New York City meets the Covid-19 vaccine requirement for most indoor activities

Since Aug. 17, the city has demanded that people over the age of 12 prove that they have had at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine to eat indoors, do indoor gym activities and indoor entertainment, including movie theaters. , concert halls, museums and sports venues. Enforcement of those rules began Monday, the city said.

Companies are now required to check the vaccination status of all staff and customers over the age of 12, or they will be subject to fines. Residents can show vaccination tests in the form of a CDC vaccination card, New York vaccination record, New York State Excelsior Pass, or the New York Covid Safe app.

Civilian inspectors from 13 city agencies were expected to start the application, Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week. These inspectors will travel to companies to check that all procedures are being followed, that companies have installed proper signage on the requirement, and that employees are properly checking for vaccination evidence, the mayor said.

The inspectors will be from 13 agencies, including the FDNY, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Buildings, the Department of Health, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Preservation and Housing Development , the New York Sheriff’s Office. , the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Parks Department.

The NYPD is not among the agencies that provide civilian inspectors.

Even before the requirement, some New York indoor establishments had required vaccination tests to enter.

The norm is part of the city’s effort to vaccinate more people and therefore safely reopen the crowded city without causing disease outbreaks. As part of the incentive plan, the city offers $ 100 debit cards for anyone who gets a first dose of vaccine as a metaphorical “carrot,” while the “Key to NYC” program works as a “stick “to punish those who are not vaccinated.

Monday also marked the first day of the school year for public schools (this year with mask and vaccine requirements and no remote option) and the return to work for many city employees.

“You can feel the life of the city,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

“This is the day we have been waiting for,” he added. History will remember him as “a day that changed the game, changed the difference, changed the day. This is the day that New York will come back strong,” he said.

The average daily number of new Covid-19 cases and the test positivity rate in New York City have declined from a recent peak in late August, according to city data. Daily hospitalizations have also declined and are a fraction of the previous rises last spring and winter.

Still, the potential for dangerous outbreaks remains among the pockets of unvaccinated people. City data show that just over 79% of New York’s adult residents have had at least one dose, including 86% of adults in Manhattan and Queens, but 73% in Brooklyn.

CNN’s Laura Ly and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.