Since the pandemic had begun and aside from California, New York City has made itself one of the worst states when discussing COVID-19 cases and population drop. Looking past the ‘Black Lives Matter movement the streets of the city were absolutely empty for almost the entirety of 2020 as people were nervous to leave the comfort of their homes due to the rising coronavirus cases and an increasing number of homeless people. Now that there is some glimpse of hope coming from the vaccination that things might get back to somewhat of normalcy, officials are now instructing citizens who have received the vaccine to provide proof before entering local gymnasiums, restaurants, etc without a facemask on. If a vaccinated person is not able to deliver proof of the shot they will be forced to enter the building with a mask on regardless if they are vaccinated or not.
With this move, New York City officially became the first U.S. city to enforce a ‘proof of vaccination’ law before entering any local place of business that requires you to be closer than 6-feet from a stranger. Places such as gyms, movie theaters, and any indoor restaurants will require either physical or online proof before being allowed entrance into the building. As of right now, it does not seem as if any other cities or states will follow the path NYC has taken, but we can all agree that no one understands what the future holds, especially with all of these life-threatening diseases coming and going.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that this policy will begin in the early stages throughout the month of August until it is officially put into serious action on September 13, 2021; he has yet to announce how long this act will be in motion for. “The key to the city, call it,” de Blasio stated during a public press conference. “When you hear those words I want you to imagine a place of wonders, which this city is, and all of that will be opened up to you if you are vaccinated. If you are not then it will not be. It is time for people to see vaccinations as literally necessary to living a good and healthy life.”