FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 6, 2023
The following statement is from Assemblymember Michael Reilly (R,C-Staten Island) on the lifting of all COVID-19 vaccine mandates in New York City…
“While I welcome the Mayor’s lifting of several COVID vaccine mandates, including those affecting municipal employees, visitors at our public schools, and attendees at youth sporting events, I worry that today’s announcement is too little too late.
Since the very moment these mandates were implemented, I’ve strongly believed that they were neither guided by science nor supported by fact. City officials, including the Mayor and his predecessor, arbitrarily and haphazardly enacted policy that negatively impacted the social development of our youth and financially ruined more than 1,700 otherwise exemplary public servants.
Today’s announcement is a win in the battle for common sense, but make no mistake, this falls short of total victory. As we continue to move further away from that shameful period of policymaking, I am once again calling on the Mayor to do the right thing by automatically reinstating all municipal employees terminated as a result of the city’s vaccine mandate, as well as providing them with adequate back pay. It is the least that this city can do to make up for the anxiety and turmoil it caused for so many families.”