Before there was a COVID-19 vaccine, as then-candidate Joe Biden campaigned for the presidency remotely, holding virtual rallies and safely social distancing, they went out to do their jobs lacking protective equipment and without the ability to work from home.
Now President Biden, who is fully vaccinated with two additional boosters, has contracted the coronavirus as officers in some big city police, fire health and education departments are forced out of work for resisting vaccine mandates.
"When the pandemic hit, we had no supplies in New York City," said John Macari, a former NYPD lieutenant who says he retired early in February at great financial cost rather than submit to the mandate. "There were no masks, there was nothing And I went to work every day to do my job like thousands of others – firemen, EMS workers, teachers, nurses. We were out there during the pandemic when everybody locked down"
He and many others contracted the coronavirus during this time, and his early retirement will cost him seven figures in income over the next 10 years, he said.
PRESIDENT BIDEN TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19
President Biden released a photo of himself in the White House after testing positive for COVID-19, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (White House)
"Not only did we expose ourselves, but we exposed our families for the betterment of the city," he said. "Now we’re being blamed for the ineffectiveness of the produce. We’re being blamed for the spread."
Biden, who is fully vaccinated with two booster shots, according to the White House, is experiencing "very mild symptoms." He tweeted a photo of himself smiling at his desk after the announcement.
"We’re approaching three years, what harm have the unvaccinated caused to America or the public that they’re being removed from society and employment?" Macari said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams listens to a question from a reporter during a news briefing. (NYC Mayor's Office)
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio mandated last year that all city workers would be required to get vaccinated or be terminated. Eric Adams, the city’s current mayor, declined to lift the controversial requirement. And other big cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, have also battled with their employees over mandate issues.
"Can we drop these ridiculous vaccine mandates and rehire the brave first responders and nurses that never stopped serving the city during the height of this pandemic?" an NYPD captain told Fox News Digital under the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
NYC POLICE UNION SUES CITY OVER VACCINE MANDATE
A sign held by a healthcare worker reads "Last Year's Heroes, This Year's Unemployed" at a protest at St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown, New York, on Sept. 27, 2021. (Raychel Brightman/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
In a video update also shared to Twitter, Biden said he was feeling well and getting work done despite the diagnosis.
Officers who have refused to vaccine say they can get their work done too, just like they did at the height of the pandemic in early 2020.
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"He’s a prime example that vaccines don’t prevent COVID and do not stop the spread of it, yet police officers and city schoolteachers are losing their livelihoods and being forced to file lawsuits," another active NYPD member, who is involved in an appeal over the mandate, told Fox News Digital. "There are people who will get COVID… even though they are vaccinated."
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