The Los Angeles County Sheriff warned the county's vaccine mandate has triggered a 'mass exodus' in his department just as violent crime is on the rise.
The mandate was called in by workplaces across the country but has left police forces like LA and New York City struggling and losing their workforce.
September's message from President Biden mandated that all employers with more than 100 workers required them to be vaccinated or have tests for the virus weekly, which affected about 80 million Americans.
Roughly 17 million workers at health facilities receiving federal Medicare or Medicaid were also required to be fully vaccinated.
In New York and Los Angeles, the vaccine mandate was called in for employees in each county but many workers are refusing to get jabbed.
Thousands have protested against the mandate and in Los Angeles many firefighters and police officers have filed lawsuits against the city.
They have alleged the vaccine mandate violates their rights and disregards the antibodies many have from previous Covid infection.
September's message from President Joe Biden (pictured) mandated that all employers with more than 100 workers required them to be vaccinated or have tests for the virus weekly, which affected about 80 million Americans
Protests and lawsuits among New York and Los Angeles workers have meant worker shortages in fire and police stations across each county.
Today in New York City, up to 10,000 vital emergency workers were forced onto unpaid leave as the mandate took hold.
And thousands of unvaccinated New York City firefighters have opted to take sick leave to keep their paychecks before they are forced onto unpaid leave with police and EMTS.
This weekend in the city, 26 fire stations were down, which is around 10 per cent of the city's total.
On Monday morning, the President of the FDNY's biggest union warned dozens more would close.
Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) President Andrew Ansbro (pictured) speaks during a news conference
The firefighters and cops say they were not given enough time to make 'life and career changing decision'.
De Blasio told them on October 20 that they would lose pay starting November 1. FDNY union bosses on Monday morning said that some firefighters had chosen to retire early rather than be forced into getting the shot.
'This is the moment we've been waiting for. We're not clear how many fire companies will be closed today, we expect dozens. We're here today because of a mandate that was put on members with nine days to make a life changing decision,' Uniformed Firefighters Association’s Andrew Ansbro said at a press conference on Monday morning.
Emergency workers protest against the vaccine mandate in New York (pictured)
As of Monday morning 91% of the city's 325,000 employees were vaccinated, leaving around 29,000 who aren't.
Among them are 5,500 NYPD officers, 3,560 firefighters and EMTs, and 1,620 workers from the Department of Sanitation, whose absence on the city's increasingly violent streets will be felt most sorely.
There are growing fears over how those shortages will play out in 911 response times, officer man-power, EMT and ambulance capabilities and street cleaning.
Thousands of firefighters and emergency workers across New York City have protested against the vaccine mandate (pictured)
Workers who have refused to get the vaccine in New York have come out to protest the mandate (pictured)
Over the last week, two thousand firefighters have called their employers sick, to allow them to claim their pay before they are forced on unpaid leave if they refuse the vaccine.
In Los Angeles, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that the 'reality' of the the vaccination mandate is that he would lose 20 to 30 per cent of his workforce.
He also warned about the dangers to public
