A San Francisco police officer who had been on the force 17 years died over the weekend, less than a week after testing positive for COVID-19. Sources suggest that the officer was one of around 40 in the department who had not met the November 1 deadline for all city employees to be vaccinated against the virus.

Officer Jack Nyce, an Army veteran who had most recently worked at the SFPD's Park Station, died Saturday at Kaiser Hospital in Manteca. He was 46 years old.

Nyce's wife declined to tell the Chronicle whether or not he had been vaccinated, but all signs point to the high probability that he was not — and three anonymous sources told the paper that he had not met the city's vaccine deadline, so he was likely on leave pending a due-process hearing and possible termination proceedings.

Officer Nyce reportedly tested positive for COVID last Tuesday, and his conditioned quickly worsened. It is not clear how long he had actually been sick.

SFPD Chief Bill Scott issued a statement Monday saying that Officer Nyce was a "widely-respected colleague," and praising his 17 years with the department.

Nyce's death comes amid national stories of pushback on vaccine mandates from law enforcement departments, especially via police unions. The pushback in San Francisco has not been particularly significant, however, with 2,747 out of 2,817 SFPD employees having met the November 1 deadline for full vaccination. Out of 54 sworn officer who did not meet the deadline, per the Chronicle, 13 had gotten one vaccine shot, and the other 41 were facing due-process hearings in which they might be seeking religious or medical exemptions.

The pushback is illogical and seems to be politically motivated — illogical especially in light of the fact that COVID has been the leading cause of death among law enforcement personnel since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Related: Latest Count: 836 SF City Employees Unvaccinated, 60 Police Officers on Leave

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