New York City vaccine mandate for private business employees goes into effect

The vaccine mandate for all private-sector employees in New York City went into effect Monday, requiring proof of inoculation for all workers.

All private-sector businesses must require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for all employees and have documentation prepared for city officials to inspect, according to NBC New York. 

Businesses that do not comply with the mandate will face a fine starting at $1,000, according to ABC 7. 

While speaking at a press conference Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said New York’s mandate is the “strongest vaccine mandate anywhere.” 

The mandate was first announced on Dec. 6, which was four days after New York reported its first omicron variant case, NBC notes. 

De Blasio faced criticism for the strict mandate, but the mayor insisted it was necessary to prevent worse outcomes in the city from the omicron variant and winter weather pushing people indoors over the holidays. 

The New York mayor defended the mandate during the press conference, stating, “COVID is bad for humans, it’s bad for our health, and it’s bad for business.” 

De Blasio also said during the press conference that “180,000 New Yorkers have gotten that booster since Tuesday,” and lauded the city’s booster incentive program, which was announced last week and will run through the end of the year. 

De Blasio also stated that 2 million New Yorkers have received a vaccine booster in total, and said that “this is how we get people vaccinated.” 

BREAKING: 179,700 New Yorkers have gotten their booster shot since the $100 incentive was announce last week, bringing the total boosted citywide to nearly 2 million.

Get boosted this week at a City-run site and you’ll get $100: https://t.co/B0fgHlk0CH https://t.co/8tSnvf9big

— City of New York (@nycgov) December 27, 2021

In addition to the private-sector mandate, the city will also begin requiring that anyone over the age of 12 show proof of having two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend indoor entertainment, dine inside, or enter gyms, ABC 7 reports.

Exceptions to this will be people who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.