Restaurant sector slams New York City’s new vaccine rules
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the country’s strictest vaccine mandate for New York City.
The sweeping new vaccine mandate covers the entire private sector workforce by 27 December.
It expands well beyond the previous municipal worker mandate.
The mandate covers about 180,000 businesses.
In addition de Blasio is expanding vaccine card requirements for gaining access to indoor restaurants, entertainment venues.
Children between ages 5 and 11 will need proof of their first dose starting on December 14, while older kids require full vaccination.
"We are taking aggressive action today. We are not going back to what happened in 2020. We cannot allow that to happen," de Blasio said, calling it a pre-emptive strike on Omicron.
The hospitality sector slammed the decision to include small children in the mandate, which they say will severely impact the holiday tourist season.
"We’ve been encouraging people to come to New York City, and now all these families have their holidays planned in New York, they’re bringing their kids. But guess what? They’re not going to be able to eat in restaurants, go to shows and visit other types of entertainment venues," said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance
"It’s just hugely problematic."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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