVID and the way to do that is vaccination. And that must include our public employees. In fact, they need to lead the way. So, that's the overarching reality. And in the discussions over weeks and even months with the leaders of all of our agencies, there's been a commitment to get this done and to be ready to make sure the work will continue. And they have many tools. I spoke with Commissioner Shea yesterday. He's confident about the tools he has. He also has devoted his entire life to this city and the NYPD. He has a lot of tools to make sure that what needs to be covered will be covered. Right now, NYPD, for example, is at almost 75 percent vaccination level. We have all of the typical tools of how you use staff, move them around, how you use overtime. We had a lot of times, in 2020, where we had huge shortages of personnel because people were out sick with COVID, and the NYPD kept things moving and they will again. So, I'm quite confident in their ability to do that. 

Moderator: Next, we have Dana from the New York Times. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. I was wondering first, if you could give us updates on the vaccination levels? I know you just mentioned the NYPD, but at Fire and Sanitation as well, where are we now?

Mayor: At this moment, Dana and I want to emphasize, this is a very dynamic moment. And I mean it. We saw this with the health care workers. We saw this with Department of Education employees. Today and tomorrow, you're going to see a lot of movement. And then I'm not going to be shocked if you see movement even over the weekend when people get the formal notifications about their job status. We saw thousands upon thousands of vaccinations in the last days. So, this is I think, a time where you're going to see some real changes. Right now, NYPD is at 74 percent, almost 75. EMS within Fire is at 74 percent. Sanitation is at 67 percent and Fire is at 64 percent at this moment. But again, I think we've seen in the last few days since the announcement, substantial increases for all of them. And I think you're about to see a whole lot more. Go ahead, Dana.

Question: Thank you. Just a follow up and I think you've addressed this a little bit already, but given the likelihood of at least some police, Fire, and Sanitation shortages come Monday, are you having any second thoughts?

Mayor: It's a great question, Dana, because I think one of the things that people have to be honest about when you make major decisions on behalf of 8.8 million people is you have to watch to see how it's going and to constantly assess. But no, I am not having second thoughts. We expected that a lot of the vaccinations would happen toward the end of the deadline. We also know a lot of people make the decision once they really realize that they're not going to get paid. That's just the human reality. And the contingency planning has been exceptional. These agencies have talked with all the commissioners in detail. They really have been working at it. They feel very confident. I've listened to them to understand their level of confidence, it's high. And they're smart agile leaders. We're going to make this work. And it's going to make everyone safer, ultimately. And again, look at the pattern, look at what happened with the health care workers. Everyone said, oh God, there's going to be horrible dislocation. There was not. And we ended up with 95 percent of them vaccinated. Department of Education, tremendous worry what would happen. It is almost as if there was no transition whatsoever. We went right into the new reality. Ultimately ended up with 96 percent of school employees vaccinated. And since the deadline, 3,500 more employees have come back and gotten vaccinated. So, we have a lot to work from, and we like what we see.

Moderator: Next we have Julia from the New York Post.

Question: Hey, Mr. Mayor, sorry, I'm just finishing notes on Dana's question.  You got to slow down when you're talking there.

Mayor: I, you know, we New Yorkers talk fast.

Question: I know I got to keep up. So, you said, you know, no second thoughts to Dana, but have there been discussions about pushing back the deadline? Have any of your commissioners [inaudible] preparing to close 20 percent of fire companies?

Mayor: Your line cut up a little bit there, Julia, but I think I got the basics. No, there's no discussion of changing the deadline. The bottom line is can we do the things we need to do first of all, to keep this city safe for the long run? Well, that means getting people vaccinated. Yes, we can do that. Yes, we have a plan to do that. And then can we keep all the other services moving in a way that protects New Yorkers? Yes. I've asked this question, exhaustively, of the commissioners, people have tremendous respect for. The answer is yes, yes, yes. There's confidence. We can make it work and we're moving forward. Go ahead, Julia. Julia, can you hear us? Okay. If you can get her back, she gets a credit line. Who's next?

Moderator: We'll come back to Julia. Next, we have Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Mayor: Juliet?

Unknown: Sorry, the technical difficulties [inaudible].

Mayor: From in the room. Okay. Let's see. Do you think you can resolve it or are we out of room here?

Unknown: Let me – I'm going to have to also call WebEx.

