Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

July 21, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Today, we're going to focus on the fight against COVID and the new things that we have to do in a new situation. The Delta variant continues to create more and more trouble, and we’ve got to fight back and we've got to fight back aggressively. As we talk about today's new actions, first let's just take stock of where we are. Vaccinations – this is something New Yorkers should feel proud of. Thank you to all New Yorkers who stepped forward to get vaccinated. Thank you to the vaccinators, Test and Trace, our health care heroes. As of today, 9,773,399 doses given in New York City. It grows every single day. 4.9 million New Yorkers have received at least one dose, 58 percent of our population. That is the strong foundation that we have. That's why we have fought back as well as we have and our recovery has moved as far as it has. 
  
This has been about the grassroots. It will continue to be. We're going to talk about a new approach today. It is not going to take away from the previous approach, we are going to keep building it. 100,000 doses already have been given at mobile sites, vans, buses. We're going to keep doing that. 280,000 doors have been knocked on by our canvassers, working to convince people it's time to get vaccinated. 20,000 vaccinations have been given in people's homes. And we're saying to all New Yorkers, if you need a vaccine and you want it brought to your home, literally you can make an appointment and someone will come to you and vaccinate you. And referral bonuses, helping nonprofits, community groups, houses of worship to get rewarded when they bring in individuals to be vaccinated. That program keeps growing and growing every day, $80,000 so far. It's going to grow a lot more in the coming weeks. 
  
This has worked and it's the reason we have a recovery, it is the reason the hospitalizations are low. But it doesn't take away from the fact that we see the Delta variant and we see the case numbers rising and it's time to act. So, today we announce something new, a COVID safety requirement for our health workers. The workers we depend on the most and the workers who are the most vulnerable. We need a strong, clear approach. Every single one of our workers gets vaccinated or gets tested weekly. This will begin on August 2nd. All of our Health + Hospitals staff, all of our clinical workers for the Department of Health. It's very clear and the Health Commissioner will explain the order he is issuing to put this into effect. Every single one of those employees has a choice, get vaccinated, the better choice, or get tested weekly. And at any point you can decide, Hey, I'm ready to get vaccinated. Then you don't need to get tested weekly anymore. This is about keeping people safe and stopping the Delta variant. If we want to beat COVID once and for all, we have to stop the Delta variant. Health + Hospitals led the way last year, heroic. We're going to protect our health workers and everyone they serve. I want you to hear about the Commissioner's order and then about what's being done within Health + Hospitals specifically. First, and I really want to thank our health care leaders. Every step of the way they have been willing to be bold. They have been willing to set the pace for the nation. They're doing it again today. What we're talking about today, I hope will be emulated by public and private health care systems all over America. My pleasure to introduce our Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi. 
  
Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Over the past several months, thousands of Health Department employees have returned to their workplaces carrying out tasks that range from tuberculosis testing to sexual health services, and of course, COVID response. To see these individuals who are so devoted to promoting the health of New Yorkers return to their roles is inspiring. It also illustrates how clearly the path to New York City's recovery runs through vaccination. This is why the Health Department is implementing the COVID safety requirement. As you heard this process entails showing proof of vaccination or a negative test each week. So, beginning August 2nd, proof of vaccination or a negative test will be requested from all of our clinic-based staff. That means nurses, doctors, social workers, custodians, and registrars. The simple fact is if you're vaccinated, virtually every activity is safer. Because of the Delta variant, increasingly the choice is between infection or vaccination. And that can mean the difference between life and death. Vaccination has been and continues to be the single most important precaution we can take to interact with the public and our colleagues. Our processes must reflect the mission and the responsibility to promote the health of our city, our staff, our colleagues, and the public we serve. We are planning to extend the COVID safety requirement to additional Health Department staff beyond our clinics in the weeks ahead. This mission, however, as you heard from the Mayor is not ours alone. All of us have a vital role to play, and we urge other institutions, particularly health care organizations, to consider similar steps to ensure their staff are also vaccinated. We all may feel like we're done with the virus, but the virus is not done with us. As we have so many times before, we'll have to band together as a city, as New Yorkers to keep one another safe. Thank you very much, sir. 
  
Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Chokshi. Thank you for this order that you are issuing that's going to make a huge difference and it's going to help protect New Yorkers. Now, I want you to hear from the man who runs our public health system, the largest public health system in America by far, and a place where heroic work was done to protect New Yorkers from COVID. My pleasure to introduce Dr. Mitch Katz. 
  
