Mayor Eric Adams said Friday that he was officially ending New York City’s mask mandate for public schools and a proof-of-vaccination requirement for indoor dining, gyms and entertainment venues, a significant moment for a city that was once an epicenter of the pandemic.
Adams made the announcement in Times Square in Manhattan and said it was part of his efforts to reopen New York after a steep drop in coronavirus cases.
Starting Monday, students will no longer have to wear masks indoors at public schools. Children under 5 must continue to wear masks because they are not yet eligible for vaccination.
Also as of Monday, people will not be required to show proof of vaccination to visit the city’s restaurants, gyms and other venues like movie theaters. Masks are still required on public transit and in some venues, including Broadway theaters.
“It’s time to reopen our city,” Adams said Friday.
Coronavirus cases have dropped quickly over the last month after a surge caused by the omicron variant. The city is logging about 500 daily cases now and 25 hospitalisations compared with more than 40,000 cases and 1,000 hospitalisations per day in January.
Still, some health experts have raised concerns that Adams is moving too quickly to remove pandemic restrictions and that the proof-of-vaccination requirement, known as the Key to NYC program, has helped keep New Yorkers safe, especially because the city has so many international visitors.
Dr. Jay Varma, a top health adviser to the previous mayor, Bill de Blasio, wrote an opinion piece in the New York Daily News on Thursday urging Adams to keep the program.
Adams has said that the proof-of-vaccination program worked by encouraging more New Yorkers to get vaccinated. He has decided to keep vaccine mandates for city workers and for employees at private companies who are working in person.
Nearly 87% of adult New Yorkers are fully vaccinated, according to city data. Rates are lower among children; only about 56% of those ages 5-17 are fully vaccinated.
