The New York Mandate Podcast is now available in video! I’ll be publishing video versions of many episodes, beginning with this conversation.
If you missed her the first time around, this is a great way to hear all of the insightful things Sophy has to say. If you’ve already heard our first conversation, you can jump ahead for an update on what she’s doing now and the new organization for frontline workers that she helped found.
As always, don’t forget to:
UPDATE: This video version of episode 1 includes both our first in-depth conversation in May 2022 and an October 2022 update from Sophy. The update begins at 1:38.
“My body’s my only one I have, so to me, the difficult choice would be to just give everything up that I believe in to keep a job. I’ve always been a fighter. It’s who I am. So I’m not going to just say, ‘OK, if this is what I have to do to keep a job.’ It’s a job. It’s a job that I love. It’s a job that I don’t want to lose. But to me the difficult choice would be to go against everything I believe in and to look at my children and say, ‘Well, guys, sometimes you’ve just got to sell your soul.’ I’m not going to do that.” - Sophy Medina
In this first episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Sophy Medina. A Marine Corp veteran and a New York City firefighter since 2008, Medina was put on unpaid leave from the FDNY in November 2021 because she decided not to comply with the New York City mandate requiring city workers to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
We had a wide-ranging conversation about her experience working through the pandemic, why she decided not to take the vaccine, and how the mandate has affected her family, her political views, and her plans for the future.
She also talked about Bravest for Choice, an organization that supports FDNY employees who have decided not to comply with the vaccine mandate, and the legal actions they’re pursuing to oppose it.
Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:
National Coalition of Frontline Workers
The organization was founded by frontline workers, many of whom lost their jobs or were subject to other penalties under COVID-19 vaccine mandates. It provides representation for frontline workers including law enforcement, firefighters, emergency workers, and health care workers.
Bravest for Choice
An organization supporting NYC firefighters, medics, and EMTs who have been terminated or put on leave because they have not complied with the city’s vaccine mandates.
New Yorkers for Religious Liberty
An organization that is “committed to the furtherance of religious liberty in New York City in the face of municipal attacks on the constitutional rights of religious people to exercise their religious liberty freely.”
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Guidance on Religious Discrimination
This document includes information on religious exemptions.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City Contractors
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors to be vaccinated. This is the mandate that led to Sophy Medina being put on unpaid leave from FDNY.
Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the Workplace
This is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on December 13, 2021 requiring all workers in New York City who work in a workplace or interact with other workers or the public to be vaccinated.
About the New York Mandate Podcast
The New York Mandate Podcast is an ongoing series of conversations exploring the costs and consequences of vaccine mandates in New York City. I’ll be talking with workers who have been directly affected by the mandates, as well as legal and policy experts.
In late 2021, the City introduced a series of requirements for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These requirements were put in place through executive orders issued by the administration of former mayor Bill de Blasio. They covered nearly all workers in New York City, in both the public and private sectors.
Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support vaccine mandates, which currently cover all City employees. The Adams administration made the private-sector vaccine mandate optional on November 1, 2022, and is now encouraging employers to put their own vaccine requirements in place.
The views expressed in the New York Mandate podcast are the personal opinions of the people speaking, and are not intended to provide medical or legal advice.
Join the Conversation
Have you lost your job, been put on leave, or lost opportunities to work as an independent contractor as a result of your decision not to comply with a New York vaccine mandate? Did you take a vaccine against your wishes in order to keep your job? Please get in touch with me at NYMpodcast@protonmail.com.
VIDEO+UPDATE: New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 1: Firefighter Sophy Medina