Whine & dine for Blaz
Mulls proof of vax at eateries as calls for masks grow
City restaurant-goers could be required to show proof of a COVID vaccine to dine out over growing concerns about the spread of the dangerous delta variant, Mayor de Blasio suggested Friday morning.
De Blasio, who weighed in on the possibility of the additional measure on CNN, still wasn’t ready to lay out plans for additional mask-wearing requirements though, even as elected officials have demanded them in the face of a rising number of COVID cases in the city.
The mayor praised restaurant impresario Danny Meyer for requiring all employees and customers to be vaccinated to work and dine inside his establishments, prompting the question of whether the city could and would implement such a mandate more broadly.
“Given everything we’re learning about the delta variant, all options are on the table,” he said. “What’s going to happen, bluntly, is that folks who are vaccinated are going to be able to experience all the things that they love in the life of this city and this country, and the folks who are not vaccinated are going to find that too many things that they want to do, they can’t do unless they’re vaccinated. That has to be the reality because people will respond to that.”
The possibility of such a mandate comes after Hizzoner rolled out several new incentives to get vaccinated this week. On Monday, he announced all city workers would be required to get inoculated or be tested for the virus once a week — or face being barred from work and not being paid. People attending several star-studded concerts that the city has planned for August — with headliners that include Bruce Springsteen, the Wu-Tang Clan and Paul Simon — will also have to show proof of being vaccinated to attend. And on Wednesday, the city rolled out a plan to give people who get the vaccine $100 to sweeten the deal — something President Biden recommended local governments do nationwide a day later.
But after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rolled out mask-wearing recommendations for areas hard hit by the delta variant — which includes the five boroughs — de Blasio still has not issued corresponding requirements. Instead, he’s said the city’s Health Department would have to examine the issue more closely and he would make a pronouncement on the issue early next week, prompting critics like City Councilman Mark Levine to label the delay “outrageous.”
“Mounting evidence that people who are vax’d, while well protected, can still spread,” he tweeted Friday. “And still NY
City & State have not updated mask guidance *SINCE MAY*. We’re letting the virus outrun us yet again. Stunning.”
But de Blasio has said repeatedly that the emphasis on fighting COVID must be focused primarily on vaccinations. That message did not change on Friday.
“The main event is vaccination. Masks can be helpful,” he told CNN. “We’re going to delineate to New Yorkers the best way to use masks. They don’t change the basic reality. Vaccination does. So what we want to make sure is everything we do supports vaccination.”
When asked about the possibility of a city vaccine requirement at local restaurants, de Blasio said the city’s Health Department has the power — especially during an emergency — to establish “a variety of rules.”
“We’re looking at all of those options,” he added. “We’ve tried incentives for months and months . ... but we need something also tough at this point.”