New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that private sector employees will be required to have the Covid-19 vaccine, effective December 27.
Vaccination is intended to prevent the spread of the disease during the winter holiday period.
Speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, Blasio reminded that the cold months of last year were challenging due to the Delta variant, and said that this time they wanted to take early precautions against the increasing Omicron cases.
In New York City, public employees such as teachers, police and firefighters were already required to be vaccinated.
Last week, those working in private and public schools were also added to this group.
With the new application, only those who have been vaccinated twice will be admitted to restaurants, gyms and entertainment centers where one dose of vaccine is sufficient to enter closed areas.
The vaccination obligation will apply to anyone over the age of 12.
Children aged 5-11 are also expected to receive a single dose of the vaccine.
To date, 78 percent of the population in New York has received at least one dose and 70 percent has received two doses.
However, the first Omicron cases were seen in the city last week.
While the number of daily Covid-19 patients was around 800 in the previous month, it went up to 1500 on 3 December.