President and CEO Mitchell Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals: Oh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And most importantly, thank you from before my return to my hometown, you saved Health + Hospitals by providing a large influx of dollars when times were really tough. And I think COVID has shown how well an investment that was. And we saved lives at the height of the epidemic, Health + Hospitals tripled the size of our ICUs to accommodate ventilated patients. We pushed to our limit, but we never faltered. Indeed, we took patients in transport from private hospitals to save lives. Along with our sister department of public health, we led the largest Test and Trace initiative in the United States. Again, our tracers saved lives by enabling people to isolate safely, including in our four isolation hotels. We picked up patients at their homes. We got their medicines for them. We walked their dogs. We did whatever was necessary, so they would not infect others. And then most recently Health + Hospitals has played a critical role in vaccination. We vaccinated over a million – we did over a million vaccinations. And our data show that we were much more effective at vaccinating people of color than the private hospitals. And that's because we are the trusted provider for immigrants, for the Black and Brown communities, for the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. They know they're safe with us and that we provide quality care to all without regard to immigration status, ability to pay, race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual preference. 
  
Now, sir, with your leadership, it's time for us to take additional steps to keep our patients safe and to keep each other safe. Although we all wear masks at Health + Hospital facilities, we know that the Delta variant is incredibly contagious. And we know that vaccinations work in preventing people from getting sick with the Delta variant. So, starting August 2nd, we will be asking all our staff to protect their patients and each other, by taking one of two steps that you've outlined, sir. All of my staff will need to get a COVID vaccination or if they are not vaccinated, to test weekly, to be sure that they do not transmit COVID to our patients or to each other. We know in health care facilities that there are patients at high risk for COVID due to underlying diseases. Some of these patients are immunosuppressed and cannot mount an adequate response to the vaccine. Some of our patients are young children who are not yet eligible for vaccination. We need to protect them and each other. We will work collaboratively with our labor partners to make it easy for our staff to be vaccinated or easy to be tested weekly. Testing will be at our facilities so that patient – so that our workers can be tested on their work shift. We hope that the example of our health care workers protecting their patients and protecting others will Mr. Mayor, as you said, inspire others in the private sector and other public sectors across the country to take the same actions, to make sure that we are protecting our patients and each other. Thank you, sir. 
  
Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Katz. Thank you for what you and all your colleagues at Health + Hospitals do for all of us. Look, here's the key point. The folks who protect us, our health care heroes, 600,000 or so in New York City alone, 1.2 million New York State, 22 million in the United States of America. This is how this gets very serious, very quickly. What we're seeing from national studies is around 50 percent of health care workers are vaccinated nationwide, 22 million. That's 11 million people right there who should be the first, most important priority to get vaccinated. Here's a way to do it. So again, urging every public and private hospitals, starting in New York City, but everywhere else, this is the first step in fighting back. Everyone can do this now, and everyone should do this now to save lives. I want you to hear from some of the most respected health care voices in this nation who are watching what we're doing here in New York City and see what it could mean far beyond our boundaries. The first, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine, a national voice on COVID, someone who has advised the new administration and brought great clarity to the things we have to do to fight COVID, my pleasure to introduce Dr. Celine Gounder. 
  
[...] 
  
Thank you so much, Dr. Gounder. And thank you for pointing out that we've been working against this very painful politicized backdrop. And we're hoping here, to find a way to cut through that and get back to something really simple and clear. We've got to protect people. We've got to protect each other. Thank you very, very much for your clear, strong words on this issue. Now, everybody, as you heard from Dr. Gounder, equity is an issue cutting across everything that we're doing when it comes to fighting COVID. It's so important to hear the voices that are refocusing all of us on equity. And this new policy, I believe will have a profound impact in terms of reaching those who need the protection the most. And have been unfortunately, in so many cases fed disinformation and also have reason to have tough questions and reason for distrust. The way to cut through all that is with a policy that makes sense. Our next speaker has really led the way in focusing health care organizations on what they have to do to eradicate racism and address equity. She is a New York City based emergency room physician and founder of Advancing Health Equity. My pleasure to introduce Dr. Uché Blackstock. 
  
[...] 
  
