Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

August 19, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. We're going to have a very special guest in just a moment. But first we're going to talk about for a few minutes, a really important milestone that we have reached in this city. We're fighting COVID every day, we're fighting the Delta variant. The people in the city are responding, the people of this city are coming forward, getting vaccinated, making a difference. And as of today, 75 percent of the adults in New York City, we've at least one dose of the vaccine. This is a big, big deal. When you talk to our health care leaders, this is the kind of number they've been wanting to see. 75 percent of all adults, at least one dose, growing all the time. That's incredibly good news. Here's another milestone. Over 80,000 New Yorkers have now received the $100 incentive. This is working. This is important to people. And you heard Dr. Ted Long the other day, talk about a whole family that said, Hey, we want to get that incentive for the whole family. Lots of people need to be vaccinated. He said, we’ll even send someone to your home to do it. This $100 incentive has made a difference. In fact, so much so that President Biden endorsed it and suggested it for other parts of the country as well.

So, the vaccination effort is moving, thanks to New Yorkers who are stepping forward. Also, thanks to our vaccinators. Let's recognize, these are heroes. These are folks who are doing amazingly good work. The folks going door to door, folks going out in the communities, the folks giving the vaccinations. This is making a huge, huge difference. Now, if you're not yet vaccinated, listen, this is the best time ever. And I understand, there are a lot of people who originally -- they wanted to wait away a while. They wanted more information. I respect that. The people who still have the questions, we want to connect you to a doctor or a pediatrician for your child to get you the answers you need. We're happy to work with anyone. You want a vaccination in your home? We'll do that for you. So, we really want to meet people where they are, respond to their concerns. But I want to emphasize this is the best time ever, because there's a $100 incentive, because the vaccination is easier than ever, because you can get it so many places because it's fast and effective. It's simple to do. And because we got a new threat from the Delta variant, and it's not like what we saw in the beginning. This is a tougher challenge, but it's one we can find back with vaccination. So, to date in New York City, 10,394,533 doses. Unbelievable and growing all the time.

Now specifically, we're focused on the back to school effort. We're focused on our young people who are vaccine eligible, 12 years old and up. And running you out to them, reaching out to their parents saying just like you get ready for going back to school in so many other ways, going back to school this year means vax to school. Get ready, get vaccinated. And we're seeing really good signs of progress. 12 to 17-year-olds, that group of New Yorkers has the fastest growth rate of vaccination of any age group in New York City. So, more and more young people coming forward. 56 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds in New York City have already received one dose. And that is ahead of the national average. National average is only 48 percent. So, what we're seeing is something's happening here. Almost 300,000 kids in that range have gotten the vaccination. It's making a big difference and we've got almost a month until school begins. We're going to use every single hour to get more and more kids vaccinated.

Now we have a special opportunity that we're announcing today for PTAs, who do so much good. I want to thank all the members of PTAs involved in their schools. All the good you do. We are reaching out as of today to PTAs all over New York City, letting them know they can be part of our referral bonus program. Whenever a PTA gets a student or a family member to come in and get vaccinated, we will give them $100 for everyone they bring in. So, think of the virtuous circle here. People get vaccinated, the individuals get $100, the PTA gets $100 for each person they bring in and they recruit to get vaccinated. And I can tell you I've been involved with PTAs and my kids were public school kids. A lot of PTAs are going to like this because they need those resources. This is a great way to get it. We are letting every PTA know, sign up now, get people vaccinated, and have an opportunity to do a lot of good for your school community.

We have been reaching out all over the city and talking to leaders who really understand how to reach the grassroots and make an impact. And someone who I really admire. She's an elected official. And she is a nurse by training and when COVID hit, she went out and did that work, even though she could've said, Hey, I'm an elected official, you know, I got other things to do. She went out and did that work. And later introduced the HERO Act to protect all the people who were our heroes, who protected us, to make sure they were protected as well. I really admire her for the work she has been doing. And I want you to hear from her how important it is to do these grassroots vaccination efforts, to reach our young people, to reach our PTAs. All of this, what it means, my pleasure to bring to you Assembly Member Karines Reyes.

[...]

Well, listen, Assembly Member, amazing work you've done. Really amazing work. And thank you. You have a really clear, strong voice on this issue and the people of your district, the people of New York City need to hear it because there’s still hundreds of thousands of people out there who actually are open to being vaccinated. But we just got to get them in and let them know how easy it is, how positive it is. Thank you for being that strong voice. Thank you for the HERO Act. Thank you for being out there on the frontline when it was tough and we needed help. Really appreciate you.

