Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that New York City will be implementing a vaccine mandate for all private sector employers.
During an interview on MSNBC, de Blasio said the vaccine requirement will go into effect on Dec. 27.
He said the decision is a “pre-emptive strike” against the new Omicron variant. It is also supposed to combat a winter surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We’ve got Omicron as a new factor, we’ve got the colder weather, which is really going to create additional challenges with the delta variant, we’ve got holiday gatherings,” de Blasio explained on MSNBC.
“We in New York City have decided to use a preemptive strike to really do something bold to stop the further growth of COVID and the dangers it’s causing to all of us,” he added.
“As of today, we are going to announce a first in the nation measure, our health commissioner will announce a vaccine mandate for private sectors employers across the board,” de Blasio continued. “All private sectors employers in New York City will be covered by this vaccine mandate, as of December 27th”.
In addition to the new mandate, five to 11-year-olds will be required to provide proof of vaccination for indoor dining, entertainment, and fitness. The program used to require one dose of the vaccine but now requires two.
De Blasio tweeted Monday “NYC is a global leader when it comes to #COVID19 recovery. We’ve proven that with vaccine mandates and incentives, we can beat this virus”.