New York Mandate Podcast, Ep. 15: ESL/ELA Teacher Asia

“Everything is happening too fast, too soon. We're going like a hundred miles an hour. The life that I lived when I was a child was stellar compared to what's going on now. I can't believe what the children of today are dealing with. . . . And I don't have faith that it's going to be so easy to regain a free world, a free life, a free state. . . . I wish there were more people that would stick up for our side, whether you agree with us or not, just on a humanistic level, as humans.” - Asia

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In this episode of the New York Mandate podcast, I talk with Asia, an English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Language Arts (ELA) teacher who was the head of the ESL department in a New York City public high school.

She applied for a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and her husband, also a teacher, applied for a medical exemption. Both were denied. Asia was terminated in October 2021, and her husband in December 2021.

Asia had been opposed to vaccine requirements before the pandemic, and began homeschooling her children after New York State ended religious exemptions for childhood vaccination requirements in 2019.

Asia talked with me about her religious objections to taking the vaccines as an observant Jew, the financial toll of losing both sources of her family’s income, and how her family ended up living at her parents’ apartment in Florida.

We also talked about how New York’s pandemic-era rent moratorium affected her family after they rented their home out and their tenants stopped paying rent.

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Here are some links related to things we talked about during the episode:

Repeal of Religious Exemptions to Childhood Vaccine Requirements in New York StateIn June 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill that repealed New York State’s allowance for religious exemptions to childhood vaccines required for school attendance.

Death to 2021This is the Netflix movie Asia mentioned. At 52:00, it includes a clip from ABC News in which Asia tells a reporter that she is about to be fired for not complying with the vaccine mandate.

United Federation of TeachersThe UFT is the union that represents teachers in the New York City public school system.

Randi Weingarten, AFT PresidentRandi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, the union that represents teachers and other school personnel across the United States.

New York City Department of EducationThe DOE manages New York City’s public school system, which is the largest in the United States.

Announcement of NYC Department of Education Employee Vaccine Mandate This is the August 23, 2021, announcement of the vaccine mandate for New York City Department of Education employees by then Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi.

Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination for City Employees and Certain City ContractorsThis is the order that former Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi issued on October 20, 2021 requiring New York City municipal employees and contractors, including teachers, to be vaccinated.

Order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to Require COVID-19 Vaccination in the WorkplaceThis 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.

NYC Vaccination Requirement: WorkplacesThis is where you can find current information on New York City’s workplace vaccination requirements.

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.

Current mayor Eric Adams continues to support the mandates, and they now extend to most working people in the city of New York. Private sector employers are required to affirm that their employees have been vaccinated, and public sector employees of city agencies have been terminated or put on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the vaccine requirement.

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 [email protected].