Vax everywhere, except transit
Mayor de Blasio, who has been a true national leader on expanding the circle of protection offered by vaccines, has his newest, and final, mandate expansion beginning today, covering all private companies. As we’ve questioned its value, legal standing and enforceability, we’re a bit surprised that there wasn’t a single state or federal lawsuit filed before courts closed Thursday for the long holiday weekend.
We’ll see what today brings in terms of compliance and legal actions and how many establishments publicly display the required Affirmation of Compliance With Workplace Vaccination Requirements certificate as ordered by the health commissioner.
And we’ll see what Saturday brings, with the arrival of a new mayor, as Eric Adams begins his term. Perhaps there’ll be a change, but the health commissioner who issued the private vax mandate, Dr. Dave Chokshi, is remaining, with the blessing of Adams, until mid-March.
Something that must change immediately is the exemption of transit workers, from bus drivers and subway conductors to token booth clerks and cleaners, from the vax requirement. Since the MTA is a state authority, they aren’t covered by de Blasio’s rules on city workers and since they are government employees, the new universal private mandate doesn’t apply either.
Gov. Hochul is having the MTA offer straphangers booster shots and COVID tests at several busy subway stations, which is a smart move. But she and the agency are dumbly resisting ordering that all MTA employees be vaccinated. The test or vax option that she pointed to as ensuring a very low infection rate is no longer viable due to omicron’s omnipresence.
Positive tests (assuming you can get one) are higher and higher, with each day breaking records. And while more and more people are getting infected and while it seems that the vaccinated (and boosted) will often be fine, the foolish unvaccinated could face serious illness, hospitalization and perhaps death. It’s past time for Hochul and the MTA to act to protect their employees and other New Yorkers with a vax requirement.