“Private businesses, I am asking them and suggesting to them go to a vaccine-only admission,” Cuomo told a media briefing. “If I go to a bar, and I want to have a drink and I want to talk to the person next to me, I want to know that person next to me is vaccinated. I believe it is in your business interest to run a vaccine-only establishment.”
Cuomo’s remarks came as the number of daily cases in New York increased by what he called “four-fold” to more than 2,000 over the past month due to the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Nearly five million New Yorkers have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, but the speed of inoculations has slowed. Two million adult New Yorkers are still unvaccinated, according to city records.
Even before Cuomo’s call, some businesses operating in New York City, the state’s number one business hub, were already asking customers and their employees for proof of vaccination to minimize the spread of the virus. On Friday, Disney said it is requiring all salaried and non-union hourly employees in the United States to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by the end of September.
Cuomo cited Radio City Music Hall as another example of an establishment that did the same “months ago”, saying it had reopened on a “vaccine-only (basis) and sold out all the shows” it put up.
Sports arenas also went up to 90 percent occupancy by asking patrons for proof of vaccination, he added.
Cuomo separately ordered employees of New York’s Metropolitan Transport Authority and Port Authority - which operate the state’s trains, buses and ferry services - to get vaccinated by Labor Day or face weekly testing. Last week, he made a similar order for state hospital employees.