De Blasio, Adams At Odds Over NYC Student COVID Vax Mandate

NEW YORK CITY — Daylight continues to grow between Mayor Bill de Blasio and his favored successor Eric Adams on education issues.

First, Adams pushed back against de Blasio's plan to phase out the city's gifted and talented program. Then, Adams declared he'd support a COVID-19 vaccine for the city's public school students — a move de Blasio has roundly dismissed.

De Blasio on Monday faced and tried to downplay questions over Adams' apparent split. He said his focus will be vaccinating as many students as possible before January when his term is up.

"Eric Adams as a new mayor has a full right to decide whatever he thinks is best for our schools, and I'm sure he will do what his conscience tells him," he said.

Adams is widely considered the favorite in the mayoral race. He's the Democratic nominee in a city where Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans.

GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa has tried to make the case that voters shouldn't rule him out — and he's taken positions directly opposing de Blasio's policies.

De Blasio clearly views Adams has the candidate who will carry on his legacy, but Adams has not been shy about drawing contrasts with the current occupant of Gracie Mansion.

A coronavirus vaccine mandate for students would align with the wishes of many public health experts across the country. But de Blasio, who has otherwise positioned the city as a nationwide leader in strict wide vaccine mandates, argued doing so could exclude students from classrooms.

"We can't, in my opinion, hold against our kids the decisions of adults because the kids can't get vaccinated without the adult consent," he said last week.

Adams, in an interview last week on WCBS 880, said if coronavirus vaccines get federal approval, then they should be mandated for students like vaccinations for measles and other diseases.

De Blasio has pressed, including on Monday, federal officials to approve vaccines for children between 5 and 11. But he continued to draw the line at a school mandate.

"I want to see every kid in school and I want to see us keep moving our efforts to get more kids vaccinated," he said. "On the 12- to 17-year-olds, it's now 76 percent, that's a great number. Want to see that go up."