It was just a matter of time before Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul followed outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio’s harsh COVID-19 vaccine mandate on all private businesses in New York City.
Hochul’s statewide imposition on all businesses, restaurants, and shops mandates that all employees and customers must either show proof of vaccination or wear face masks. Individuals who refuse to comply will face a $1,000 fine for each offense.
The severe statewide mandate will go into effect Monday morning (December 13th). This will force more than 450,000 small businesses across the state, already struggling to recover from the year long lockdowns and harsh mandates, to virtually become government enforcement agents against their will.
Gov. Hochul orders NY mask or vaccine mandate as COVID surges 1/2 Term Governor https://t.co/OOF0jxYmRT
— Libertarian Greg (@Navysports123) December 10, 2021
Business owners who fail to comply with the Governor’s illegal decree are subject to civil and criminal penalties, including a $1,000 fine for each violation. It’s not exactly clear what would occur if a business owner refused to pay the $1,000 fine or what “criminal penalty” Governor Hochul has in mind.
The mandate will remain in force until January 15th, at which point it will be reviewed. The governor’s office said local health departments will be in charge of enforcement.
“I speak all over the state and they’re asking for help. They’ve done everything they can, I applaud our local governments, our county executives, our county administrators and the local public health departments for doing what they can do,” Hochul told reporters after an unrelated event in Manhattan on Friday. “I said I’ll give them air cover, I will give them the protection.”
The Mayor added, “This was completely avoidable, a completely avoidable circumstance. This is a crisis of the unvaccinated.”
The new rules require businesses to either have their customers and staff mask up before coming inside, or to limit entry to those who are fully vaccinated. Likewise, office staff must either show proof of vaccination, or be subjected to wearing a face mask the entire work day. The CDC vaccination card and the state’s digital Excelsior Pass program will both count as acceptable forms of vaccination proof.
Courts may have temporarily suspended the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, but tyrannical lawmakers are doubling down on the assault on medical autonomy in blue states around the country.
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul reinstated the statewide indoor maks mandate on Friday…— Anthony (@Tony19542) December 10, 2021
There’s no doubt New York State has experienced an upsurge in new COVID-19 cases ranging about a 10% increase within the last several weeks, including 20 new cases of Omicron, 13 of which are in New York City. It’s also true that the Biden administration has been quietly flying underage and unvaccinated illegal migrants into the state by the thousands.
During a press briefing last month, a reporter finally asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki, why the administration is “flying thousands of migrants from the border to Florida and New York in the middle of the night.”
“Well I’m not sure it’s in the middle of the night but let me tell you what’s happening here. It is our-” Psaki responded before the reporter interrupted with various “very early” morning times that flights have taken place.
“Here we are talking about early flights, earlier than you might like to take a flight,” Psaki said. “It is our legal responsibility to safely care for unaccompanied children until they can be swiftly unified with a parent or a vetted sponsor and that’s something we take seriously.”
What the Biden gang doesn’t take seriously is keeping American citizens safe from illegal and unvaccinated migrants who are most likely responsible for the spike in COVID-19 infections within the state.
This story syndicated with permission from My Patriot Post