New York: compulsory vaccination to go to restaurants, theaters and gyms

Proof of vaccination will be required in New York to access the interior of restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues, Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday, making his city the first in the United States to create a passport. vaccine.

“If you are vaccinated (…), you have the key, you can open the door. But if you are not vaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many activities ”, explained the mayor during a press briefing.

He specified that the device, called “Key to NYC pass”, would be launched on August 16, but that the first checks to strengthen it would take place from September 13.

For the mayor of New York, it is a way to fight against Covid-19 and to increase vaccinations. Since the end of July, the town hall has offered 100 dollars for a first dose of vaccination. The city had already imagined a bunch of rewards since the vaccination became available, such as fast food menus or tickets to visit amusement parks.

For the past two weeks, the mayor and the governor of the state of New York, Andrew Cuomo, have multiplied the announcements to strengthen the vaccination of officials and recommend the wearing of masks, in the face of the resurgence in the number of cases of Covid-19 due to the Delta variant.

In New York, a city of more than eight million people, 71.8% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to city hall figures.

The New York initiative comes as the United States faces a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic, fueled by the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.