The NYPD will now pay its unvaccinated police officers to meet their weekly coronavirus testing requirements, reversing a stricter policy that forces officers who refused to get the puncture to prove they are not infected, according to The Post .
Police sources said the department’s leadership began preparing on Friday for the infatuation of its unvaccinated members who need to be tested next week and who have already removed patrol officers from staff. medical division to help them do the tests.
A few days earlier, the NYPD, which has struggled to get its vaccination rate around 50 percent, deployed a plan for unvaccinated agents to present a negative COVID test weekly on time.
If they did not provide evidence, they would have been sent home unpaid, read the policy, which aligned the department with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s executive order for unvaccinated city workers.
The move surprised police union leaders who said they were told workplace tests would take place and threatened to file the grievance before the Collective Bargaining Board.
The policy will now not force officers to prove they are negative for the coronavirus as of Monday, a deadline set by the mayor for his vaccination plan or weekly tests.
The NYPD plans to establish testing centers between eight and ten of the commands with the largest unvaccinated staff, according to an email from the Detective Endowment Association to its members. Other orders will be provided with self-test kits.
Members will be allowed to work while they wait for the results, PBA president Pat Lynch told his members in a separate email.
The test plan will be rolled out sometime next week, according to the email informing police that the Sept. 13 deadline “is no longer valid.”
Lynch wrote that “this information may change” and the union expected “a formal communication from the Department to implement this program.”
Unions say police commissioner Dermot Shea informed them on Friday afternoon of the change.
The mayor’s press secretary argued that NYPD was pushing the deadline, saying, “The rule remains the same, nothing has changed.”
The NYPD did not respond immediately to comments.
Members of the police department have been slow to get the blow, despite being one of the first eligible groups and losing more than 60 members of the department due to the virus.
Last month, only 47% of the just under 35,000 uniformed officers and about 18,000 civilian members are inoculated. Almost 80% of city residents have had at least one dose.
Unvaccinated officers are required to wear the mask almost always when they are on duty, according to a strict masking policy last month.
Additional reports from Tina Moore