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Vaccinated NYC Office Workers Can Go Unmasked as of July 6; Delta Variant Should Spur Vaccination, Officials Say

cdc.gov

Unvaccinated city workers who interact with the public will still have to wear masks and social distance.

New York City’s government offices are working their way back to normal. Starting July 6 there will be some new rules. Vaccinated city workers will be able to go without masks and social distancing. Those who are unvaccinated though, will still have to take those precautions. Mayor de Blasio said it’s a big step.

“So important. We know in city government when people come back to the offices we get a lot more done,” he said, “but also so many small businesses, I hear it from small business owners all the time, they’re so thankful to see the office buildings starting to come back. It means so much for the small businesses and the people who work there.”

De Blasio said he hopes that things will be completely back to normal in city offices by September, subject to CDC guidance.

Meanwhile, the city is dealing with the spread of the Delta variant. Could it result in another lockdown in New York City? Mayor De Blasio said because of the city’s high vaccination rate relative to other parts of the country and the world it doesn’t look to be a danger.

“The bottom line is right now we’re winning the race against the Delta variant, but we gotta keep winning,” he said. “We’ll always be ready if we see things start to turn but it doesn’t turn like on a dime, it takes weeks and weeks.”

The mayor, along with NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, urged everyone, in light of Delta, not to take weeks and weeks to get that vaccine.

“Our message remains the same,” he said. “If you’ve been waiting to get vaccinated this is one more reason why you should run not walk to get your vaccine.”

The Delta variant has made up about 10% of new cases in the city over the last month and 23% over the last week.

Chokshi said the vaccine provides strong protection against severe disease from Delta and all other variants, but he said it is still not clear whether Delta actually causes more severe disease than other strains of Covid.

Janice Kirkel is a lifelong award-winning journalist who has done everything from network newscasts to national and local sports reports to business newscasts to specialized reporting and editing in technical areas of business and finance such as bankruptcy, capital structure changes and reporting on the business of the investment business.