Mayor Eric Adams: COVID-19 vaccine mandate on restaurants, bars, theaters could be lifted by March 7
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday that a dramatic drop in coronavirus infections could lead to the lifting of vaccine mandates on restaurants, bars and theaters as soon as March 7.
His announcement came shortly after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced her own plans to lift the state's mask mandate on schools, effective Wednesday.
"I'm happy to hear it, if we can get away with it scientifically because I think, boy, we've got to restart New York all the way," resident Tom Fountain told CBS2's Thalia Perez.
Adams said the city would also lift the mask mandate on about 1 million of the city's schoolchildren in the country's largest school system.
Adams said Sunday that a decision won't come until Friday, after a full week of classes after students return from a weeklong vacation.
Adams said if trends continue, he would also lift other measures, including doing away with proof of vaccination requirements at restaurants, bars and other indoor public places.
"At the end of this week, we will evaluate the numbers and make a final announcement on Friday. If we see no unforeseen spikes and our numbers continue to show a low level of risk, New York City will remove the indoor mask mandate for public school children, effective next Monday, March 7," he said.
"Additionally, New York City's numbers continue to go down day after day, so, as long as COVID indicators show a low level of risk and we see no surprises this week, on Monday, March 7 we will also lift Key2NYC requirements. This will give business owners the time to adapt and will allow us to ensure we are making the best public health decisions for the people of New York."