Mayor Bill de Blasio reported Monday that, thanks to the $ 100 incentive announced Tuesday, more than 180,000 residents of the Big Apple flocked to city centers to get the booster shot.
The voucher, which is awarded to those who receive the third dose at one of the sites administered by the city, will be in effect until the end of the year.
De Blasio’s spokeswoman Danielle Filson wrote on Twitter that the prepaid card helped bring the number of booster injections administered in the five boroughs from just over 1.7 million doses to more than 1.9 million.
The incentive is also offered at the city’s SOMOS Community Care vaccination centers and under the home inoculation program, which benefits older adults and people with disabilities.
New Yorkers who need a vaccination at home can visit nyc.gov/homevaccine or call the vaccination reservation center of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene at (877) 829-4692.
The encouraging vaccination figure comes with the city’s new mandate, which requires private employers to verify proof of vaccination of their employees starting Monday.
Private sector employees will need to have proof of at least one COVID vaccine, or they will be barred from working, according to information released by the city.
The new mandate will apply to all companies that employ more than one person and to self-employed workers who interact with the public in the course of their business activities.
Employees who provide proof of their first vaccination will have 45 days to provide proof of their second dose, if they receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Companies will need to fill out a form affirming their compliance and post it at their workplace.
According to the most recent data from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), about 91.6% of New York City adults have at least one dose and about 82.8% are fully vaccinated.
Cases have risen across the city in recent weeks as the most transmissible omicron variant of the virus spreads across all five boroughs.
However, hospitalization and death rates have remained well below the pandemic’s peaks in 2022. They are even below the increase the city experienced last winter, according to DOHMH data.
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