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And even though the Delta variant is more transmissible, the city’s Covid testing program in public schools is less rigorous than it was last year. This year, only 10 percent of unvaccinated students will be tested every two weeks.
Mandates can work
New York City was the first major city in the United States to announce widespread indoor vaccination mandates for businesses. As of August 17, all guests over 12 and staff members must be vaccinated to participate in a variety of indoor activities, including restaurants, gyms, museums and cinemas. However, the city’s law enforcement won’t begin until Monday, and some businesses are waiting until then to implement the rule.
Restaurants that already request proof of vaccination report varying responses from customers.
“Some restaurants say this hasn’t been a problem, and they even have new customers who are now more comfortable with the vaccine requirement,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of NYC Hospitality. Alliance, a foodservice industry group. “Others say their business is down and they turn people away, or that customers don’t present themselves as they used to be. “
Gyms had previously applied for vaccination status, as vaccinated customers are allowed to train without having to wear a mask. Keith Worts, managing director of Crunch Signature, which has 28 gyms in the city, said its gyms were busy uploading members’ immunization information into the computer system for the past three weeks and would start excluding unvaccinated members. Monday. .
He said the vast majority of members and staff were vaccinated and there had even been a small increase in memberships among those who said the policy made them safer.
Some experts have warned that the city’s decision to forgo an indoor mask mandate, including for high-risk environments like gyms, could blunt the effectiveness of its vaccination mandate, which only requires dose of a two-dose vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, delta can spread among those vaccinated, although the risk is lower and they are much less likely to become seriously ill from the disease.
“Even if you have a fully vaccinated gym population, that doesn’t mean you can go to the gym without worrying about getting infected, because it’s absolutely going to happen,” Dr Nash said.
“People see vaccines as something that will prevent the transmission of the virus, because that is how they were presented to us,” he said. “But I think what we’ve seen is that they prevent serious illness and death. They do not necessarily block the transmission of the virus. “
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