Mayor de Blasio is urging vaccinated New Yorkers to mask up indoors to stem the spread of the Delta variant but stopped short of implementing a mandate to do so.
“We want to strongly recommend that people wear a mask in indoor settings, even if you’re vaccinated,” the mayor said during a Monday press conference.
He said it was “absolutely crucial” for vaccinated people to wear a mask if they knew they were unsure of the vaccination status of those around them.
The CDC recommended last week that Americans vaccinated for COVID-19 should still mask up in certain situations. The announcement resulted in many city and state governments across the country reinstituting mask mandates with other officials openly declaring their opposition to such rules. For now, the mayor isn’t going that far.
De Blasio made it clear that increasing the numbers of shots is his goal, describing vaccination as “the whole ballgame.” He revealed that the city just reached the milestone of over 10 million doses of vaccine given out.
The mayor also announced a new addition to his city vaccine requirements: the newly hired. Before a new municipal employee’s first day, de Blasio said, they must provide proof of vaccination.
On whether he would ever put a mask mandate in place, the mayor said that “All options are on the table.” But he continued to emphasize that vaccination was the key to overcoming the pandemic.
“We could put this problem to bed if everyone would get vaccinated,” de Blasio said.
