NYC Kids Under 5 Will Still Have to Wear Masks in School When Mandate Lifts
If Mayor Adams lifts the mask mandate for city public school students and teachers this Monday as expected, kids under 5 who are too young to receive a vaccine will have to keep wearing their face coverings, according to comments Adams made earlier in the week.
When Adams originally announced last Sunday that he would end the city school mask mandate next week barring any unforeseen COVID-19 spikes, he didn’t specify that the change would only apply to kids over 5.
But in an interview the following day with Bloomberg TV, when Adams was asked if kids under 5 would have to keep wearing masks if the school mandate lifted, Adams said “yes, we have to. In daycare, in pre-k, in those areas where children are not vaccinated…we have to still take the precautions that are needed.”
Roughly 96,000 city students are enrolled in the city’s Pre-K and 3-K programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Top NYC Officials Call for Student COVID Vaccine Mandate by Next School Year
Just when you thought city vaccine mandate debates were waning.
A powerful pair of elected city officials — Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Comptroller Brad Lander — are calling on Mayor Eric Adams to require coronavirus vaccines for city school kids next year.
In a joint statement, Williams and Lander demanded “a requirement for full COVID vaccination for students to return to school next fall, as part of the City’s standard vaccination requirements.”
Adams, along with Gov. Kathy Hochul, have both previously signaled their support for a school vaccine mandate.
Business owners can choose to require masks for both customers and employees.
