New York City sets Covid vaccine mandate for all private employers
All private employers in New York City will have to require workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19, the mayor announced on Monday, imposing one of the most aggressive vaccine rules in the nation.
The move by Bill de Blasio comes as cases are climbing again in the US and the worrisome Omicron variant is gaining a toehold in New York and elsewhere.
“We in New York City have decided to use a pre-emptive strike to really do something bold to stop the further growth of Covid and the dangers it’s causing to all of us,” he said.
De Blasio, a Democrat with just weeks left in office, said the mandate will take effect on 27 December.
Speaking on MSNBC, he said the move was aimed at staving off a surge of infections amid holiday gatherings and as cold weather drives more people indoors, where the virus is more likely to spread.
Vaccine mandates across states and cities vary widely, with some states resisting any and others requiring shots for government employees or certain sectors that run a particularly high risk, such as healthcare workers.
But most officials have not announced mandates reaching as far into the private sector, nor mandates covering so many people.
Joe Biden sought to impose a similar mandate nationally, applying to businesses with 100 or more workers, but federal courts have put that on hold ahead of a 4 January deadline.
De Blasio said he expected his new mandate to survive any legal challenges. A spokesperson for the mayor said it would apply to roughly 184,000 businesses in the city, which has a population of 8.8 million.
Vaccinations are already required for hospital and nursing home workers and for city employees including teachers, police officers and firefighters. A vaccination mandate for employees of private and religious schools was announced last week.
Also, the mayor announced that anyone 12 or older who wants to dine indoors at a restaurant, go to a gym or see a show will have to produce proof of receiving two shots of the vaccine, up from the current requirement of one. In addition, proof of at least one shot will be required of children aged five to 11, de Blasio said.
De Blasio, who has indicated he may run for governor of New York next year, has sought to portray himself as a national leader in the fight against Covid-19.
The mandate will take effect days before another Democrat, Eric Adams, is due to be sworn in as mayor. Evan Thies, a spokesman for Adams, said the mayor-elect “will evaluate this mandate and other Covid strategies when he is in office and make determinations based on science, efficacy and the advice of health professionals”.
Representative Lee Zeldin, a Republican from Long Island who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor, called the new vaccine requirement a “job-killing, small business-suppressing mandate”.
Zeldin called De Blasio “a far-left, lame duck politician, who is anti-business, one-dimensional, unaccountable, not bright and has a perpetual ‘I always know best’ attitude’ … the worst mayor in America”.