Coming up on December 27th, the mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio stated that the city will become the first city in the country to impose a vaccine mandate on private-sector workers.

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So could this new mandate impact Western New York? Depends on if New York State health officials feel this would be the best way to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

When the mandate goes into effect on December 27th, all employers both public and private in New York City will be required to make sure that their staff is vaccinated against COVID-19. Mayor de Blasio said the mandate is a preemptive strike against the different variants of COVID-19 that have been found around the country and around the world.

The new mandate would affect over 180,000 businesses in New York City.

Currently, in Western New York, Erie County is the only county to have a mask mandate for public spaces. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said that the mask mandate is the first step in a four-phase plan for the county to combat COVID-19.

Erie County officials will reevaluate the COVID-19 numbers on December 13th to see if the county needs to move to phase two of the plan. Phase two is a vaccine mandate which would require people to show proof of full vaccination.

The Governor of New York Kathy Hochul was supportive of the vaccine mandate in New York City citing that she is deferring to local leaders on whether stricter rules over New York State's guidelines are needed in their communities.

 

Answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

Vaccinations for COVID-19 began being administered in the U.S. on Dec. 14, 2020. The quick rollout came a little more than a year after the virus was first identified in November 2019. The impressive speed with which vaccines were developed has also left a lot of people with a lot of questions. The questions range from the practical—how will I get vaccinated?—to the scientific—how do these vaccines even work?

Keep reading to discover answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions.

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