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De Blasio Urges NYC Private Employers to Require Covid Shots

De Blasio Urges NYC Private Employers to Require Covid Shots

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged private companies to institute Covid-19 vaccine mandates for their workers, while stopping short of instituting a similar citywide requirement for municipal employees.

“If anyone is asking my advice, particularly large employers, move toward vaccine mandates now,” de Blasio said during a WNYC radio interview. “I urge every employer to go to any form of mandate that you’re comfortable with.”

The mayor’s comments came two days after he said workers in public hospitals and clinics would be compelled to get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing for the virus. The city missed its goal of fully vaccinating 5 million New Yorkers by the end of June -- the total stood at less than 4.5 million as of July 22 -- and the city administered less than 7,000 doses yesterday, far below its record high of more than 120,000 on April 8.

Other city workers, including police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians have not been similarly pushed to get the shots, but the mayor said he’s considering expanding the scope of the mandates. Private employers have more latitude than governments to impose the requirements, he said.

“Private enterprise rights are different than for a public entity,” de Blasio said. “We all need to climb this ladder together. We’ll have more to say in coming days.”

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