The NYPD, despite being scheduled to receive the COVID vaccine this week, will have to wait to get it, Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at One Police Plaza on Tuesday, the city’s chief police officer told reporters that the department is “counting on the state and municipal health department to advise us when we are in line.”
New York police sign with logo on police car in New York City.
(NYPD)
“We certainly appreciate that everyone wants to achieve this and we have to wait for our fair turn in line and that is what we are doing,” said Shea. “But we are looking forward to it and we want it as soon as possible.”
A memo circulated within the Detectives Endowment Association on Monday and obtained by the New York Post said the delay was related to problems with the supply chain.
“The state has not released the vaccine in the quantity needed by the NYPD,” says part of the memo. “We have made several attempts to obtain up-to-date information and, when we have more news about its availability, we will immediately keep our members informed of the new date and method of distribution.”
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Asked about the plan to bring the vaccine to members of the NYPD, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city’s top priority at the moment is “first-rate health professionals and people in nursing homes who work in nursing homes”.
“But I want us to get to first aid as soon as possible,” said de Blasio. “So we are waiting for the state’s guidance to be clarified. And as soon as it is, we will put this effort into motion.”
Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, criticized the delay, accusing “politicians in Albany and the city hall” of “wasting time on bureaucratic gymnastics instead of looking at the reality on the ground”.
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“New York City law enforcement officers are not just on the front lines. We cover all parts of the front lines: from hospitals and residential complexes to the corner store,” said Lynch in a statement. “We have more daily contact with New Yorkers than any other agency in the city. We continue to push for vaccines to be made available to the police as soon as possible.”