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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.
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!
Comment: The continued push for total control of information is making these guys look pretty desperate. The only problem is that the very control and resistance they have to the truth getting out is also what causes people with remaining functioning neurons to get an inkling of what is going on.