Mayor: Okay. Well, we've got a – I don't have a – I could go back to my Captain Kirk outfit and talk about the latest developments for the Federation, but I think we should probably stop there unless we think we can restore it right away. That's a yes or a no? It's going to take a while. Okay. We're going to stop it there, everyone. I know our colleagues in the media if they have other questions, they'll bring them to our press office and we'll get them answers. But look, the bottom line again, everything runs through vaccination. Everything that has made us safe, runs through vaccination. Amazing news today, 12 million New Yorkers, vaccinated. Excuse me, 12 million doses since day one. That's amazing. 12 million doses since day one. Absolutely amazing. This is what's making everything else possible. And starting as early as next week, five to 11-year-olds –

[Inaudible]

Wait, are you back? We're back. Okay. Is that Juliet? Juliet? You're like a divine presence. They said it wasn't going to work, but then we hear your voice.

Question: Yeah. Always stayed plugged in, right?

Mayor: That's right.

Question: That is the lesson here. Great. So, let me ask my question. Regarding tomorrow, the mandate deadline, how concerned are you that, you know, Fire and ambulance, maybe having to take people off of desk duty and administrative jobs and put them in firehouses and ambulances? Do you think they're not experienced to do the day-to-day emergency duties?

Mayor: Oh, I'm quite certain Commissioner Nigro would never have someone take on a duty they weren't trained for. No. Remember what people do, is they rise up to the ranks and they have done all the work. And then if they end up on administrative duty that's well after they've been trained on how to do the things we need. Any need will be filled with people who are properly trained and people who are ready to do the job. And these are big agencies, Juliet. Let's remember, there's a whole lot of people. You know, in the summer, for example, the NYPD, we do Summer All Out and send hundreds of cops who are doing other types of desk duty and other types of assignments. We send them out to neighborhoods where the need is greatest. Every agency has people trained to do who can shift back onto those kind of roles. So, there's a deep bench and a lot of capacity. Go ahead, Juliet.

Question: All right. So, then what's the next step? If people don't get vaccinated, if these employees don't get vaccinated, they don't get paid. Does there come a point where they get fired?

Mayor: Look, what we've said from the beginning is our goal is not to fire people. I mean, this is something we made so clear, with the original actions we took with health care workers, with Department of Education employees, we did impact bargaining from the beginning. We ended up with, I think, very fair plans that a lot of our labor colleagues acknowledged as being very different from some things you've seen in other places. We say, we're asking you to get vaccinated. We are giving you a deadline. It's the right thing to do. We've given incentives. We've given time, we've given voluntary opportunities. Now we need this. We have a right as an employer to do it. Every court has shown that we are right. We have that right. Get vaccinated by the deadline, everything continues. If you don't get vaccinated by the deadline, you go on leave without pay. You still have an opportunity to correct. If for, you know, an endless period of time, you refuse to get vaccinated that can eventually lead to leaving us. But what we're trying to do is get people vaccinated now. Or if after not having a paycheck for a while, people think better of it and that's what we've seen in Department of Education, come back, let's move forward. So look, the consequence, which is profound, is not getting a paycheck. But the goal here is certainly not to see anyone leave City service, but get to a resolution and move forward.

Moderator: We're going to return to Julia Marsh from the Post.

Question: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. One of the reasons why I'm a big proponent of having these in person is that we wouldn't have these technical difficulties. But I wanted to ask you just this morning at Automotive High School 14, a loaded gun was seized from a 14-year-old. That makes 10 weapons confiscated in the matter of weeks from inside DOE schools. Last time pre COVID, ‘19, 2019, 2020, they only recovered one gun. So, what do you think is compelling so many city kids, including now a 14-year-old, to bring loaded firearms into school buildings this year?

