Civil servants in New York ordered to be vaccinated against COVID-19: de Blasio gave them a month

On July 26, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio expanded the mandate for mandatory vaccinations to include all municipal employees (including teachers, doctors, police officers, and government officials). Beginning this fall, employees who have not provided proof of vaccination against COVID-19 will be required to undergo weekly coronavirus testing. NBC New York.

It's about our recovery

Unvaccinated municipal employees will have to complete vaccinations or take a virus test every week by September 13. But that's not all. Beginning August 2, all unvaccinated municipal employees will be required to wear masks at work. The rule is expected to affect about 340 city workers, making New York City one of the largest employers in the United States to introduce mandatory vaccinations or regular testing.

The new mandate will be introduced in stages. Its application will start with city employees who work in crowded environments. Members of this group of approximately 45 people will have to start doing weekly testing as early as August 000, if they have not been vaccinated by then.

“It's about our recovery. It's about the safety of people, so that our families can safely cope with COVID, '' said de Blasio. - September is a turning point for recovery, September is when many employers return to work a lot of their employees. This is when schools start working at full capacity, this is when people come back from summer holidays. "

One of two things: vaccine or weekly test

The city plans to launch a new app to track COVID test results that will store test results for seven days (in line with the city's new weekly testing rule). The city authorities explained that all data is stored only on the person's phone and is not transferred anywhere, which ensures the safety of information in the application.

The app is available to everyone, not just government officials, but other groups in New York can also buy it. The mayor said any local employer or institution can use the app to track testing of employees or patrons.

On the subject: COVID-19 after full vaccination: how many vaccinated New Yorkers became infected with coronavirus

The news comes less than a week after the mayor announced a requirement for New York City hospital workers to either get vaccinated or get tested for coronavirus weekly, as the highly contagious delta variant of the virus is alarming due to the rising incidence of COVID-19.

De Blasio on July 23 urged the city's private businesses to introduce mandatory vaccination requirements for their employees, saying that "the limits of a purely voluntary system" have been reached.

“If people want freedom, if people want to work, if people want to live again, we need to vaccinate more people. And, obviously, the time has come to introduce any requirements that we have the right to introduce, ”he said.

On the subject: A third of doctors in New York state refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19

Over the past week, the number of COVID-19 cases in New York has nearly doubled. The highly infectious delta variant was the most common coronavirus strain in New York City, and in just two weeks the number of cases skyrocketed. The increase led to de Blasio's demand to vaccinate public hospital physicians, and he said he would like private hospitals to apply similar policies as well.

In addition, the city is considering returning the mandatory mask wearing requirement in New York.