A pair of Republican city lawmakers demanded Tuesday that Mayor Eric Adams rehire city workers who were canned because of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, after he last week announced a shot requirement exemption for New York City-based professional athletes like unvaccinated Nets star Kyrie Irving and performers. 

“Mayor Adams, you are not a hero today, because we would like to see each and every one of our civil servants,” Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) said during a rally in Queens, imploring the mayor to allow “the average Jane and Joe” who haven’t gotten a shot to return to their jobs.  

“I’m going to go into this with an open heart and an open mind because I believe everybody deserves a shot,” added Paladino, who has not gotten a jab . “I’m not here to disrespect the mayor; I’m here to call out to the mayor.”

Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R- Brooklyn) lamented that  Adam’s new amendment to the private-sector vaccine mandate, in place since Dec. 27, grants an exemption for athletes but not municipal workers like teachers, firefighters, and police officers. 

“When it comes to mandates, the people of the city are divided. A lot of people want to keep the mandates and a lot of people do not. So I think we have a pretty simple common sense solution to all of this: For those of you who want to keep the mandates, go ahead and get vaccinated. But for those who do not want the mandates, and who do not want to get vaccinated, you should have a personal choice to get vaccinated,” she said.  

“It is discriminatory against people who make a personal choice not to get vaccinated,” the first-term lawmaker added. “I really hope the next step for this mayor is to exempt everyone.”

Maurice William, a firefighter who was fired on Feb 22., fumed, “The politicians chose to make an elite class of New Yorkers that can earn a living while the rest of us suffer in despair.”

“We do not use our craft to entertain. We use our craft to save lives and property,” he added. “Mayor Adams, how can you sleep at night while taking such a hypocritical stance and promoting such division in this great city. What makes our craft less valuable than entertainers.”

 “If you are willing to lift mandates for all performers, you need to lift mandates for our life-saving heroes too,” declared paramedic Karen Rosato. 

Firefighter Sophia Medina ripped the “hypocrisy” in the new vaccination requirement rules. 

 “If the mandates weren’t fair for the players, they’re unfair for the city workers who were essential during the pandemic,” said Medina. “We should expect fairness.”

The rally came after the heads of the city’s two firefighters’ unions demanded Saturday that Adams lift the COVID-19 mandate for their members

The mayor has said in recent days he currently has no plans to reinstate the municipal workers who were axed for refusing to get inoculated and the coronavirus.  Adams last month fired more than 1,400 municipal workers who refused to get vaccinated.

Earlier Thursday, Adams attempted to downplay the split between him and the City Council speaker on the COVID-19 vaccine mandate carveout , telling reporters, “It’s all good.”

Queens Councilwoman Adrienne Adams, no relation, last week panned his decision to grant an exception to basketball and baseball players but not everyday city government workers.

“We have 8.8 million people and 30 million opinions. We only have one mayor. She’s the speaker of the City Council, we’re going to agree and disagree sometimes. That’s all right. I don’t agree with myself all the time,” he told reporters in Brooklyn. “She has the right to her opinion, and I have the right to carry out what’s best for the city of New York.”

The mayor’s answer comes after Adrienne Adams in a statement voiced “serious concerns” over what she called “a step away from following sensible, public health-driven policies that prioritize equity.”

“I’m worried about the increasingly ambiguous messages that are being sent to New Yorkers about public health during this continuing pandemic,” the council speaker said Thursday following the mayor’s announcement at Citi Field.

“This exemption sends the wrong message that higher-paid workers and celebrities are being valued as more important than our devoted civil servants, which I reject.”

On Thursday, Adams exempted the city’s athletes and performers from the Big Apple’s COVID-19 private-sector vaccine mandate following weeks of pressure after it kept Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving from playing in home games, and was expected to bar unvaccinated professionals baseball players from taking the field next month.

The backlash to the new carveout for the wealthy and famous while keeping the Big Apple private employee instituted in December by ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio and maintained by Adams was swift and severe.

Lawyers told The Post Thursday that scores of workers who got fired for refusing to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates are lining up to sue City Hall. 

In addition, Elissa Embree — an unvaccinated 43-year-old Harlem resident who was sent home last week from preseason orientation for her job as a waitress at the Mets’ Citi Field — told The Post in a front-page story that Adams exempting rich athletes but not regular New Yorkers like her from the city’s vaccination rules was “major slap in the face.”