Mayor: Julia, we're seeing something that I don't like one bit. And we're seeing it around New York City. We're seeing it around the country. Again, and I've said a lot of times I'm going to say it again. It is a national phenomenon. It's very troubling. COVID unleashed a lot of things. We saw a lot of what was normal in our society suspended. We saw a lot of young people turn to guns. This is a very troubling reality that we have to fix and we can fix it as we've seen. I think it's really important to understand this, with everything with COVID. We went through massive horrifying dislocation in 2020. And we have been rebuilding and recovering ever since. And a lot of the things that people said, oh my God, we're never going to be able to overcome, we have overcome already. And the number of gun arrests for example, has been the highest in decades. That's the NYPD going out there and being resourceful and strategic and making a change. Every gun arrest sends a message that if you carry a gun, you're eventually going to be found and there's going to be real consequences. Really smart agile efforts by the NYPD. Gang takedowns, there've been a number of them in the last few months. That is taking a lot of the worst offenders off the streets. We need the court system back. I'll say it again. This is where we have a lack of consequences that is really hurting us, that we do not have a functioning court system. I plead with people in the media. You spend a lot of time looking at everything we do here. That's great. Look at the court system and ask the question, how are they not functioning? And why is there not an expose about that? Because it really is a disservice and there is no good answer. And they should fix it. And the State of New York has a responsibility to get it fixed. So, what we will do with all of our tools, including the work of our school safety agents, using random scanning when we need to do it, NYPD officers, NCOs and youth coordination officers outside the schools, we're going to fix this problem too like we fixed every other. Like the NYPD always does. But we need a court system backing us up. That's not there right now.

Moderator: Next we have Reuvain from Hamodia.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you?

Mayor: Good, Reuvain. How are you?

Question: Good, good. Glad we have you back on now. So, I wanted to ask you about the garbage bags that are piling up in many neighborhoods in the city? This is even before the vaccine mandate goes into effect. There were reports that the Sanitation workers are doing this purposely to protest the vaccine mandate. I'm wondering, you know, what you can tell us about this? Is there any repercussions for the garbage purposely not being picked up? On some blocks it was picked up on one side, not the other. So, it clearly seems to be sending a message.

Mayor: Yeah. Thank you for the question. It's an important question. Yeah. We're definitely seeing that problem in some parts of the city and it's unacceptable. I just want to make it really, really clear. It's unacceptable. People may not agree with a decision, but this decision is about the health and safety of all New Yorkers. We gave people lots and lots of time to come along voluntarily. Now we're saying we have a right as the City of New York to ensure the safety of our employees and the safety of our people. And every court, State and federal has affirmed that right. So, that's the law. There's one way to do things, which is to abide by the law. If you're a City worker, you have to abide by the law. So, the bottom line is the Sanitation Department has been very clear that it's not acceptable, that there will be consequences. In the meantime, to create additional capacity, Sanitation Department has canceled days off for Sanitation workers. As needed, will be requiring Sunday shifts and is moving to a 12-hour schedule for its workers. So, the Sanitation Department, Commissioner Grayson's has been doing a great job, is aggressively responding with a series of actions. And anyone who is not doing their job, you're harming your fellow Sanitation workers, and you're harming your neighbors and you're harming the people of New York City. And it's time to stop. Go ahead, Reuvain.

Question: Okay. My next question is for the doctors, and it's a follow-up to what Andrew asked earlier, about the natural immunity. It's a simple question. Why is New York City not releasing its data? The UK Office of National Statistics released a study last week showing that natural immunity was just as effective as vaccines are against Delta. It follows an Israeli study that showed natural immunity was about six times more effective against Delta than the vaccines. Now, every time we ask this question, the response is well, even if you have natural immunity, if you get the vaccine, that's even better. That's not the question we're asking. Just like we're not asking about well, is, you know, is the duration and strength of immunity, not that well known? Why don't we just release the data and then we'll see it? New York City has to have this data comparing those who were vaccinated only versus those that have prior infection only? 

Mayor: Okay, I'll turn to Dr. Varma and Dr. Chokshi, and I think it is good and natural that members of media want more and more data, more and more information, and we should put out everything that we have available that is confirmed. But I am still going to editorialize just for a second, as we turn to the doctors, we despite every other piece of data we've received continue to see overwhelming evidence of the power and the meaning of vaccination. So, I just want to say, yeah, let's get out as much data and let's look at data from around the world, but it doesn't change the fact that everything we have and everything we've seen tells us this is the best way move forward. And the evidence in this nation is unbelievably clear, folks who are vaccinated are rarely hospitalized with serious outcomes and rarely die, and folks who are unvaccinated or too often lost. It's just clear as a bell. Dr. Varma, and then Dr. Chokshi. 

