NYC Expands Vaccine Mandate to All Private-Sector Workers, Ups Proof to 2 Doses and Kids 5-11 Must Show It, Too
BREAKING: All private-sector workers in New York City will be subject to the mayor’s vaccine mandate starting Dec. 27, while vaccine proof for indoor dining fitness and entertainment will be required for children ages 5 to 11, according to a toughened vaccine mandate announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday.
The current rule will also expand to require two vaccine doses instead of proof of only one, the mayor said.
EARLIER: New Yorkers are urged to get vaccinated and get the booster shot as the number of confirmed omicron cases rises along with the daily COVID-19 positivity rate — and it’s a possibility that the booster dose could be required.
The five boroughs’ rolling weekly case average is up 15% over the averages for the prior four weeks, but hospitalizations are up only slightly — and daily deaths are more or less stable, according to the city’s latest numbers.
While the emergence of the omicron variant has flooded headlines for the last two weeks, the still-omnipresent delta strain is the one driving up hospitalizations across the United States, health officials say. The greatest risk omicron poses is to the unvaccinated, who keep spreading the virus, an ex-White House advisor says.
Currently, New York City mandates just the first dose of the vaccine series to enter restaurants, bars, gyms and other venues. With about 15% of adults having gotten their booster shot out of 81.6% of fully vaccinated adults, Mayor Bill de Blasio has floated the idea of toughening the requirement.
“That will be looked at along with a series of other actions because it’s really dynamic right now,” the mayor told WNYC Friday when asked about whether the city will update its rules. “Not just because of Omicron. Look what’s happening in much of Europe, a very troubling reality, and that’s not Omicron, that’s Delta. So, we’re going to keep updating policies regularly to meet this challenge.”
Three new cases of the omicron variant in New York City were announced over the weekend, bringing the number of cases in the Big Apple to seven on top of the previously confirmed case out on Long Island. Across the tri-state, there are 10 confirmed cases with one in New Jersey and another in Connecticut.
The good news is that there doesn’t appear to be a significantly higher threat of severe illness linked to the newly detected coronavirus strain right now, but there’s still much to learn about omicron.
Reports from South Africa, where it first emerged and is becoming the dominant strain, suggest that hospitalization rates have not increased alarmingly.
“Thus far, it does not look like there’s a great degree of severity to it,” President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN on Sunday. “But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn’t cause any severe illness, comparable to delta.”
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Still, concerns about omicron triggered a new requirement starting Monday for international travelers coming into the U.S. to show a negative COVID test taken 24 hours prior to their departure, regardless of their vaccination status.
Omicron had been detected in about a third of U.S. states by Sunday, including in the South, the Great Plains and the West Coast. Wisconsin, Missouri and Louisiana were among the latest states to confirm cases.
“With a new variant circulating in New York, the best way to stay safe this holiday season is by getting vaccinated and boosted,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday. “With holiday gatherings just weeks away, you can protect yourself and your loved ones by getting vaccinated and encouraging everyone in your life to do the same.”
The first cases of that newest variant in New York were confirmed by last week, hours after news broke that a vaccinated Minnesota man who attended the two-day Anime NYC convention at the Javits Center a few weeks ago got COVID and testing showed it was omicron.
Health officials are still working to learn more about the first five cases, but they include a 67-year-old woman on Long Island who had recently traveled to South Africa, residents of Brooklyn and Queens and another New York City case possibly linked to travel. At least one person had received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine but officials did not have details about the vaccination statuses of the four other cases.
The one confirmed case in Connecticut also appeared to be connected to the anime convention, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.
A family member of a man in his 60s from the Hartford area was in New York City between Nov. 17 and Nov. 22 to attend the convention. The man started showing mild symptoms Nov. 27 and his family member developed symptoms on Nov. 21 that have since resolved.
Both individuals were vaccinated, according to Lamont’s office.
But delta remains the dominant variant, making up 98% of all tested cases in New York City and it’s likely largely to blame for the latest spikes in metrics. Hospitalization number is up 62% in the last month alone, and daily deaths, 49 of which were reported Thursday, are at their highest levels in roughly half a year.
Any New York hospital with bed capacity above 90% could have to shut down elective surgeries should the administration say that is needed. The plan is part of the state of emergency Hochul issued ahead of omicron’s arrival to shore up resources and expedite federal aid should the COVID outlook worsen.
Hochul has said she is leaving all options on the table as far as next steps and warned last month that a continued uptick in COVID-19 rates could mean New Yorkers will again face more virus protocols in high-risk communities. But she also said she didn’t think a mask mandate would do much due to noncompliance.
“That is an option, but there is a reality: The people who won’t get vaccinated are probably the same people who won’t wear a mask as well,” Hochul said.
New York City issued an updated mask advisory last week recommending that everyone, including those who are fully vaccinated, wear face coverings indoors.
Even if omicron proves less dangerous than delta, it remains problematic, World Health Organization epidemiologist Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove told CBS’ “Face The Nation.”
“Even if we have a large number of cases that are mild, some of those individuals will need hospitalizations,” she said. “They will need to go into ICU and some people will die. … We don’t want to see that happen on top of an already difficult situation with delta circulating globally.”
Two years into the outbreak, COVID-19 has killed over 780,000 Americans, and deaths are running at about 860 per day.
More than 6,600 new hospital admissions are being reported daily, according to tracking data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U.S. have dropped by about half since the delta peak in August and September, but at more than 86,000 new infections per day, the numbers are still high, especially heading into the holidays, when people travel and gather with family.
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