be available and on duty during a crisis...like COVID...especially like a year ago in NYC when Omicron was literally raging. Without vaccination, those key people could be lost or incapacitated for very long periods, thus putting the city's residents in more danger. That was no time for 'political posturing' over a proven safe vaccine...IMO it was irresponsible to their sworn duty to protect and serve citizens for Police and Fire personnel (and others) to refuse vaccination w/o a genuine - and very rare - medical reason...it's their JOB...and just like in the military, they need to roll up their sleeves...it's an indictment against them that there had to be a mandate...they should have voluntarily gotten vaccinated, en masse.
From your personal experience, you must also realize that even very fit people (e.g. Tri-Athletes) can die from COVID if they aren't vaccinated...so why anyone would pass up a proven vaccine is beyond me.