NYC vaccine pass

… if you want to participate in our society fully, you’ve got to get vaccinated.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on requiring proof of vaccination for indoor dining, event spaces, and gyms in America’s largest city.

• The program is called the Key to NYC Pass – “dining, fitness, performances.”
  
• You can get “the Key” with proof of one vaccination.
  
• Required proof of vaccination also will apply to workers of these particular establishments.
  
• How will this work exactly? Mayor de Blasio says, “We’ll be issuing a Mayoral Executive Order and a Health Commissioner’s Order – those are the legal tools necessary to implement this approach.”
  
• Launch date: August 16 – enforced a week after Labor Day, beginning September 13.
  
• Does this apply to schools? NYC mayor says “stay tuned.”
  
• Why It Matters: While the idea of a vaccine passport has been floated, this is the first of its kind “pass” in the United States. The question remains whether this becomes a trend rather than an exception.

Here’s the transcript from the NY

Interesting note from The White House:

MS. PSAKI: Well, we know and recognize, Cecilia, that different communities and states are going to take steps to protect the people living in their states and also incentivize, whether it’s through carrots or sticks, more people getting vaccinated. That is what is going to save lives, and that is what is going to bring an end to the pandemic. This is certainly an example of that.

We are not issuing federal passports — vaccine passports from the federal government, but we do know that private sector entities and other localities will make their own decisions.

What we see as our objective is to continue to make the vaccine as accessible and available, and close the disparities that we see among racial groups in New York — including in New York — to ensure that this is not a barrier for entry to different groups based on socioeconomic or other factors.