NYC Vaccination Mandate

Today, Mayor De Blasio announced a major expansion to the Key to the City program.  By December 27, all employees of private employers in NYC must receive one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.  In a press conference earlier today, Mayor De Blasio emphasized the effectiveness of vaccines and the need to keep people safe and avoid further shut down measures as some of the reasons for this order.   Mayor De Blasio stated that the administration would be speaking with local business over the next few days about how to implement this program, emphasizing that he wants to have a collaborative process.  The NYC Health Commissioner will be issuing an order shortly, but additional guidance as to how to implement this mandate will be published on December 15, 2021.  Though Mayor De Blasio said specifics would be included in that guidance, generally this order is expected to apply to in-person employment where more than one person is present.  Mayor De Blasio further stated that there would not be a testing option.  Finally, Mayor De Blasio suggested that there would be consequences for non-compliance with the order, but said greater specifics about enforcement would be detailed in the December 15th guidance.  We will be closely monitoring this order and related guidance and will provide updates as they are issued.  Employers with questions about this mandate should contact Kristina Grimshaw at kgrimshaw@fglawllc.com or any attorney at the firm.

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