NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York City’s COVID-19 indicators are the lowest they have been in more than half a year, due in large part to its vaccination rollout, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.
At a news briefing Wednesday morning, de Blasio said the city’s indicators “have now gone entirely into the right direction, and that is because of all of you.”
“As of today, for the first time since Oct. 13 — over seven months ago — for the first time, all of our healthcare indicators are below the thresholds that we set,” he said. “It’s because of what you have done, New Yorkers, going out there, getting vaccinated, seeing us through this crisis, kicking COVID out of town.”
As of Wednesday, 7,682,972 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in New York City, in what the mayor described as “by far the largest vaccination effort” the five boroughs have seen.
“So this is a really important day. It proves that vaccination works,” he said. “The bottom line is if you’re vaccinated, you have more freedom. If you’re vaccinated you can breathe easier and you are safer. If you’re not vaccinated it would be smart to go get vaccinated.”
De Blasio also addressed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new mask guidance, which New York state officially adopted on Wednesday.
While the new guidance allows fully vaccinated people to ditch most of the state’s mask and distancing rules, the mayor reminded New Yorkers that masks are still required in schools; on public transportation; in health care settings like hospitals; and in congregate settings like nursing homes.
He also urged people to keep wearing masks in places where they can’t be sure if everyone is vaccinated.
“We’re still fighting off the last part of COVID here,” he said. “Keep the mask on in those settings, whether you’re vaccinated or not.”
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