Thank you so much, Dr. Blackstock. Thank you for all you are doing. And you're right. There's a lot of conversations, a lot of education, a lot of dialogue that has to happen. But it can be done. And I think this will be a tool to help us further that discussion the right way. Thank you very, very much. One more voice I want you to hear everyone, a powerful national voice, a voice of clear and unquestioned reason when it comes to what we have to do to understand health care and act on it and dispel the myths and do the things that will actually keep us all safe as a nation. Very honored to have with us from the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Dr Ezekiel Emanuel. 
  
[...] 
  
Thank you so much, Dr. Emanuel. Thank you for your really powerful voice on this issue and you were way ahead of the curve. And I thank you and thank you to the University of Pennsylvania as well, by leading by example. Listen, this can be done. Dr. Emanuel is right, it can be done. And like so many other things, where better to start a whole new reality, to start a whole new set of possibilities then here in New York City? We can prove it and make it work here and well beyond. I want you to hear from a leading voice in this city, she has been an advocate for communities in need. She has been an advocate for our hospitals, particularly our public hospitals, and recognizes how powerful it is to take new steps to protect people. My pleasure to introduce the Chair of the City Council committee on hospitals, Council Member Carlina Rivera. 
  
[...] 
  
Thank you so much Council Member. And I really appreciate your strong, clear voice on this issue and the way it's rooted in your experience in the community. I also really am happy mom agrees. Because we wanted that support. If mom’s with us, everything's going to be okay. Thank you so much, Council Member. 
  
City Council Member Carlina Rivera: Thank you. 
  
Mayor: All right. Let's go over today's indicators. And they obviously show us what we're concerned about. We see more and more cases. again because of almost 10 million vaccination doses, thank God, the impact has been truly moderated. But we've got to move faster to vaccinate. We used to talk about the race against COVID, vaccination versus COVID. For a long time, vaccination was clearly winning. It needs to win again. So, the indicators make that clear to all of us. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report, 108 patients. Confirmed positivity of 18.35 percent. Hospitalization rate per 100,000, 0.41. Number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average, today's report, 597 cases. Number three, percentage of the people testing positive citywide for COVID-19, today's report on a seven-day rolling average, 1.86 percent. So, the numbers speak for themselves and it's time for new strategies like the one we're announcing today. Let me say a few words in Spanish about today's announcement. 
  
[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.  

Moderator: We will now begin our Q and A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Katz and by Dr. Chokshi. First question today goes to Jen Peltz from the AP.   

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you?   

Mayor: Good, Jen, how are you doing today?  

Question: Good, thanks. I guess the first question that I would ask would be have you spoken to the unions about this new policy, namely the ones that represent work at H+H. What have you heard from them?  

Mayor: I’ll turn to Dr. Katz who's had a lot of those conversations along with other members of our team. I won't ever speak for the unions, they'll speak for themselves, but I'll say, I think there's a level of recognition that we have a new and growing problem, and we've got to do something to address it quickly and aggressively. And this is an initial approach that balances different concerns effectively. I think there are some cognizance of that. I'm sure they'll have their concerns, but I think there's cognizance that one. We're in an urgent situation too. We're trying to strike a balance. Dr. Katz.   

President Katz: Yes, sir. I too won't speak for the union, but I think there is appreciation that we are giving workers a choice, that they need to be vaccinated or to have weekly testing and that the testing will be available at our facilities so that people can access that testing without difficulty. And with that, I think that people – I know Health + Hospitals is an incredibly mission driven place where people come to work every day to save lives. And I believe my staff will want to get vaccinated or want to get tested so that they can be sure they're not transmitting the virus.   

Mayor: Thank you doctor. Go ahead, Jen.  

Question: I guess my second question, and apologies if this was covered before I was able to join, do you have any sense of what the vaccination rate is among the staff at the hospitals?  

Mayor: I'll have Dr. Katz speak to that. What I want to say overall again, Jen, staggering numbers in terms of the sheer magnitude of the health care community, 600,000 or so health care workers in New York City, 1.2 million New York State, 22 million in the United States of America. And you look at national perspective, the best information we have is somewhere around 50 percent of health care workers are vaccinated nationally. So you're talking about millions and millions of people who, if this model was put into place, we would reach millions more people, and that would protect us greatly. In terms of the current rates in Health + Hospitals, Dr. Katz.   

President Katz: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Among our staff at Health + Hospitals were somewhat higher than the national average. We're currently – about 60 percent of our employees are vaccinated.  

