Covid-19 And Traveling

Eric Adams supports rolling back NYC’s COVID-19 passport requirements

Mayor Eric Adams said he supports rolling back New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine passport requirements — but cautioned that any action would require the sign-off of his health officials as they continue assessing the impacts of the Omicron variant’s receding wave.

“Yes. I can’t wait to get it done,” he said during a press conference at the Brooklyn Navy Yard when asked whether the Big Apple plans on phasing out the program, following the lead of other big cities like Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, which have recently ended their own mandates.

“I take my hat off to New Yorkers — through masks, vaccines, through social distancing. You know, we were hit with the uncertainty, the fear of COVID. I’m really proud of how we responded as New Yorkers.”

But Adams noted although he’s hopeful, the Big Apple won’t be changing its policies requiring customers to show proof of vaccination upon entry indoors to businesses like bars, restaurants and gyms until the science and data add up.

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Mayor Eric Adams said that he supported the rolling back of New York City's COVID-19 passport requirement for some indoor settings.
Mayor Eric Adams said he supported rolling back New York City’s COVID-19 passport requirement for some indoor settings.
Paul Martinka

“Every morning I meet with my health professionals because I always stated I’m going to follow the science. I’m not going to get ahead of the science because I’m ready to get ahead of all of this and get back to a level of normalcy — but they’ve given us clear structures, they gave us benchmarks, we’re to follow those benchmarks,” he said.

“But I look forward, in the next few weeks, of going to a real transformation.”

Adams previously announced a roadmap of COVID-19 policies heading into the spring, contingent on lower case counts.

He also promised an “immediate” study of the private business vaccine requirement, as well as other city vaccine mandates.

Adams claimed that any action on the vaccine passport would have to be approved by the city's health officials first.
Adams claimed that any action on the vaccine passport would have to be approved by the city’s health officials first.
Christopher Sadowski

“We’re going to do it in a safe way because all of these experts will tell you one thing: We can’t close down again.”

“We must do it in a smart way and people are gonna look back later and say, ‘You know, he made the right decisions.’ We’re gonna get the city back up and operating and we’re going to be rolling out some things in the next day or so on how are we going to carry that out,” he pledged.

Meanwhile, Adams reiterated his push to get workers back in their offices — especially in Midtown Manhattan — as a number of private-sector businesses recently released hybrid plans permitting remote and in-person work options.

A woman showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination at Times Square for the New Year's Eve ball drop on December 31, 2021.
A woman showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination at Times Square for the New Year’s Eve ball drop on December 31, 2021.
AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
Adams said that he is hopeful for a "real transformation" in the coming weeks.
Adams said he is hopeful for a “real transformation” in the coming weeks.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“Who we were pre-COVID is not who we are post-COVID. But I do know this, in order for our economic financial ecosystem, I should say, to function, we have to have human interaction. It can’t be done from home,” said the mayor.

“You can’t stay home in your pajamas all day. That is not who we are as a city,” he said. “You need to be out cross-pollinating ideas, interacting with humans. It is crucial, we’re social creatures, and we must socialize to get the energy that we need as a city.”