New York City has declared all private-sector employers must implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates for their workers, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant has spread to at least one-third of US states.
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The biggest US city set a December 27 deadline for all 184,000 businesses within its limits to make their employees show proof that they have been vaccinated.
In addition, children 5 to 11 years old must get at least one vaccine dose by December 14 to enter restaurants and to participate in extracurricular school activities, such as sports, band, orchestra and dance, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
"Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic, and these are bold, first-in-the-nation measures to encourage New Yorkers to keep themselves and their communities safe," de Blasio, who leaves office next month, said in a statement.
De Blasio's successor, Eric Adams, "will evaluate this mandate and other COVID strategies when he is in office and make determinations based on science, efficacy and the advice of health professionals," said his spokesperson Evan Thies.
About 27 per cent of children ages 5 to 12 have gotten at least one dose and 15 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to the city's website
The Greater New York Chamber of Commerce said it supported the expanded mandate.
The requirements come at a time when new coronavirus infections are accelerating nationwide, especially in northern states, as colder weather has encourages more mingling and socialising indoors.
Over the past week, the country has averaged more than 120,000 new infections a day, up 64 per cent from the previous week, according to a Reuters tally.
Deaths, which lag infections, have averaged 1300-a-day over the last seven days, up from an average of 800 a day a week ago, according to Reuters data.
The Delta variant still accounts for 99.9 per cent of new COVID cases in the US, CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky told ABC News on Sunday.
Omicron, first detected last month in southern Africa, has spread around the globe and shows signs of being more contagious than the Delta variant.
Several dozen Omicron cases have been found in 18 out of 50 US states.
Several Wall Street banks headquartered in New York, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, already require vaccines for anyone coming into their offices. JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest US bank, has so far allowed unvaccinated employees to come to work in offices if they submit to twice-weekly COVID-19 tests.
Alphabet Inc's Google and Meta's Facebook, which also have operations in New York City, also already require all US employees to be vaccinated to enter buildings.
Australian Associated Press