Moderator: The next is Andrew Siff from WNBC.  

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call. Mayor, are you allowing those who have chosen not to get vaccinated, to continue that position by simply paying for them to get tested? Doesn't this make it easier to keep that 60 percent rate that Dr. Katz just talked about in place, because now you're just giving them an easy out?   

Mayor: Not at all, Andrew. I'll start and Dr. Katz, I'm sure, has strong views on this matter too. He knows his employees better than anyone. We are going and upping the ante here. We're starting up the ladder. Up to now, things have been entirely voluntary. They're no longer voluntary. You have two choices. The better one is to get vaccinated. The easier one is get vaccinated.  You get vaccinated once, you're done. Otherwise, you'll be doing weekly testing. I think some people may say immediately, okay, let's just get vaccinated. A lot of people have been pretty ready. This could be the moment that really moves them. Others may start with the weekly testing and come to the conclusion. It's a lot of energy they have to put into it. It's just easier to get vaccinated. Some may not, but this is a step. Again, we will keep looking step-by-step what it's going to take to beat this variant. I don't have a question in my mind that this is going to move a lot of people to vaccination.  
Dr. Katz.   

President Katz: Yes, I agree knowing my staff that this will increase our vaccination level. It also addresses the single most important thing, which is that we want to protect our patients and each other, and that by getting weekly testing or vaccinating, we're doing exactly that. Thank you.   

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Andrew.  

Question: And Mayor, there are – of course, people know that San Francisco has taken a much more aggressive step, requiring all municipal employees to be vaccinated. So why would New York not match that aggressive step? What's the upside of being so much more hesitant about it?  

Mayor: Well, I wouldn't say it that way at all, Andrew. San Francisco, as I understand, put out an initial concept and now has altered it. The last I heard, you know, we're starting ours on August 2nd. They're starting their initiative, as I'm hearing now, in September. Similar construct, get vaccinated or else weekly testing, they are talking about reaching other municipal workers. We're going to be looking at that. But to the number one thing was to get to the health care workers first and get back going. So, I think these are similar approaches. I think you're going to see this kind of approach used more and more in different ways. And I commend San Francisco, I commend Mayor London Breed, who I think has been really one of the great local leaders during COVID in this country. She's been in many, many ways ahead of the curve, but we're going down the same kind of road and working it step-by-step.  

Moderator: The next is Emma Fitzsimmons from the New York Times.  

Question: Hi, good morning, Mayor. I had a similar question. Why not push harder to require all the workers to get vaccinated? And what about police officers and teachers, or at least for now require weekly testing for all city workers?  

Mayor: Emma, we're going to look at all of those things. Right now, again, we have clear sense that we had to get started in the most important place. That's our health care workers, and we have to build out a model. And a lot of times when you're trying to move something, you know, for hundreds of thousands of people, or hopefully in the national context, millions and millions of people it makes sense to start, show how well it works, and keep going from there. We are definitely looking at other possibilities, but we're not there yet. This is the piece we're doing right away. Go ahead. Emma.  

Question: Thank you. You're probably tired of me asking this, but I'm curious, what would it take for the city to move back toward an indoor mask mandate? Would it be a certain test positivity level of 5 percent or 10 percent? Or what like factors are you looking at there?  

Mayor: I am not tired of you asking, I appreciate the question. It's a very important question. I'll start, and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Katz, I made an analogy and an interview this morning and I said, look masks have value, unquestionably. They add a lot of value when we didn't have a vaccine, especially but if you're talking about fighting COVID and the Delta variant and winning this battle once, and for all a mask is like a pea shooter and the vaccine is like a cannon. The vaccine is what actually wins. The vaccine is what actually stops the Delta variant. If everyone was vaccinated, we would not be having the conversation we're having right now.  

