New York Mayor Bill de Blasio decided Monday, December 6 that as of December 27, all businesses and private businesses in the city will require their employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to come to work.

The democratic councilor, who will leave his post on December 31 to be replaced by the mayor elected on November 2, Eric Adams, therefore goes further than US President Joe Biden, whose vaccination obligation - which must come into force on January 4 but is suspended by a court decision - only concerns employees of companies with more than 100 people.

"Here in New York, we have decided to launch a preemptive attack (against the coronavirus) to really do something daring to stop the progression of the Covid and the dangers it poses to all of us," hammered Bill of Blasio on the MSNBC channel by announcing to everyone's surprise the vaccine obligation for some 184,000 businesses, companies and businesses.

He said in a statement that all "private sector employers in New York would be affected by the vaccine requirement from December 27".

In addition, "New Yorkers aged 12 and over will have to show proof that they have received two doses of the vaccine", with the exception of those who received the single-dose serum from Johnson & Johnson, according to the mayor.

As for children aged 5 to 11, they will have to show from December 14 that they have received a dose of vaccine to participate in "high-risk extracurricular activities such as sports, music and dance", added the town hall.

Omicron in 15 US states

"New York will not give up an inch of ground in the fight against Covid-19", insisted the Democratic mayor, who was rather very active during the pandemic in 2020, like the former governor of the state of New York Andrew Cuomo.

Bill de Blasio had already imposed on November 1 the compulsory vaccine on all municipal officials, a measure well applied despite some protest movements from firefighters, police and garbage collectors.

The Omicron coronavirus variant is now confirmed in at least 15 US states - with a few cases in New York state.

With AFP

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