Coronavirus Watch: 9,000 unvaccinated NYC workers placed on unpaid leave

More than 90% of New York City's employees have been vaccinated and about 9,000 were placed on unpaid leave for failing to meet today's mandatory vaccination deadline, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The mandate required that any of the city's 300,000 workers who haven't had their first dose be placed on unpaid leave. More than 12,000 have applied for medical or religious exemption, and those requests are still being processed, de Blasio said.

The police department, which employs about 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees, had an 84% vaccination rate as of Monday, de Blasio said. The fire department was at  77% of firefighters and 88% of EMTs.

It's Monday and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know:

• Global deaths surpassed 5 million on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 
• White House press secretary Jen Psaki tested positive for COVID-19. She said Sunday she has not been in close contact with the president or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday.
• Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown are closed Monday and Tuesday after a person tested positive who had visited the park. For hours on Sunday night, tens of thousands of visitors were stuck in the park as they waited for a negative test result that would allow them to leave.
• The first-dose vaccination rate of U.S. adults has reached 80%, and 70% of adults are fully vaccinated, the White House said Monday. 
• South Dakota has joined Missouri, Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Wyoming in a lawsuit against President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has recorded 46 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 746,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 246.9 million cases and 5 million deaths. More than 192 million Americans – 58% of the population – are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

What we're reading: This week, a CDC committee is meeting to discuss approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11. We know you have questions, and we have answers. Here is everything to know about kids and the vaccine. 

– John Bacon, Paste BN, @realjohnbacon