Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on CNN's New Day

July 21, 2021

John Avlon: Just in at CNN, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is now requiring health workers to show proof of vaccination status or take a weekly coronavirus test as a condition of showing up to work. The new policy will affect employees at 11 public city run hospitals, as well as nursing homes and clinics, just as COVID cases rise across the state and the nation. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joins me now. Mayor, it's good to see you, like one of the stunning things about this it's estimated that only 70 percent of New York City health care workers have been vaccinated today, and given all they've been through from the earliest days of the pandemic, why do you think that number is still so relatively low? 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well, what's even more stunning, John, it's about 50 percent we estimate for the whole country. We have 22 million health care workers in the United States, and by the information we have, only about 50 percent are vaccinated. This is unacceptable. I feel for people, of course, who have gone through the pain of this tragedy, who are feeling fearful. I understand why a lot of people are hearing misinformation and being affected by it, but enough is enough. We need our health care workers to be vaccinated and it's getting dangerous with the Delta variant. So, I think it's time to do something different, and New York City is ready to lead the way, we're saying, get vaccinated or get tested weekly. And that's fair, and I think what it's going to do, John, is ultimately a lot of people have been on the fence, this'll be the moment they’re like, okay, okay, I'll get vaccinated. Or, after they get tested week after week after week, I think a lot of health care workers are going to say, hey, this is a hassle, let's just go ahead and get vaccinated.  

Avlon: Yeah.  

Mayor: We've got to put more – we've tried good incentives, and they've worked, we've got 9.7 million vaccination doses have been given in New York City, outreach incentives, lots of things that have worked, but it's time to do something else because Delta is nothing to fool around with. 

Avlon: Not at all, but just so folks understand, why not just mandate vaccines for frontline health care workers? 

Mayor: Look, this is a step. John, and we were going to look at all of the factors of how you move things, and previously the approach was purely voluntary and that did get us a substantial distance, but now it's time to up the ante, say no longer a choice, you got to do one or the other, I think that's going to have a big impact. And again, I'd like to see this happen all over the country, private hospitals, and public hospitals –  

Avlon: You think you might extend it to cops and teachers and firefighters? 

Mayor: Look, we’re going to look at different options. I think this is the most obvious one, right? The people who are the most vulnerable are health care workers and who serve the most vulnerable people who go to the hospital or a clinic. I do think it makes sense to then go look at other possibilities and to keep going up the ladder because the disinformation, the lies, have poisoned this country. You know, in the previous segment, the conversation about Facebook, this is a tragedy. I think President Biden said it right the first time, you know, people are dying because of disinformation, and Facebook has to take responsibility, and the people spreading the lies have to take responsibility. They're doing it in so many cases, tragically for their own political gain. That's inhumane. That's horrible. So, if this level if this disinformation and fear is causing people to hold back from the thing that would save their lives, we've got to be more aggressive then. 

Avlon: It’s a profound statement about the power of that kind of disinformation tactics that can be deadly, as you say. But I want to talk about the rational reasons for concern, which is this Delta variant and these breakthrough cases, specifically as they're showing an increased risk of COVID for kids. Are you concerned that the school opening in New York City could be in jeopardy? 

Mayor: No, we are looking very carefully at the data and the science always, John, and I talk to my health care team constantly. I'm a parent. My kids went to New York City public schools. I want to protect every child, but I also know deeply our kids have been through trauma, real trauma. Our kids have seen so much pain and loss in their own families. They've been disconnected from their friends and their teachers. A lot of them have not gotten as much health care, physical and mental, or nutrition as they would have if they were in school. What our health care team says is, it's actually profoundly bad for kid’s health to be out of school, and so we intend all our kids to be back in school. We were able to keep them very, very safe, even when we didn't have vaccinations. So, now we have almost 10 million vaccination doses in the city. We know we can keep them safe. We're going to do a big blitz before school opens to get the kids who do qualify vaccinated. But no, I think it would be a horrible shame if another year in the lives of our children was lost, and I think it would cause a lot of other problems and pain for our kids. 

Avlon: No question about it. LA county, I mean, look, across the country we're seeing these spikes in cases, but LA County just announced this return of indoor mask mandates to combat the rise of the Delta variant. Is that something you would consider if things hit a certain level in New York City? 

Mayor: Look, I respect the importance of masks, but if we want to make a comparison, you know, a mask is a pea shooter, and the vaccine is a cannon. You know let's be clear, the thing that will make a difference is the vaccine. The thing that stops the Delta variant, the thing that turns the tide and saves lives is the vaccine. The mask helps, but there's no guarantee with a mask. So, what our doctors say is, let's go for the main event here, not the sideshow. Let's really double down on vaccination. We'll continue to look at every option depending on what happens, but what I don't is to give people false sense of security - oh, I'm wearing a mask, so I'm okay even though I'm not vaccinated. That's just not true – 

Avlon: Right. 

Mayor: That's not true.  

Avlon: Mayor Bill de Blasio, school will remain open, frontline health care workers will be getting vaccines or tests on a regular basis. Thank you very much for joining us on New Day.  

Mayor: Thank you, John.  

###