While nearly two-thirds of adults in the city are fully vaccinated, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio wants to encourage all city employees to get inoculated by forcing any unvaccinated municipal worker to undergo weekly coronavirus testing, the Associated Press reports.
The rule is not a vaccine mandate, but it does make it inconvenient and uncomfortable for unvaccinated employees to not get the shot. “This is about our recovery. This is about what we need to do to bring back New York City,” DeBlasio said. “This is about keeping people safe.” All 340,000 city employees–including police officers and teachers–will be required to show proof of vaccination or undergo weekly testing. At this point, the city is picking up the cost of the testing, which will take place at centralized locations. DeBlasio mandated testing for unvaccinated city hospital employees last week.