There’s pushback over New York City’s latest coronavirus vaccine mandate for children. The New York City Hospitality Alliance says holiday tourists may not be able to meet the vaccination requirements and that’s going to hurt already struggling restaurants. Starting December 14th, children ages five to 11 must show proof of one vaccine dose in order to get into restaurants, gyms and entertainment facilities. Domenico owns a restaurant in Astoria, Queens and has already had one large party cancel.
“Right now they are doing this right at the peak time of our business and if it takes another two to three weeks before it settles in we lose a lot of business.”
Mayor de Blasio argues he’s heard positive feedback on the mandate from business leaders who say do what it takes to prevent another shutdown.
There are a handful of cases of the new omicron variant of coronavirus detected in New York City.
New York City’s Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi expects to see far more cases of the new variant of concern over the coming weeks.
“We are not seeing any significant clusters at this moment. What that means is that known omicron cases are not linked to any one individual or event but consistent with community transmission.”
Meanwhile, 70 percent of the entire New York City population is now fully vaccinated, However, the mayor is hoping to increase the vaccination rate among younger children. only 20 percent of five to 11 year olds have gotten one dose.