New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced that the City’s private employee COVID-19 vaccine mandate will be lifted effective November 1, 2022.

As we previously reported, the NYC mandate requires all private workers in New York City who perform in-person work or interact with the public to show proof they have received at least their primary series of COVID-19 vaccination.  Employees who fail to provide such proof are required to be excluded from the workplace unless they submit a request for accommodation on the basis of disability, religious belief, or other covered reason under NYC law.

With the lifting of the mandate on November 1, NYC employers now will be able to decide whether to continue to maintain a vaccination requirement for their employees or relax such requirements.  Presently, no other U.S. state or major city requires all private employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to be present in the workplace.  Other states, such as Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, have enacted laws limiting employers’ ability to enforce vaccine mandates in the workplace.  Additionally, as of today (September 20, 2022), the federal government continues to take the position that it is not enforcing the previously-enacted federal contractor and subcontractor COVID-19 vaccine mandate in any US state or territory.

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