NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Chase Bank joins the list of businesses facing closures due to the surge of omicron cases in New York City. Dozens of locations in the city shut their doors because of COVID-19 induced staff shortages.
A spokesperson for Chase told 1010 WINS that while a "small portion" of local branch locations were closed because of COVID-19, customers would still be able to utilize the ATMs at the shuttered sites.
While omicron is to blame for the absence of some staff, some Chase locations are indicating the lack of employees is due to New York City's recent vaccine mandate for private businesses which went into effect on Dec. 27 of last year.
Councilman Joe Borelli tweeted a photo of one Staten Island Chase branch displaying a sign on the door attributing the staff shortage to the vaccine mandate. Rep. Borelli says in the tweet he doesn't think the mandates are working in NYC.
Chase Bank has not confirmed how the city's vaccine mandate is affecting operations and staffing.
