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With 68 percent of FDNY's personnel having the COVID-19 vaccine and a mandate requiring employees to have at least one vaccination by this weekend, or face unpaid time off, officials say it could close fire companies and increase response time.
"There is going to be a catastrophic manpower shortage if 3,500 firefighters that are currently unvaccinated are told to not to go to work," FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro told abc7ny.com.
FDNY officials said if the number of unvaccinated workers remains the same, up to 20 percent of the fire companies and one in five ambulances will be shuttered.
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