Bill de Blasio Announces Private Business Vax Mandate on Morning Joe, Gets Instant Pushback from Mayor-Elect and Business Leaders

Ken MeyerDec 6th, 2021, 10:27 am
 

Even though he only has 25 days left to be New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio has announced he’s moving ahead with his plan to expand his vaccine mandate policy due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

De Blasio joined Morning Joe on Monday as show talked about how the new Covid variant is already spreading throughout the United States. The mayor took the opportunity to roll out new anti-Covid measures, describing them as a “preemptive strike” against viral spread as America heads into the winter season.

“We in New York City have decided to use a preemptive strike to really do something bold to stop the further growth of Covid and the dangers it’s causing to all of us,” de Blasio said.

The mayor explained that the new policy would place a vaccine mandate on all private sector workers, which will take effect on December 27th. The new plan will also require children aged 5-11 to show proof of at least one vaccination dose to access a multitude of venues, while New Yorkers aged 12 years or older will require 2 doses.

“We’re going to work with the business community,” de Blasio said when asked how this will be enforced. “We’ve see a lot of cooperation so far when we put in place our mandate, for example, for restaurants, indoor entertainment, indoor fitness. We actually got a lot of cooperation. There were a few times we had to penalize people, but it was rare, so we’re gonna put together the rules, work with the business community.”

The announcement comes as the Biden administration is preparing a crackdown on travel in response to Omicron, even though their mandate policies are facing challenges in court. When questioned on how his policy will withstand legal challenges, de Blasio said he was “confident” the mandates will hold up in court “because they’re universal, and consistent, and they’re about protecting the public right now from a clear and present danger.” He also defended the mandate by emphasizing that it will drive more children to be vaccinated for the holiday season.

“I urge parents really strongly, get that vaccination,” he said. “It’s safe, it’s been proven. Here’s another incentive to do it.”

While de Blasio has his mandate plans, it remains to be seen what will end up coming out of them. New York Times reporter Emma Fitzsimmons says she spoke to business leaders about de Blasio’s plan, and they apparently feel “blindsided” as they wonder how and whether it will be enforced.

On top of that, a spokesman for Mayor-Elect Eric Adams put the policy’s future in question by saying Adams will “evaluate this mandate and other Covid strategies when he is in office and make determinations based on science, efficacy and the advice of health professionals.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.

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