If you want to dine indoors, go to a gym or attend an event at an entertainment venue in New York, you'll need to show proof that you have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Starting on September 13, New York began enforcing its vaccine mandate for various indoor venues. The rules extend to include workers at these facilities as well.
"The business has gone down at least 35 to 40 percent, and we expect it to go down a little more," said Pedro Zamora, owner of Cantina Rooftop in Manhattan. "But on the other hand, I feel good to do that because it's the way to end the pandemic, and I urge everybody, if you're not vaccinated, try to get vaccinated as soon as possible because that's only for the good of our community and to stop this virus from going on."
If businesses are found not to be compliant, they can be fined $1,000 for a first offense, with increasing penalties if they continue to break the rules.
New York has some of the strictest vaccine mandates in the United States. Mayor Bill de Blasio also requires city workers to be vaccinated or to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. Students 12 and up who participate in "high-risk" after-school activities, like sports or performing arts, also must be vaccinated.
A new warning about Russian interference in the 2020 election is raising questions about whether the U.S. is doing enough to prevent the kind of meddling the country saw in the 2016 election.
Roger Stone, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison on his convictions for witness tampering and lying to Congress. The action in federal court comes amid Trump's unrelenting defense of his longtime confidant that has led to a mini-revolt inside the Justice Department and allegations the president has interfered in the case.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, February 20, 2020.
From the opening bell, Democratic presidential foes have unleashed an aggressive verbal assault on New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg and raised new questions about Bernie Sanders' take-no-prisoners politics in a contentious debate Wednesday night on the Las Vegas Strip.
Federal Reserve officials were mostly optimistic about the U.S. and global economies last month, though they noted the risk posed by China’s viral outbreak and said they were ready to keep their benchmark interest rate at its current low level in the coming months.
At a closed-door gathering in the nation’s capital last month, representatives from close to two-dozen renewable energy, electric vehicle, and environmental advocacy organizations began the early stages of handicapping which Republican senators might be willing to join Democrats in supporting lucrative tax credits for the various green sectors – most of which were axed at the last minute late last year.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, February 19, 2020.
A bill to give Kentucky residents access to medical marijuana could go up for a full state House vote as soon as this week.
The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will waive federal contracting laws to speed construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, February 18, 2020.