Senior Advisor Varma: Great. Thank you very much, and I'm going to actually pass this primarily back to Dr. Chokshi because there have been analyses that the Health Department has published specifically addressing this question, what is your benefit of vaccination if you compare people who've been priorly vaccinated – priorly and previously infected and unvaccinated versus those who have been previously infected and then get vaccinated. And we see the same finding that we see in other studies that CDC has published on this topic demonstrating what we know before. People with prior infection have a reduced risk of getting infected in the future, but they benefit much greater from being vaccinated as well. Let me turn it over to Dave who could discuss the Health Department’s data that it's released. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you so much, Dr. Varma. And Reuvain, you know, I want to reassure you first, we are deeply committed to transparency and also committed to scientific validity. For both of these reasons, we do want New Yorkers to have data at their fingertips to help drive their own decision-making as well as to understand ours, and as you know, throughout the pandemic, we've worked to put as much data as possible on our website, so everyone has access to it. On this specific question that you have asked, which is about breakthroughs versus re-infection, scientifically this is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison because there are significant differences in the comparison groups that can't be controlled for retrospectively. But we have, as Dr. Varma mentioned, done an analysis, and released data on how people who are unvaccinated are 2.3 times as likely to be reinfected as those who are fully vaccinated. We released those preliminary findings and we'll be publishing that manuscript soon and we'll be happy to talk it through with you. So, ultimately, you know, I know there is some confusion and some misinformation about natural immunity, it's up to all of us to clarify the science, but again, the bottom line is that vaccines protect you and your community from COVID-19, regardless of whether you have been previously infected.  

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: We have time for two more today. Next, we have Erin from Politico. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, going back to the vaccine mandate for the city workers. You gave us data for some agencies, which is very helpful. Can you just give us the overall picture in terms of the workforce, the total number of un-vaccinated workers at this point and what percentage of the total workforce is vaccinated? 

Mayor: Again, I want to emphasize, Erin, I'll give you what I have, but the big issue here is what we expect to see today and tomorrow, and then I think another wave that just being honest and real happens when we see people who really realize that they are now dealing with the reality that their pay is about to end, and then suddenly it becomes really clear what they have to do. So, at this moment, when you composite all elements of the city workforce, we're at 76 percent, and again, we expect plenty more in the coming and all of those categories that I talked about. When you include some of the agencies from the previous, including Department of Education and Health + Hospitals from the previous mandates, it goes up to 86 percent, so I want to be clear about that. Total city workforce, including previously mandated, 86 percent. The group that's outstanding now, 76 percent. We are very confident those numbers are going to go up a lot, and we're also very confident of the contingency plans, and we've been down this road before, and as I mentioned, some other parts of the country have been down this road and have seen every time that we find a way through that works. Go ahead, Erin. 

Question: Okay, thank you. And then as far as the contingency plans, now as I understand it was Commissioner Nigro, not just a union, who said, you know, you may have 20 percent of fire and ambulance offline. So, looking at that and looking at some of the issues – other issues you're having, I mean, I know with DOE you were able to fill in, but you had a lower number of unvaccinated workers there and you also had sort of substitute teachers as an existing convention of a thing that's always done. So, I'm wondering, are you looking at anything as far as hiring people or getting any kind of replacements in place? I know you don't want to fire people right off the bat, but just as far as filling these pools, you know, is there any way you're looking at bringing other people in? 

Mayor: It’s a great question, Erin, I appreciate it. And I'll tell you this, I'm glad you asked the question because every type of work is different. So, when you have a school, for example, I'm just going to state the obvious, and I think it'll illustrate, you know, kids go to school 8:30 to 3:00 pm, whatever it is, and the teachers have to be there to teach them in that time, and if someone's not there, you need a substitute per se because that's the only time it happens, and those teachers are all engaged at the same time. But with public safety, you're talking about people who cover shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so there are lots and lots of police officers, firefighters, EMT, paramedics, you name it, all city uniform services who are not on duty at any given day and any given hour, pick up a different part a week. While a lot of them, of course, will be assigned with overtime to pick up some of the times that need additional coverage. This is done in many, many situations, it was done when we, you know, really went through the painful reality last year of huge numbers of our uniform workers being out with COVID. It's done in times of challenging crisis. It's something these agencies know how to do. We also have, in some cases, additional personnel we can bring in. As you heard, for example, there are other ambulance companies we can turn to for help. But the bottom is when you're dealing with uniform service, you have a whole set of tools that you wouldn't have, for example, with Department of Education. 

