New York City will require employees at private companies to bevaccinated against the coronaviruses, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview with MSNBC early Monday.
New York identified eight cases of the omicron variant, and the United States averages 100,000 new cases of the virus every day. It applies to all in-person employees who work in an office with others.
Unvaccinated employees must have received at least one dose of the vaccine by the end of the year. Unvaccinated employees will not have the option to get tested, but the city will offer religious and medical exemptions.
De Blasio said during his appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that the colder weather will create additional challenges for the delta variant. In New York City, we have decided to use a preemptive strike to stop the growth of Covid and the dangers it is causing.
The number of New York City residents who have received at least one dose of the vaccine has gone up.
Two public health experts and an employment lawyer explain how the new vaccine mandate could help curb the spread of the virus and what challenges the new rules could bring.
The professor of epidemiology at the NYU School of Global Public Health told CNBC Make It that she wouldn't be surprised to see other cities announce similar vaccine mandates.
It is easier for the virus to spread in densely populated cities, so a vaccine mandate for private companies would benefit them. They would be crazy not to mandate vaccines, because it is in their best interest. The best way to get back to normal is to get vaccinations, but people have a desire to go out and eat.
Boston or Los Angeles could be examples of cities that could follow the mandate. They might be less effective at implementing the rules.
New York City has more business and political cards than most cities. People who work in New York City but don't live there have to pay New York taxes.
How prepared the cities are to implement such a mandate will be a factor that will determine when and how other cities will follow suit. It includes having enough vaccine supplies, appointments at the pharmacy, a system to track vaccinations, and enough health-care professionals to administer the shots.
The new mandate only applies to in-person employees who are in an office with others, but if cases continue to rise, we could see mandates expand to include all employees, even those working in a remote or hybrid environment.
For the rest of us, getting as many people vaccinations as we can will make life so much easier, because there will always be people who are exempt from the rule, whether it be for medical, religious or other reasons. It is a nightmare for companies to keep track of who their Covid-positive employees are in contact with, especially if they have any off-site responsibilities.
The future of vaccine mandates depends on people's stance on vaccines in different cities, Gronvall adds. Several states have enacted public health measures because people protested them. We have to fight vaccine distrust for vaccine mandates to be successful.
Walter Foster, an employment lawyer with Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, said that New York City's vaccine mandate should be met with far fewer legal challenges than the Biden administration's vaccine mandate.
The OSHA has a higher threshold to meet in order to prove that it has the power to impose such a sweeping mandate. The courts are careful.
States and cities have the power to protect their citizens' health and welfare through vaccine mandates or other means.
The new mandate would be upheld in court as similar policies have been approved, according to De Blasio. He told MSNBC that they have won in court. They are universal and consistent.
Check it out.
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