People dining at New York City restaurants may soon be required to show proof of vaccination, Mayor Bill de Blasio hinted on Friday.
“What’s going to happen, bluntly, is that folks who are vaccinated are going to be able to experience all the things that they love in the life of this city and this country,” the mayor said during an interview on CNN. "And folks who are not vaccinated are going to find that too many things that they want to do, they can’t do, unless they are vaccinated."
“That has to be the reality,” he added.
The mayor said the health department believes it has the power to enact and enforce a mandate, should it so choose.
The move would follow the lead of restaurateur Danny Meyer, who announced on Thursday a vaccine mandate for patrons dining indoors at his full-service facilities.
Andrew Rigie, the head the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said City Hall should focus on its own properties first.
"The city is at crossroads and we can’t let New York slide backwards and must support our local restaurants. So while we await more details from policymakers about potential vaccine mandates, we must recognize the significant economic and operational challenges this would pose to many restaurants, bars, and their workers all struggling to recover," Rigie said in a statement. "The city should lead by example by requiring proof of vaccination or negative test results to enter city buildings before asking private businesses to take that step."
De Blasio announced earlier in the week that starting in September all city workers will be required to get vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 tests.
The mayor also said on Friday that he is likely next week to issue new guidance on mask usage after the CDC recommended vaccinated people wear masks indoors to stop the spread of COVID-19's more contagious delta variant. He said he hasn’t already implemented new guidance because vaccination efforts are his priority, and he doesn’t want to distract from or undermine them.
“We will address masks, we will, but we have to make sure everything we do supports vaccination,” said the mayor.