Moderator: Our last question for today goes to Chris from the Daily News. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor just wanted to, before I get to the question, point out that you might have some of your Star Trek knowledge wrong there. You're wearing blue, that's not the uniform color of Captain Kirk. 

Mayor: Oh my God, there's faux pas, and good catch Chris because now you're making me think, that was more of a, I don't know, kind of a burnt yellow, right? 

Question: Yeah. That, that sounds, that sounds more correct. So now that we have that out of the way – 

Mayor: Well, Chris, I want to – I always say I'm going to give credit where credit is due to the media, that's a good catch. I like to blue a lot, but you're right, it's historically inaccurate, but I'm still going to wear it because now we bought it. So, thank you, Chris. 

Question: You got it, happy to be of service. So, going back to garbage collection and the Sanitation Department, you said yesterday that you were going to speak to the Sanitation Department union about the slowdown in garbage collection in Brooklyn and Staten island. First of all, how did that talk go? And secondly, were you able to determine that the slowdown is in fact a protest against your vaccine mandate? 

Mayor: Chris, obviously want to respect private conversations, I'll say we've had a number of conversations with the sanitation union leadership over the last days, including yesterday. I think there's at least a clear understanding of what we're doing and why we're doing it, and we're also making clear that this has to be addressed and we're going to use any and all tools to address it. There's always been a real dialogue with the union leadership, and I appreciate that. I'm not going to get into details, but I'm saying there was an honest dialogue going on. I think, as I said earlier, Chris, we see a problem in certain parts of the city. I'm assuming it is related to people expressing their views on this new mandate. And I'm saying, again, that's not fair to your fellow workers, that's not fair to your neighbors, that's not fair to your fellow New Yorkers, you're getting paid, you have to do a job. If you don't want to do the job anymore, you know, someone else really will want to do that job, I assure you. All of these uniformed service jobs are deeply coveted. They are crucial jobs. We depend on them. They're important jobs, they're fulfilling jobs, but they also come with some of the best benefits anywhere in the United States of America. People want these jobs, anyone that doesn't want to do the job anymore, I know someone else will step up and fill it. So, I'm hoping people get the message loud and clear. You want a protest, go protest, but when you're on the clock, you have to do your job, and your fellow New Yorkers really, really are depending on you. And they get up every morning and do their job. They need you to do your job. Go ahead, Chris. 

Question: Thank you, and on a different topic, Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother and other plaintiffs in the Garner judicial inquiry filed a motion late yesterday asking the judge in that case to allow them to call you, former Police Commissioner Bratton and O'Neill as witnesses because they're saying testimony from NYPD Internal Affairs Chief Joe Reznick kind of revealed that his bureau only investigates misconduct, whereas you and the commissioners are involved in deciding whether discipline should be imposed and that you are there by a relevant witness. What do you think about that request from the Garner family? And if you disagree with it, why do you believe that you shouldn't be called on to testify? 

Mayor: I want to emphasize the human factor here. I know Gwen Carr, I respect her greatly. She's been through hell. Her whole family has been through hell. I've spent a lot of time talking with her and other family members and I feel for them to this day, and it never should have happened. I mean, we never should have lost Eric Garner, that’s the bottom line. And the – as to the legalities, the Law Department has addressed this previously. I'll let them address it going forward. The inquiry was, everyone understood, about the events of the day and those who were present at the site that day. But I'll defer any other detailed questions to the Law Department, the bottom line is a horrible tragedy occurred, there have been consequences for people involved who obviously deserve those consequences, and we changed a lot. We changed a lot about how we police. We made big changes as we saw this horrible tragedy, including retraining the entire police force in de-escalation, and we need to move forward in that spirit of trying to do everything in our power to make sure something like this never happens again.  

Everyone, as we conclude today, look, I'll again, finish with the fact that this city keeps moving and vaccination has been the key, New Yorkers have done an amazing job that 12 – that 12 million dose mark is something everyone should be very, very proud of. And we're going to keep moving, and in a few days, literally just in a matter of days, we'll be able to reach our five to 11-year-olds with vaccination, making them safe, making family safe, that's something to celebrate. So, in the meantime, everyone, the great holiday of Halloween is upon us. I want everyone to go out and have a great time and be safe. This is a beautiful time of year. It's going to be another mark of our recovery. Go out there and have a very happy Halloween, everyone. Thank you. 

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