De Blasio's NYC vaccine mandate will hurt recovery: Business leader
New York City mayor requires COVID-19 vaccination for all private-sector workers with no weekly testing option
NYC vaccine mandate will hurt recovery: Business leader
Partnership for New York City President and CEO Kathryn Wylde says the private sector COVID vaccine mandate will prevent people’s return to work and limit consumer traffic.
One New York City business leader is speaking out against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the private sector, warning it will set back economic recovery.
Partnership for New York City president and CEO Kathryn Wylde said many businesses are disappointed with the policy move on "Mornings with Maria" Wednesday, claiming it could prevent people from returning to work and limit consumer traffic.
"Businesses have been working hard in New York to get their folks vaccinated," Wylde told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. "This is really a solution in search of the problem."
NYC BUSINESS OWNERS REACT TO DE BLASIO'S VACCINE MANDATE
The new mandate would require vaccination for all workers in the private sector with no weekly testing option. The mandate takes effect on Dec. 27 and will apply to around 184,000 businesses.
Proof of vaccination for indoor dining, fitness and entertainment will also be required for children ages 5-11.
Wylde argues this will have a broad impact.
A group of protesters gather in Times Square in Manhattan to show their opposition to Covid-19 Vaccines on December 05, 2021 in New York City. Despite the newly discovered omicron strain of Covid and health officials urging for more people to get vac (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"What we've heard from theaters, from Broadway, from museums, cultural institutions and of course, restaurants, etc., is that this is their season where they really make their revenues, where they see their volume up," Wylde explained. "So this is really going to damage our recovery during this heavy shopping season."
The business leader also pointed out that many countries do not yet offer the COVID-19 vaccine to children, further limiting international tourism to the city.
"There's always somebody who's going to protest a vaccination for a variety of reasons," Wylde said, "and the question is, do we really want to go to war over that, or do we just want to make sure they're carefully tested?"
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De Blasio announced what he called the "preemptive" mandate just three weeks before New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams is set to take office. Wylde said businesses are confident in the former police captain, hoping he’ll address a rise in violent and organized crime.
NYC mayor made ‘no real check’ on city’s latest vaccine mandate: Business leader
Partnership for New York City President and CEO Kathryn Wylde argues that politics and rhetoric powered the city’s COVID vaccine mandate affecting private companies and children over the age of 5.
"It's more politics and rhetoric, I think that empowers people to misbehave," Wylde said. "If anybody knows how to fix this, it's Eric."
Fox News’ Teny Sahakian contributed to this report.