Sun | Jun 4, 2023

NYC ending COVID-19 vaccination mandate for city employees

Published:Monday | February 6, 2023 | 9:19 PM
A man walks out of a vaccination bus at a mobile vaccine clinic in Midtown Manhattan, December 6, 2021. New York City is ending its COVID-19 vaccination mandate for municipal employees including police officers, firefighters and teachers, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday, February 6, 2023. The vaccine mandate, which led to the firing of hundreds of city workers who declined to get the shots, will end on Friday, the Democratic mayor said in a news release. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City, which once had the nation's strictest workplace vaccination rules for COVID-19, is ending one of its last such mandates, saying it will no longer require the shots for municipal employees including police officers, firefighters and teachers.

The vaccine mandate, which led to the firing of hundreds of city workers who declined to get the shots, will end Friday, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.

Adams, a Democrat, said that with more than 96% of city employees and more than 80% of city residents having received their initial vaccine series, “this is the right moment for this decision.”

City Health Commissioner Dr Ashwin Vasan said, “It's clear these mandates saved lives and were absolutely necessary to meet the moment. We're grateful that we can now, as we leave the emergency phase of the pandemic, modify more of the rules that have gotten us to this point.”

The vaccination mandate for city employees was one of the last COVID-19 measures still in place in New York City.

The city ended its vaccine requirement for employees of private businesses in November 2022, and masks are now optional in most public spaces including subways and buses.

New York City's private-sector mandate forced All-Star point guard and vaccine sceptic Kyrie Irving to miss most of the Brooklyn Nets home games last season.

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