So, masks have value, but what I don't want is two things: I don't want people thinking, “oh, if I just – I'm unvaccinated, I wear a mask, I'm fine.” That's just not true. They are in danger and they're in danger of spreading the disease to other people. And two, you know, we've told people, go get vaccinated. And one of the rewards is that you can have more freedom, and people did it. Almost 10 million doses, 58 percent of our population has gotten at least one dose. And I don't want to say to all those people, well, that was in vain. I think if we push hard on vaccination, both these efforts with the public workforce, but also, I'd like to see the private hospitals do the same, and then we keep going from there, plus all the other vaccination efforts. I think that's the best way to get this done. Final point before the doctors – we don't have, I know you're interested, “is there an algorithm? Is there a particular formula?” No, because the whole situation has changed. It's no longer as much about the positivity levels, which are many ways misleading at this point because so many fewer people getting tested. It is about what's going on with vaccination. What's going on with our case numbers, what's going on with our hospitalization – we're going to look at all that. Vaccination, we've done pretty well, we’ve got to do more now. Hospitalization actually is quite good - case number is not as good. So we're going to keep looking at that. And if we ever think that we need to take steps beyond vaccination, of course we will. But I just want to really make clear when we're fixating – I'm not saying you're fixating, but when people are fixating on masks and not talking about vaccination, they're missing the main event, in my opinion, Dr. Chokshi.  

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir, and thanks Emma, for the important question masking has been and remains a vital part of our defense against the virus. And as the Mayor has said, you know, masking has been particularly important in certain settings and for certain people we continue to strongly recommend wearing masks. If you are unvaccinated, we also continue to strongly recommend it in certain settings from public transit to schools, to congregate settings to health care facilities. But what is very clear is that the Delta variant requires even stronger medicine. So, this is this is a situation where we have to bring to bear the greatest tools that we have in our toolbox, and it's clear that vaccination is the best among them. And so, we have to bring that into the fight against the coronavirus and center our strategy around it.  

Mayor: Go ahead, Dr. Katz.  

President Katz: I would just add that we have mask mandates throughout the city that include transport, health care facilities, schools and that many people who are vaccinated may in fact choose to wear masks. And that's great, there's no problem with that. But to believe that we are going to get much more mileage out of intending to enforce indoor masks I think misses, again, the power of vaccination versus the, the pretty limited power of enforcing a mask mandate.   

Mayor: Thank you.   

Moderator: The next is Mike Sacks from FOX 5.  

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. As you've said, today's measure isn't necessarily a vaccine mandate. It's an option to get the vaccine or take a weekly test. I understand there's some question about legality of direct government mandates prior to final FDA approval, but that approval by some estimates could come as soon as September for at least one vaccine. So, do you intend to mandate vaccination for Health + Hospitals staff once the vaccines do receive their final FDA approval? And that's the first question, I have another question after that.  

Mayor: Of course, Mike, thank you for the question. Look, here's why I say. This is – I made the point climbing the ladder. Look, we're going to do more and more if the variant continues to spread. We don't like what we're seeing. Thank God, almost 10 million times in this city, a person got a vaccination and that is what is keeping the wolf at bay here. But the fact is the variant is very, very dangerous and we're going to have to keep doing more and more things to fight it. This is what makes sense right now because it does give people a choice, but it moves us aggressively in the right direction. And we know for a lot of people, that choice will be vaccination. We're going to look at a range of options going forward. If we don't see vaccination numbers continue to go up, we're going to push in every way. If we don't see them go up fast enough. And if we don't see progress against the variant, we're going to consider a range of options. So, I think it's premature to say what we would do in terms of the FDA approval or when it will come. What is very clear is we will do more and more and more if we see the Delta variant continue to present such a danger to us. Go ahead, Mike.  

Question: Thank you. This is unrelated. What is your response to that Transportation Alternatives report that says according to the City's stats, that a record 124 people died in traffic accidents in the first six months of this year, that's the highest during your administration? What are you going to do in your remaining time in office to ensure Vision Zero is a success despite the pandemic's disruptions?  

Mayor: We've seen a horrible impact of this pandemic beyond all the other horrors that we've seen with the loss of life, from the disease. We've seen a loss of life from crashes. The pandemic caused people to feel uncomfortable on mass transit. They got in their cars and in too many cases people were speeding or were victims for whatever reason of someone who used their car recklessly. This needs to be reversed, period. We, for six years before the pandemic proved we could decrease crashes, decrease injuries and deaths with forceful measures. Vision Zero works, it will work again, but it requires a few steps. That means getting people out of their cars, which means making sure people feel comfortable coming back to mass transit and the recovery in general helps get people wanting to go to mass transit. Obviously, we got to make sure people are healthy and safe.  

