By Michael Hill -
The Associated Press
A federal appeals judge has temporarily prevented New York City schools from implementing a vaccination requirement for teachers and other workers,
within days of the deadline.
Starting Monday, workers in the nation's largest school system were required to present proof of vaccination.
But on Friday night, a judge with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary injunction to stop the measure, after a group of teachers requested a review of the case.
Education Department spokeswoman Danielle Filson said
officials were seeking a speedy resolution in court
.
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In this Sept. 13, 2021, file photo, a girl walks past a 'Welcome back to school' sign in Brooklyn, New York. Mark Lennihan / AP
"We are confident that our immunization requirement will continue to be upheld when all the facts have been presented, because that is the level of protection that our students and staff deserve," Filson said in an email.
The
New York Post
reported that the Department sent an email to the directors Saturday morning saying that "they should continue to prepare for the possibility of the vaccine mandate taking effect later this week."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in August that some
148,000 school employees would have to receive at least a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine
by September 27.
The policy includes teachers and other staff members, such as custodians and cafeteria workers.
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This is the first vaccination mandate in the country without the option of testing in a large group of public workers.
And it resembles the statewide immunization requirement for hospital and nursing home employees.
As of Friday,
82% of Department of Education employees had already been vaccinated
, including 88% of teachers.
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Although most school workers have been inoculated, unions representing New York City principals and teachers warned that as
many as 10,000 teachers could be missing
from a one million student school system
because of the measures
.
De Blasio has refused to delay implementation of the requirement, insisting the city is ready.
“We have been planning it for a long time.
We have a lot of substitute [teachers] ready, ”the Democrat said in a radio interview on Friday.
"A lot will happen between now and Monday, but beyond that, we are ready, even if we need thousands, we have thousands," he added.
