Children aged 5 to 11 years are now required to have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in order to access New York entertainment venues. This protocol, called “Key to NYC”, has been in effect since 14 December and will be reinforced on 29 January.
In order to have access to “places of entertainment”: restaurants, gyms, cinemas, museums, aquariums, zoos or even concert halls, bowling alleys or arcade games, children aged 5 to 11 must have received at least one dose of vaccine. The “Key to NYC” requirements also mean that employees working in these places must be vaccinated.
The tougher health rules are accompanied by a requirement, as of 27 December, that children over 12 years of age must show proof of at least two doses of vaccine in order to enter enclosed public places (except for those who have received the single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine). From 29 January 2022, children aged 5-11 years will also be required to show proof of full vaccination. In conjunction with this requirement, the wearing of masks in enclosed public places has become mandatory again for all.
The city has launched a hotline to “report a location that is not in compliance with these requirements”.
Extension of the “Key to NYC” protocol
In justifying the tougher rules in the fight against Covid-19, Bill de Blasio, former mayor of the metropolis of more than 8 million people, had said, “Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic, and it’s these bold steps [Key to NYC], the first in the country, to encourage New Yorkers to protect themselves and theirs.” The new and 110th mayor of New York City who was sworn in in early January 2022, Eric Adams is continuing the protocol for the private sector and keeping schools open, despite the reluctance of teachers’ unions saying schools are the “safest” spaces for children.
#Covid-19, #KeytoNYC, #protocol, #vaccine, #children,
