Officer dies of COVID while on leave for missing California city’s vaccine deadline

A California police officer died of COVID-19 while he was on leave for not meeting San Francisco’s Nov. 1 vaccination deadline, according to media outlets.

San Francisco Police Department Officer Jack Nyce tested positive for the virus on Nov. 2 and died Saturday, Nov. 6, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. His symptoms were so severe on Nov. 6 that he was taken to a hospital in an ambulance and died later that day.

Nyce, 47, had worked for the San Francisco Police Department for over 17 years. The San Francisco Police Officers Association issued a statement on Nyce’s death, saying that the officer “leaves a void that will be difficult to fill,” KTVU reported.

Police told NBC Bay Area that Nyce was one of 41 police officers placed on leave for not being vaccinated by the city’s deadline of Nov. 1.

On Oct. 19, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a tweet that the requirement that city workers, including police, get vaccinated was issued in July. She added that employees who did not meet that deadline would be suspended without pay and could be separated from the city after a due process hearing.

Police Lt. Tracy McCray, vice president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, told the Chronicle that Nyce was on a 30-day stint of paid administrative leave at the time of his death. Employees who have not complied with the mandate by Nov. 13 will be shifted to unpaid administrative leave, the Chronicle reported.

Though Nyce was suspended following the Nov. 1 deadline for all city employees, the city’s COVID-19 Vaccination Policy said that employees in high-risk settings, including police officers, had to receive the vaccine by Oct. 13. That guidance was issued on Aug. 24, the policy states.

Other city employees who had received at least one dose of a two-dose regimen of the COVID vaccine by Nov. 1 will have until Dec. 6 to document that they are fully vaccinated, the policy states.

The Department of Human Resources said that 98% of city employees had been vaccinated as of Monday, Nov. 8, NBC Bay Area reported.

This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Officer dies of COVID while on leave for missing California city’s vaccine deadline."