A mandate to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or get tested weekly could expand to New York City’s public school teachers and other personnel, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday morning.
Speaking on MSNBC, where he announced an imminent mandate for the city’s public hospital workers, de Blasio said: “I think this is something we do piece by piece, but this is the wave of the future in my view — this idea of, you get vaccinated or you get tested very constantly.”
“When you say, vaccinate or get tested, that’s a very fair deal. I think that’s something we can apply in many, many areas. Over time, we gotta see what works, and I do think people are gonna respond,” de Blasio said. “If, thankfully, people get vaccinated and the Delta variant is pushed back, that’s a good-news story. If people don’t get vaccinated and Delta grows, I think a lot of people will come to the conclusion, rightfully, that we might have to be more aggressive. But what we’re trying to do today is say, let’s start with the most obvious piece of the equation — health care.”
De Blasio was responding to a question from MSNBC “Morning Joe” panelist Mike Barnicle, who asked if vaccinations should be mandatory for teachers.
The mandate for city workers at its public hospitals — including clinics — comes as the more-infectious Delta variant spreads across New York City and the country. On Tuesday, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 83% of sequenced coronavirus is the variant, which first emerged in India. Similar figures have been found in sequenced virus in New York City.
Although the virus is still extremely rare for children, the variant has been found to be more dangerous for that age group.
An estimated one-third of workers at the city’s public hospitals and clinics are unvaccinated. Bill Neidhardt, de Blasio’s press secretary, said he didn’t immediately know the rate of school personnel who have been vaccinated.
De Blasio noted that the public school system had been testing personnel and students regularly in the last school year as part of the city’s reopening plans.
“By the way, all the unions agreed to that, in New York City,” de Blasio said. “So the notion of regular testing we have already, and we’re gonna need that going forward, obviously.”
Staff and students are currently required to wear masks in city schools.
An email sent early Wednesday to the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s main labor union representing teachers, was not immediately returned.
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