NEW YORK — New York City's new health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, said he plans to lead "with kindness and empathy" on his third day on the job.

During an appearance on "Mornings On 1," Vasan praised his predecessor, Dr. Dave Chokshi, for his ability to guide New Yorkers through most of the coronavirus pandemic, and noted that he will continue to take a precautionary approach to public health.

"We obviously need to remain prepared and vigilant," Vasan said of the next stages of the pandemic, adding that the "work of public health is in preventing things from happening."

Vasan, a primary care physician, former employee of the World Health Organization and Fountain House and professor at Columbia University, said he wants to ensure all New Yorkers stay healthy and protected.

When asked about the school mask mandate that remains in place for the city's youngest residents, Vasan said that, like Chokshi, he and the health department will continue to monitor the data and provide the best recommendations to Mayor Eric Adams.

"I'm a parent of three school aged kids - one of them is below 5, and so I'd want nothing more than to send him to daycare without a mask," Vasan said. "I'm also an epidemiologist and a scientist and a doctor who knows that we should have an extremely low tolerance for our babies getting sick."

He said that in New York City, there has been a higher rate of hospitalizations in children under the age of 5, and that age group is not yet eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

"So we're being really cautious," Vasan said. "We're looking at the data. We're reevaluating it every day."

Meanwhile, Vasan said the city is not ruling out the possibility of a vaccine mandate for public school children.

"[Vaccines are] our high walls for whatever COVID wants to throw at us now and into the future and so we're always exploring those kinds of options," he said.

Vasan said he will continue to urge all New Yorkers to get vaccinated against the virus.