“We have to prepare as if this is going to go into effect Friday evening and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said on NY1 Tuesday. “We have vaccines available throughout the city for our members.”

Police say that 73% of the NYPD has gotten at least one vaccination shot. The number should increase ahead of the deadline, Shea said. City employees not vaccinated by Friday will be sent home without pay.

“There is a separate caveat for members with special exemptions but we don’t believe that’s going to be a large number,” Shea said.

Opposition to Mayor de Blasio’s mandate led to a massive protest in lower Manhattan Monday and a lawsuit filed by the Police Benevolent Association, which is trying to block the mandate from going into effect.