NYC's de Blasio mandates proof of vaccination for many indoor settings

Nolan Hicks and Sam Raskin
New York Post
Tue, 03 Aug 2021 16:21 UTC

© SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Excelsior Pass app provides digital proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results.

New York City is mandating proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter certain indoor businesses — including all indoor restaurants, entertainment venues and gyms, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.

"It's time for people to see vaccination as necessary to living a good and full and healthy life," de Blasio said during his daily press briefing.

"This is crucial, because we know that this will encourage a lot more vaccination."

The program, which de Blasio dubbed the "Key to NYC Pass," makes New York the first major US city to create such a mandate, and marks a significant escalation of the city's efforts to curb the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant. The initiative will launch on Aug. 16, the mayor said.

"It will require vaccination for workers and customers in indoor dining, in indoor fitness facilities, indoor entertainment facilities," he said from City Hall. "The only way to patronize these businesses indoors is if you're vaccinated."

"If you want to participate in society fully, you've got to get vaccinated," de Blasio added.

Enforcement will begin on Sept. 13, following a public service announcement campaign, de Blasio said. Entry will be denied to anyone without a shot.

"If we're going to stop the Delta variant, the time is now," said the mayor. "This is going to make clear, you want to enjoy everything great in this summer of New York City? Go get vaccinated."

© Getty Images

The "Key to NYC Pass" is part of the city's initiative to curb the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant.

The program is modeled after the vaccine passport programs rolled out in France and other European countries, officials said.

De Blasio said City Hall is finalizing the regulations, including if children younger than 12 years old with vaccinated parents will be allowed to dine indoors. Additionally, the mayor said the city is examining expanding the vaccine proof requirement to other indoor activities, such as shopping.

The specifics of the new policy will be finalized by the week of Aug. 16, de Blasio said.

New Yorkers will be required to show either the state' "Excelsior Pass," the city's new vaccine pass or Center for Disease Control's paper vaccine card, as proof of vaccination, according to the mayor.

The Excelsior Pass app provides digital proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Unlike the newly released rules for city workers, those who are unvaccinated will not have an option to receive a COVID-19 test, de Blasio said. The restrictions will not apply to outdoor dining.

State Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-Queens) said he supports the policy.

"Only government can make a difference here," he said during the virtual press briefing. "If we do not take a strong stand and say 'you have the right to your body, of course; but you do not have to kill other people."

"A strong stance needs to be taken," the lawmaker added. "It will be controversial, but your stance — when we look back in history on this one, this will be a defining moment in your government."

Tren'ness Woods-Black — granddaughter of Sylvia Woods, founder of the later Sylvia's in Harlem — said the vaccine requirement is a necessary measure to keep neighborhood residents who have not yet received a shot healthy.

"If you're vaccinated, a world of opportunity opens up to you," Mayor Bill de Blasio claimed.

"The real case is that COVID is killing us," she said. "We are being hit — especially in Harlem and other black and brown communities especially hard — because lots of folks are not getting the vaccination."

The major announcement comes after de Blasio has in recent days repeatedly floated the possibility of ramping up restrictions and vaccine requirements. He mandated in late July that all public health system employees get their shots or receive a weekly coronavirus test — and then expanded the requirement to the entire city workforce.

"We've got to shake people at this point and say, 'Come on now.' We tried voluntary. We could not have been more kind and compassionate. Free testing, everywhere you turn, incentives, friendly, warm embrace. The voluntary phase is over," de Blasio said on MSNBC last week. "It's time for mandates, because it's the only way to protect our people."

During an appearance on CNN, the mayor left the door open to soon imposing vaccination requirements to enter city bars and restaurants.

"Given everything we're learning, all options are on the table," he said Friday. "I keep saying we're climbing the ladder in terms of more and more mandates."

And on Monday, the mayor hinted at the Big Apple moving toward a "reality" in which those who do not get vaccinated are barred from certain settings.

"More and more, there's going to be a reality where, if you're vaccinated, a world of opportunity opens up to you. If you're not vaccinated, there's going to be more and more things you can't do," de Blasio said during his virtual press briefing, when he announced that the city will only hire vaccinated workers and advised all New Yorkers to wear masks in indoor, public settings.

"I say that to say, go get vaccinated, so you can fully participate in the life of this city, because that's where things are going."

Comment: This followed up an earlier "recommendation" that vaccinated New Yorkers resume wearing masks indoors. NY1 reported:

The new recommendation is based on new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that suggest that the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus spreads even more quickly than previously thought, Chokshi said.

"Today, I'm making a strong recommendation that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask in public indoor settings," Chokshi said, stopping short of issuing a mandate.

The announcement came as de Blasio said that all newly hired city workers must be vaccinated before they begin their jobs, and as he has introduced further rules aimed at pushing vaccination up throughout the city.

In July, de Blasio mandated that all city employees must either be vaccinated or face required weekly testing for COVID-19 starting in September. That rule went into effect for city health workers on Monday.

"It's incentive on the one hand and growing mandates on the other hand," he said Monday.

De Blasio also said that he expected further rules to spur vaccination, especially ahead of the reopening of public schools on Sept. 13.

"All options are on the table," he said.

The squeeze is spreading to the corporate world.

From Reuters:

Tyson Foods Inc, Microsoft Corp and Detroit's Big Three automakers joined a growing list of U.S. companies that are changing their vaccination and masking policies as the Delta variant triggers renewed pandemic restrictions.

Gap Inc. said any employee who enters its office buildings in its Bay Area, New York, and Albuquerque hubs must show proof of vaccination starting Sept. 7.

Many of corporate America's biggest names have acted following the CDC's guidance, including mask mandates from McDonald's Corp and Apple Inc, and vaccination requirements by Walmart and Walt Disney.

Disney's adoption of the "guidelines" are mystifying. Anyone with two neurons firing would understand that between staffing problems due to vaccine side effects, and the loss of visitors who will bridle at the restrictions being applied to their children, they may be setting up a massive losing situation:

Disney joins a growing list of US corporate entities who are deciding to enact COVID vaccine requirements as a matter of company policy.

"At The Walt Disney Company, the safety and well-being of our employees during the pandemic has been and continues to be a top priority," the company said in a statement.

"Toward that end, and based on the latest recommendations of scientists, health officials and our own medical professionals that the COVID-19 vaccine provides the best protection against severe infection, we are requiring that all salaried and non-union hourly employees in the US working at any of our sites be fully vaccinated."

It was back on Wednesday that Disney made a related announcement about mandates. For attendees of their amusement parks, the company decided to bring back mask requirements whenever people are indoors at their locations.

When it comes to this newest vaccine mandate for Disney employees, reporting suggests the blanket requirement extends to the amusement park entities too.

The Walt Disney Company named a deadline for currently unvaccinated employees to schedule their COVID shot.

Still the brave fight back:

Louis Rossmann, whose biting commentaries on 'right-to-repair' and a wide range of other issues have earned him a large social media following, published a video on Wednesday in which he announced that his Manhattan computer repair shop would not be turning away customers based on their vaccination status. As a specialist in Apple repairs, Rossmann has championed legislation that would allow people to repair their devices without having to rely on services offered exclusively by the Silicon Valley giant.

Stressing that he was fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and believes that the benefits of inoculation far outweigh the risks, Rossmann said it was clear that New York City's leaders "don't understand the concept of consent."

He argued that people are capable of weighing the risks and consequences associated with not getting vaccinated and that it should be a personal choice.

Well said, Mr. Rossman!