Mayor Bill De Blasio announced on Monday that all New York City municipal workers including teachers and police officers will be required to get the coronavirus vaccination by mid-September if they do not wish to be subjected to weekly COVID-19 testing.
The introduction of this rule will directly impact 340,000 employees thereby making the city one of the largest in the country to take such a decision. Although the ruling is not a vaccine mandate as it will not be compelling any worker to get vaccinated, officials are of the hope that the inconvenience and weekly tests will convince the mass to get the vaccine and would help overcome any reluctance in the matter.
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The Delta Variant is deadly and this city is taking it seriously. Today I’m announcing that EVERY City government employee will be required to provide proof of vaccination or submit a weekly #COVID test. Join us at Bronx Borough Hall for more. #InTheBronx https://t.co/G9YsQCmNBP
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 26, 2021
“This is about our recovery. This is about what we need to do to bring back New York City,” de Blasio said. “This is about keeping people safe.
The deadline, September 13, coincides with the restart of public schools. Whereas, this action comes at the time when the city is battling with rising cases due to the emergence and spread to the delta variant.
A similar ruling was put into action last week as the city announced that it was mandating vaccinations for workers in the city’s hospital system, or there would be weekly testing for them as well.
Daily vaccine doses being disseminated in the city have seen a drop to less than 18,000 from previous numbers that were as high as 100,000 at the beginning of April, putting the percentage of fully vaccinated adults in the city at 65%. \