New York City mandates COVID-19 vaccine for public school teachers, staff

NEW YORK - New York City public school teachers and staff will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday, as the city pushes to get more residents vaccinated and slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

The city's health department will issue an order mandating that all 148,000 staff members in the United States' largest school district get at least one dose of a vaccine by Sept. 27, de Blasio said. School is set to begin in New York City on Sept. 13. In a first for city employees, Department of Education staff will no longer have the option to submit to weekly testing instead.