New York City to lift vaccination mandate for businesses, schools

New York City to lift vaccination mandate for businesses, events Mask rules for city schools were likely to end the same day, March 7, Mayor Eric Adams said. Masks are optional at Tuesday’s State of the Union address in Washington. NBC News

New York City, the first U.S. metropolis to require vaccinations indoors, will lift its mandate for indoor businesses, dining and events in the coming days.

Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday that his administration would end its vaccination mandate requirements on March 7 as long as Covid-19 case numbers continue to trend downward. He joins public officials who made similar decisions in cities such as Seattle and Boston in recent weeks.

The indoor mask mandate will also be lifted in public schools the same day provided no unexpected spikes arise, Adams said.

He noted that more than a million students return to public schools Monday after the midwinter break. A week of commingling on campuses without "unforeseen spikes" in case numbers would confirm the end of mandatory masks for school facilities for now, he said in a statement Sunday. ..

The news came as the U.S. House sergeant-at-arms said masks are "now an individual choice" for people attending Tuesday's State of the Union address in the House chamber in Washington. Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the attending physician of Congress, wrote in a coronavirus update Sunday that Washington's relatively low level of transmission triggered the change to optional mask-wearing at the Capitol. ...