It also means congestion pricing. If we're going to dis-incentivize car use, particularly individual car use, and get people back to mass transit and make mass transit better so people want to be in those subways and buses. We need congestion pricing and the State of New York, and the MTA are doing essentially nothing to move it forward, and that's got to end. We're going to keep investing in Vision Zero – more speed cameras, more enforcement, more bus lanes, more bike lanes. We're going to go farther and farther. We're going to set records this year, but we need congestion pricing to really get to where we need to go.  

Moderator: The next is Chris Sommerfeldt from the Daily News.   

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. How are you?  

Mayor: Good, Chris. How’ve you been?  

Question: I'm good. As you know, the focus of this entire briefing has been, how large of a threat the Delta variant is posing. I was wondering with that as the backdrop, isn't it problematic for your administration to move ahead with moving homeless New Yorkers out of hotels and back into homeless shelters where the vaccination rate is as low as 14 percent.  
  
Mayor: Chris, we're making vaccination available to everybody in shelter constantly and for free. We have the ability to help people with all the other challenges they have much better in shelter. This is the way forward. We, also, from shelter get people out of shelter into permanent affordable housing. So, we have to keep doing that work and we can do it safely. We're going to make vaccination available. We need to keep showing people how important it is to get vaccinated so we can protect them. Go ahead, Chris.  
  
Question: Thank you. On a similar note, Brad Lander and some other incoming members of the City Council are today holding a rally in Brooklyn, they're urging you to use emergency rulemaking to get the process started on Intro. 146, which you signed into law in May in order to raise the value of rent vouchers for homeless New Yorkers. Is this something you're considering in order to get the ball rolling on this more quickly?  
  
Mayor: We definitely want to move quickly. We are working on the question of how to align the City policy and the State policy. The State Legislature did something great and paralleled the action taken by the City Council. I thank the City Council’s action they took. Our central concern was getting the State to do the same thing. Good news, the Senate, the Assembly did. And now we have the possibility, which we've been waiting for, for a long time. Get the voucher numbers up, the value up, City and State simultaneously. We can help a lot of people that way. We need the State to act. So, we need the legislation signed at the State level. We need to align the two approaches. We want to do that as quickly as possible. So, we're continuing to work to get that done with the State so we can move forward quickly on that.  
  
Moderator: The next is Elizabeth Kim from Gothamist.   
  
Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.  
  
Mayor: Hey Elizabeth, how are you?  
  
Question: I'm good. I wanted to ask about, in the outreach to neighborhoods that have low vaccination rates, what are health officials hearing from people who are still reluctant to get vaccinated? And has there been any kind of targeted messaging in multiple languages in those communities?  
  
Mayor: Yes, yes, yes. I know Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Katz are both passionate on this topic. And that this is what they've done from the very beginning. And even though we're still trying to reach a lot of people and move a lot of people, I also do want to acknowledge how many people have been moved over time. The hesitancy levels and distrust levels at the very beginning of the vaccination effort were staggering. The fact that, you know, we've seen consistent progress to now being on the verge of 10 million vaccinations does attest to how powerful those efforts were to win people's trust, work with local leaders and trusted voices in multiple languages, but it's endless work, Elizabeth. It really is. And it's person by person work. I mean, every single day, our vaccinators, our Test and Trace folks are out right this minute on street corners and knocking on doors in public housing and you name it. And they're looking for the next individual who they can get to come on over and get vaccinated at a bus or a van or a local clinic. And we're winning this person by person. So, to give you a flavor of how much this has been a focus on how much we continue to try to find new and better approaches, Dr. Chokshi then Dr. Katz.  
  
Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir. And yes, we are so passionate about this work because it is fundamental to our vaccination campaign overall. The Mayor went over some of the numbers, but a brief recap. We've had over 5,000 community events like town halls since the beginning of our campaign, we've knocked on over 280,000 doors. Those are our canvassers who are out in the hundreds each day particularly in the neighborhoods with lower vaccination rates. We have nurses who, every day, call thousands of patients who remain unvaccinated and answer their questions in detail including the clinical questions that they may have. But those numbers belie the fact that really this is about one-on-one conversations. And they often do happen in the first language that, you know, any patient or any community member speaks. We have employed bilingual staff members among our canvassers. We have access to interpreter lines, you know, for our outreach as well. And the final thing that I'll mention is that a huge concerted focus of ours, particularly over the last two months, has been partnering with the family doctors, the pediatricians, the community-based practices, the independent pharmacies, where people turn to for their routine health care. This is where the relationships have been built where people trust their clinicians because they've been taking care of them over the course of years. Our department has been working, again, in a very grassroots way through something called public health detailing to ensure that each of those points of access has the information that they need, and also is able to actually provide the vaccine at their pharmacy or at their clinic if they're able to. And we won't stop, this is something that we are firmly committed to because of the urgency that we feel around vaccination.  
  
Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Katz.   
  
President Katz: I would just add as an active clinician, that when I talk to my patients who have not been vaccinated yet, the number one issue comes down to fear. They've gotten misinformation and they're frightened of getting the vaccine. And part of my job is to explain why it is that the risks of getting COVID are so much greater than the vaccines, which have shown themselves to be very safe. And that I feel that as more and more people are vaccinated and people can look around and say, yes, yes, all of my friends have been vaccinated, everybody is fine, but the people who haven't been vaccinated, they're getting sick, that, that work will overcome that fear and misinformation. Thank you, sir.   
  
Mayor: Amen. Go ahead, Elizabeth.  
  
Question: My second question is about dirt bikes and ATVs. Eric Adams was on Brian Lehrer on Monday, and he was suggesting that the City needs to take a more hands-on approach. He also had an idea of creating a place for young people to ride these dirt bikes like Floyd Bennett Field. What do you think about that?  
  
Mayor: I think a couple of things. Certainly, the NYPD working with community groups and community leaders has taken a very aggressive approach. It's illegal in New York City. And there's been a really strong effort to work with the community to identify where dirt bikes are being kept and seize them. They don't belong here. They're not legal here. Now, if you said, could we change the law and change the approach to allow it in certain areas and find designated areas? I think that's worth exploring. Absolutely. But in the meantime, we've got to be very aggressive because of the dangers and the impact on quality of life. And if we want to make a change then we have to change the laws with it.   
  
Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Julia Marsh from the Post.  
  
Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. There’s a situation in the Bronx on Fordham Road where the commercial strip is overrun with illegal vendors. The local BID counted 242 sidewalk vendors compared to just 230 storefronts. The business owners say they can't participate in your pandemic programs like outdoor dining or Open Storefronts because of the crowded sidewalks. They also say they're struggling because the vendors set up shop outside and sell the same goods for less, but don't have to pay a fair wage, taxes, fees, rent, etcetera. They also say there's little to no enforcement of the rules. What do you say to Marko Majic, the City Jeans manager? His family-owned business employs 150 people across the borough. He wants actual enforcement up there.  
  
Mayor: I agree with them. Juliet, it’s a really important question. I thank you for raising it. And I always say thank you when members of the media draw our attention to a particular place or a particular issue that we got to focus on. This is a great example. This needs to be fixed and we'll fix it. The bottom line is the bricks and mortar stores – I got a lot of sympathy for them, small businesses, mom-and-pop stores in so many cases, are struggling. They struggled before COVID, they struggled more during COVID, we're trying to help them. The last thing they need is illegal competition. If someone's a legal vendor we're going to, of course, respect that, but they have to follow the rules and an illegal vendor is an illegal vendor. So, what we're doing now is a civilian approach first, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. They have the power to levy the fines and take action. And that in many cases works. When it doesn't work, we're going to have backup from the NYPD and we're going to have a very coordinated effort, and we're going to go neighborhood by neighborhood where there's a problem with intensive presence, different agencies, to make sure that we solve this. It's not something we should tolerate. Go ahead, Julia.  
  
Question: [Inaudible] you're sending the NYPD up to Fordham Road, because one of the issues that I've discovered is that Department of Consumer and Worker Protection can't demand IDs from folks. So, they're issuing violations to John and Jane Does, which obviously aren't going to go anywhere.   
  
Mayor: Correct. And that's one of the reasons – look, again, our – strongly believe as with so many other areas, the best option is civilian enforcement, whenever that works. If it doesn't work, it's appropriate to bring in the NYPD to take the next level of enforcement. And that's what we're going to do. The NYPD obviously can require identification. And, look, if someone's acting illegally either because they're an illegal vendor, or they're a legal vendor acting illegally, that's not acceptable and there will be consequences. We have to fix problems like this. It's not fair to the community. It's not fair to the folks who put their lives into their small businesses. There's a legal way to do things and an illegal way to do things. And we're going to enforce  
  
Moderator: Last question for today, it goes to James Ford from PIX-11.  
  
