NYC Private And Religious Schools Face COVID Vax Mandate

NEW YORK CITY — Employees at private and religious schools across New York City will have to get at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine starting Dec. 20, according to reports.

The strict vaccine mandate issued by Mayor Bill de Blasio was first reported by the New York Times.

De Blasio said the rule will affect 56,000 employees at private and religious schools.

"They'll have to be vaccinated," he said Friday on WNYC's "Brian Lehrer Show."

The rule will put private schools, yeshivas and Catholic schools on the same footing as the city's public schools, which have required educators to be vaccinated for months. The Department of Education is now 96 percent vaccinated against COVID-19.

But it also sets de Blasio up for a fight with religious schools, particularly Orthodox Jewish institutions, in his final days in office.

"What a lovely parting gift from City Hall," tweeted Council Member Kalman Yeger. "The city has no legal authority to bark these mandates at private employers and religious institutions. This will just lead to another court battle on religious freedom which New York will - once again - lose."