NYC begins vaccine mandate

Monday marks the beginning of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vaccine mandate policy for certain indoor events.

While enforcement will not start until Sept. 13, the mayor has not laid out any real specifics on how the mandate will be policed and how asking for proof of a vaccine does not violate a person’s health privacy laws.

While de Blasio has often said that the CoVid-19 recovery is for everyone, this mandate will dramatically effect poorer minority communities since the vaccination rates there are the lowest in the city.

A total of 61.8 percent of all New Yorkers have had at least one jab — including 73.6 percent of all adults. However, there are neighborhoods in Brooklyn and The Bronx where the vaccination rate is as low as 36 percent despite all the incentives being given out now.

Last month a study by Yale University and the city Department of Health said unvaccinated New Yorkers accounted for 495,023 of the 500,302 coronavirus cases in the five boroughs between Jan. 1 and June 15.

Coronavirus vaccinations prevented a staggering 8,300 deaths and 44,000 hospitalizations in New York City during the first six months of 2021, according to the study.

On Sunday a Republican rally near Gracie Mansion headed by GOP mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa spoke of the need to get everyone vaccinated, but he challenged the Mayor’s mandate edict.

“Let people have individual rights and freedom — and not the boot, crushing the life out of our economic system, your ability to raise your families,” Sliwa said.

As de Blasio can request that private businesses make vaccinations a term of employment, he cannot force them too, so I foresee in the near future a court challenge to the mandate after he lays out more specifics on enforcement.

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