You are reading

New York City Mandates Vaccinations for Public School Teachers, Principals and Staff

(Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Aug. 23, 2021 By Christian Murray

All New York City public school employees will be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in accordance with a new mandate announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday morning.

The policy will affect all 148,000 Dept. of Education employees, including school principals, teachers and custodians. It will also apply to school safety officers and food providers.

Under the mandate, all staff will be required to show proof that they have had a least one dose of the vaccine by Sept. 27.

The announcement comes as the highly contagious Delta variant becomes more prevalent and just weeks before approximately 1 million New York City public school students return to class.

The mayor is adamant that there will be no remote learning in the upcoming year that starts Sept. 13.

“We know this is going to help ensure that everyone is safe,” de Blasio said during a news conference Monday. “We want our schools to be extraordinarily safe all year long.”

To date, about 63 percent of Dept. of Education employees have had at least one dose of the vaccine, according to city officials.

The policy follows the mayor’s announcement on Friday that public school athletes involved in high-risk sports like basketball and football must be vaccinated by the start of their season.

“Our schools must be safe spaces for our students,” said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, who spoke during the press conference Monday. The vaccine mandate, she added, provides “another layer of protection for our kids.”

The city has yet to disclose what the penalty will be for employees who don’t comply, or whether there will be exemptions.

The announcement comes on the same day that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

New York Hall of Science awarded federal funding for project on artificial intelligence

New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) will play a key role in the future of artificial and natural intelligence after U.S. Rep. Grace Meng announced that the institution in Flushing Meadows Corona Park has been awarded nearly a half-million dollars in federal funding from the National Science Foundation over the next five years.

NYSCI will be part of a $20 million initiative led by Columbia University to establish an AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence (ARNI), an interdisciplinary center that will bring together several top research institutions to focus on a national priority: connecting the major progress made in AI systems to the revolution in understanding the brain.