{"id":313789,"date":"2025-10-18T16:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T16:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/313789\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T16:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T16:06:10","slug":"nyc-health-dept-seeks-outside-firm-to-help-protect-staff-still-being-harassed-over-covid-protocols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/313789\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Health Dept. seeks outside firm to help protect staff still being harassed over COVID protocols"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NYC Department of Health is quietly planning to hire an outside consultant to devise guidelines to protect agency honchos it claims have been bombarded by threats since the pandemic \u2014 which critics say the agency woefully mishandled.<\/p>\n

The Health Department began soliciting proposals last month from vendors interested in developing agency protocols to prevent online and in-person \u201csafety risks and \u201cproactively protect\u201d its employees.<\/p>\n

Up to 75 staffers, including \u201cleadership,\u201d researchers and data analysts \u2014 whose \u201conline presence leaves them vulnerable to harassment, doxxing, and reputational attacks\u201d \u2014 will also receive \u201cpersonal safety training\u201d on how to \u201cprotect themselves\u201d while attending public meetings and performing other field duties, the application says.<\/a><\/p>\n

Ex-NYC \u201cCOVID Czar\u201d Jay Varma was caught boasting on a hidden camera about attending drug-fueled orgies during the pandemic \u2014 even as he and other city health honchos insisted the public wear masks and isolate themselves from friends and loved ones. Matthew McDermott<\/p>\n

This includes receiving \u201cde-escalation training to help staff safely and confidently navigate tense or confrontational situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic health workers, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, have faced threats, intimidation, and opposition driven by misinformation and the politicization of public health issues,\u201d the Health Department claimed in the document released Sept. 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese threats can have severe impacts on the workforce, including burnout, poor mental health, and high rates of attrition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Health Department refused to say what the taxpayer-funded tab will be for the new contract, but critics questioned whether it\u2019s necessary \u2014 and if the agency brought on itself much of the criticism it\u2019s received.<\/p>\n

Diane Pagan, a former Department of Education social worker who was terminated from her job in 2021 for violating the city\u2019s vaccine mandate, <\/a>was flabbergasted upon hearing on the planned contract.<\/p>\n

The NYC Department of Health is quietly planning to hire an outside consultant to train and set up protocols to protect agency honchos and other select staffers it claims are being bombarded by relentless threats and other harassment since the pandemic. Fund for Public Health in New York<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of untruths told by the Health Department, and they should be on their hands and knees apologizing, reinstating and compensating any New Yorker harmed by the false statements they made,\u201d said Pagan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut their response \u2026 is to point fingers at people with logical questions and logical reasons to be upset with them \u2014 and then spend money to protect themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard a lot of dumb s**t since COVID, [and] I thought most of it was like behind us, but this is the dumbest s**t I\u2019ve ever heard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

One of the most galling examples is former \u201cCOVID Czar\u201d Jay Varma, an appointee of ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio, being caught boasting on a hidden camera about\u00a0attending drug-fueled orgies during the pandemic<\/a>\u00a0 \u2014 even as the agency insisted the public wear masks and isolate themselves from friends and loved ones.<\/p>\n

Varma (left) was appointed COVID czar in 2020 by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio (right). Matthew McDermott<\/p>\n

And he also was recorded conceding that natural immunity to the deadly virus is just as good as the jab \u2013 all while at the time telling the public to get vaccinated.<\/p>\n

Mayor Eric Adams lifted the vax mandate for city employees in February 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat isn\u2019t something people just forget \u2014 add to it that there are still people out of their jobs for vaccine non-compliance, and yeah, of course people are going to be angry, and rightfully so,\u201d said Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Queens).<\/p>\n

Bodies are moved to a refrigeration truck serving as a temporary morgue at Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn on April 6, 2020 at the height of he COVID-19 pandemic. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t agree with doxxing or anything like that, but instead of spending money on something like this, how about they address the root of the issue: apologize for bungling the COVID response, and get all of the workers still out of a job due to vaccine non-compliance back on the payroll. Then maybe people wouldn\u2019t be so angry with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf agency officials are worried about reputational attacks, maybe they should focus on earning the public\u2019s trust, not scrubbing the Internet,\u201d added Councilman Frank Morano (R-Staten Island).<\/p>\n

Signs advertise flu and COVID-19 vaccines at a CVS pharmacy in New York City earlier this month, REUTERS<\/p>\n

The Health Department\u2019s nonprofit fundraising arm Fund for Public Health in New York City is overseeing the selection process, and all proposals from prospective applicants were due Friday. The agency and nonprofit expect to tap a winner by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

The Health Department refused to say which officials and other staffers will be trained or clarify who has been harassed and threatened \u2014 and why.<\/p>\n

Instead, it issued a statement saying \u201cat a time when the public health workforce is under threat, strong digital and physical securities and trainings are essential to protect our staff from growing risks of harassment. <\/p>\n

\u201cBy promoting digital literacy and proactive safety practices, we\u2019re aiming to empower staff to navigate both the real and online worlds with confidence and resiliency,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NYC Department of Health is quietly planning to hire an outside consultant to devise guidelines to protect…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":313790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,79599,2041,135918,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,16728,100109,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-313789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-covid-vaccine","10":"tag-health-department","11":"tag-mayor-bill-de-blasio","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-pandemics","20":"tag-proposals","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115396030514692478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}