Daily US Times: New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday that the city will require all of its municipal workers — including police officers and teachers — to get Covid-19 vaccines by mid-September or face weekly testing.
The rule is expected to affect about 340,000 employees of New York City, making the city one of the largest employers in the United States to take such action. While it is not a vaccine mandate — no workers will be forced to take a jab — officials hope the discomfort and inconvenience of weekly tests will persuade many to overcome a reluctance to get inoculated.
The city mayor said: “This is about our recovery. This is about what we need to do to bring back New York City. This is about keeping people safe.
The September 13 deadline coincides with the start of public school, when Mr Blasio has said he expects all pupils to be in classrooms full time. Health care workers in the New York City and employees in congregate setting such as group homes will face earlier deadlines.
The decision comes as the city battles a rise in coronavirus cases fueled by the highly contagious delta variant. The daily average of new cases has increased by more than 300% since the end of June.
The city had announced last week that it was mandating vaccinations against Covid-19 or weekly testing for workers in the city’s hospital system.
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