City's proof-of-vaccination policy won't change, Mayor Adams says

New York City’s proof-of-vaccine requirement for indoor venues like gyms, theaters and restaurants is continuing indefinitely, and the city has set no infection benchmarks below which the mandate might be rescinded.

That's according to Mayor Eric Adams, who reiterated the policy a day after Gov. Kathy Hochul cited the steady decline statewide of coronavirus infections in ending a mask-or-vaccination-proof mandate for certain indoor venues, in place since Dec. 13.

"The doctors will tell me," said Adams, in response to a question Thursday at an unrelated event in the Bronx.

Under another prong of that city policy, imposed last year during the mayoralty of Adams' predecessor Bill de Blasio, what is estimated to be thousands of municipal workers are expected on Friday, Feb. 11, to lose their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated.

"We are not firing them. People are quitting. You know, the responsibility is clear. We said it… You have to be vaccinated. If you are not following the rules, you are making that decision," Adams said, adding: "I want them to stay. I want them to be employees of the city, but they have to follow the rules… I would do a disservice to those who follow the rules if we don’t have a clear direction."

More than two dozen labor unions, including those for teachers, cops and firefighters, have sued the city to stop the firings.

The city’s vaccination policy, called Key to NYC, was first put into place during the summer and gradually expanded to cover more workers and the public. Municipal workers have known for months that refusing to be vaccinated would result in termination.

Adams’ press office didn’t return an email seeking the current rates of vaccinated municipal workers. But in late November, de Blasio’s then-spokesman Mitch Schwartz said the rate is 94% of the roughly 370,000 workers.

The city is granting rare exemptions for workers with medical problems or sincere religious objections that preclude vaccination, but those exemptions are granted case by case. The latest exemption rate also wasn’t disclosed Thursday.

The city's proof-of-vaccination requirement for indoor gathering places obliges venues to check the vaccination cards of the public. Certain other municipalities have said similar mandates would be rescinded based on pre-set benchmarks.

For example, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Tuesday that the mandate would end once the occupancy rate of beds in local intensive care units goes below 95%, there are fewer than 200 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day, and the positivity rate is below 5%, The Boston Globe reported.

For New York City, where the rate of full vaccination is 75.7%, Adams chuckled Thursday about the progress needed to convince his health advisers to suggest dropping the venue mandate: "I'm sure, knowing them, cause they’re very conservative, they’re going to say 100%."

With Anthony M. DeStefano

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.