What did the mandate do?

In New York City, Mayor Adams, amid less severe coronavirus infections than last winter, had set a vaccine mandate for NYC workers about four weeks ago. This was met with conflict, as workers that did not comply argued the mandate violated their freedoms, many of these workers attended protests and took legal action against the city. Mayor Adams rebutted that firing these people, was not the city firing employees, but that “people are quitting.” On the day of termination 1,430 workers were terminated, 64% of which worked for the city’s Department of Education. Many workers had chosen to get their shot after receiving their notice of immediate termination, saving their job.

Mask mandate? The future?

The mask mandate in New York City schools was lifted, according to Mayor Adams, because of a great drop in coronavirus infections. The mandate was lifted on March 7th, after a meeting on March 4th. Other states and cities also plan on dropping their mask mandate for schools this week, one of which being California- dropping their mandate after March 11th. This drop in infections, and similar patterns throughout the country, may symbolize life returning to how it was pre-pandemic. New York City will also be taking bigger steps back to a normal life, as Mayor Adams also plans on not requiring proof of vaccination for anyone 5 or older to enter places such as restaurants, bars, gyms and grocery stores. Even though this mandate is being lifted, unvaccinated people like Kyrie Irving, still cannot go to their jobs, due to rules put in place regarding employment.

The drop of indoor vaccine mandates will only hold if trends stay low, and the city determines it is safe enough to do so. Nonetheless, with enough vaccinations and immunity across the population, cities and states across the country can take the steps they see fit to go back to a normal, pre-pandemic America.