Question: Okay, great. I'm batting clean-up here. Thank you.  
  
Mayor: We have faith in you. There's runners on base, James. We have faith in you.  
  
Question: I do appreciate it. And again, thanks for taking the call. My first question would be this – one New Jersey hospital dismissed six supervisors who did not get vaccinated. Regarding your and the Health Commissioner’s new directive for health care workers in New York City public facilities, what would the consequences be if someone does not get vaccinated or get tested weekly?  
  
Mayor: We're going to make the rules clear, starting August 2nd. We're going to provide a lot of information, happy to have a dialogue with people, but the rules are the rules. Get vaccinated or get tested weekly. Any employee at Health + Hospitals or the clinical Department of Health workers who refuse, have been given the option, get vaccinated or get tested weekly. They still refuse, they will be suspended without pay. That's the penalty. Go ahead, James.  
  
Question: Okay. And can you talk more about what residual effect you hope that this order has? For instance, hope that – in fact the doctor from the University of Pennsylvania had mentioned that he hopes that this sets a broader precedent. How strongly do you want that to be the case? What kind of precedent do you hope it sets and is it possible it could backfire?  
  
Mayor: Okay. Big questions. I'm going to turn to Dr. Katz and Dr. Chokshi after I speak. Let me deal with your last point first. We have to always watch for unintended consequences. We have to always watch for when we think something's a good idea, but maybe it turns out a different way. Now, that being said, up-to-date the approaches we've taken to getting people vaccinated, you know, if 58 percent of all New Yorkers have had at least one dose something is working. And I had a lot of confidence in the team that made a lot of the right choices under very tough situations. I think this one has a ring of truth to it, James. It's the shape of things to come. The Delta variant has thrown us a huge curve ball. We've got to deal with it. We are not going back. I'll tell you that much. We're not going back. I think this is something that could unify people with different beliefs, all parts of the country. We do not want to go back to the depths of COVID when our lives were destroyed, when people were in danger all the time. We cannot go back. So, we're going to do things differently, as much as it takes, but this is the shape of things to come. Clear and clear rules, and more ways of ensuring that people get vaccinated. This is a great first step. It gives people a choice and it focuses on the workers who need it the most. I do think it'll create momentum. I think you're going to see other public and private health care systems see this announcement and decide it is their time as well. I think you're going to see private businesses who have the right to put the rules together for the health and safety of their employees, making that choice. The more institutions in our society that make this choice, the faster we will beat the Delta variant. So, this is the future of how we win this war once and for all, I believe. Dr. Katz then Dr. Chokshi.  
  
President Katz: Sir, you always tell us all of the science and that is very much what we're doing. At one time, our voluntary vaccination efforts were sufficient, and the virus was going down and things were looking good and we were opening up and that was all right. Now because of the Delta virus many more people are getting infected and we have to therefore take additional steps. And you've told us that if these additional steps do not work, then we need to take further steps. As you say, we're not going back. Too much was lost with our children not being in school, with our economy being hurt. We have to take whatever steps are necessary in order to protect New Yorkers. Thank you.  
  
Mayor: Amen. Dr. Chokshi –  
  
Commissioner Chokshi: Look, the COVID safety requirement is the right thing to do. As we've talked about, it's about protecting our patients and it's about safety and service. So, yes, today we are calling upon our colleagues, our peers, health care CEOs, leaders in the rest of health care, whether it's a clinic or a pharmacy, we are urging you to look at this seriously because it is one of the most important steps that we can take at this stage in our vaccination campaign. And particularly because of the threat of the Delta variant. So, we aim to lead by example, but we want the impact to be far broader.  
  
Mayor: Thank you very much. And to finish, everyone, look, the message is clear. We are dealing with a problem here. We have got to deal with it aggressively. And in the end, there is also a thing called personal responsibility. So, I'm appealing to every single New Yorker who has not yet gotten vaccinated. Please help us defeat the Delta variant. You can play a role. You can be a hero stopping this danger to all of us, anybody listening who, you've been vaccinated yourself, but maybe a member of your family hasn't, get up in their face and tell them it's time, it's time for us to have a blunt-er conversation that we've got to do this or really a lot of people are going to be in danger and that's not acceptable. So, everyone, it's free, it's easy, it's safe. Go get vaccinated today. Thank you.  

  
###