Assembly Member Karines Reyes: Thank you, Mayor.

Mayor: All right, everybody. So, we keep making progress and I keep saying to everyone vaccination equals recovery, vaccination equals freedom. The more and more people get vaccinated, 75 percent of New York City adults, that means we get to do things again. We get to be together. We get to move forward. We get to recover. And we are celebrating our recovery. We're celebrating our progress. Homecoming Week has been amazing already, stunning concerts already, more to come. Tonight, Brooklyn Army Terminal. And let me tell you, amazing talent from Brooklyn performing. You heard yesterday from Big Daddy Kane. This is going to be a very exciting show tonight. Friday, we're going to talk about in a second in Queens, Saturday Central Park Great Lawn, unbelievable lineup put together by the legendary Clive Davis. So, so much happening to celebrate the city and help us move forward. All concerts are people who are vaccinated only. And that's the message, you want to fully participate? You want to get all the joy out of life? Just go get vaccinated. And the world opens up to you.

So, Friday, Queens, an amazing lineup, but one star that shines in a particular way that I have to speak about. We are saluting one of the most important musical figures of our time. I'm going to introduce him in a moment. But I just have to speak personally, first. The first time I heard One Nation Under a Groove, I just, literally one of those life changing songs. It was everywhere in my high school, we felt it. It was a message of unity and hope, but it was also a new kind of sound. And everyone sensed something in the air, something special, something amazing. A real innovator, a genius at bringing out something new. And if you love music and I love music, you got to recognize the people who made a lot of other things possible. So, you know, I love lots of groups. I love lots of musicians. I hope they feel the debt of gratitude that I feel to George Clinton for what he did for all of us. If you love OutKast. Well, thank George Clinton. If you love Talking Heads, thank George Clinton. If you love Janelle Monáe, thank George Clinton. All of them, great, great, great artists, did their own thing too. But if you think that they were not fundamentally influenced by George Clinton, I'll play you the tracks to prove it. Because George Clinton and everyone around him changed American music profoundly. And for the better. Opened up a world of possibilities and brought people together. Just, I don't have words, but for me personally, and for my family, an amazing moment to have a true legend with us. He's called the prime minister of funk for good reason. He is one of the great musical innovators of our time. There's almost, you know, you literally can talk about it all day long. No one has influenced modern music more and had a bigger impact. And he is headlining the Queens concert and helping to bring back New York City. Ladies and gentlemen, from the bottom of my heart, a tremendous honor to have you at City Hall, George Clinton.

[...]

George Clinton: Wow. Thank you, your honor. Wow. I don't even know what to say after that. I need you for my publicist.

Mayor: I'm ready. I'm ready. I need a job.

[...]

Mayor: Now, beautiful. By the way, backup singers, you did good. You did good. Now, I want you to do one more thing for us. Just you, George –

[...]

“Here's our chance to dance our way out of our constriction,” that – you wrote that decades ago. But doesn't that sound like this exactly moment –

George Clinton: You need to be able to dance. Any problem you have, any situation, there's a rhythm that can get you up out of it. You can dance on the water and not get wet even.

[Laughter]

Mayor: You said it all, you said it all. Now, everyone, we got a special guest who's remote who wants to speak about George Clinton. Because for a lot of us, this is very, very special – and he is a super Funkadelic fan. The Borough President of Queens, Donovan Richards. Are you out there?

[...]

Okay. Strong words, strong words. I understand we lost by a dragon's nose. So, we'll be back next year –

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards: It was more than a dragon’s nose.

Mayor: We’re going to watch the tape, but we're going to be back next year to set it right. Borough President, thank you. I appreciate your strong, strong message. I think you'll agree with me, if you want evidence that it's time to get vaccinated here – I'm sitting next to one of the greatest figures in American musical history. George Clinton is vaccinated –

Clinton: Two times –

Mayor: Okay –

Borough President Richards: Get your $100.

Mayor: And you get $100. You could be like George Clinton –

Borough President Richards: Queens, get the money, go get vaccinated.

Mayor: Go get vaccinated. But I'm saying you could be like George Clinton and get $100. I mean, c’mon –

Borough President Richards: Well, [inaudible]  –

Mayor: Okay. Thank you, Borough President.

Borough President Richards: See you tomorrow.

Mayor: George, God bless you, brother.

Clinton: Thank you, your honor. It’s good to be here.

Mayor: What an honor. It means so much –

Clinton: And this party tomorrow. We’re going to tear the roof off.

Mayor: I think that sounds right. We're going to –

Clinton: We want the funk, give up that funk. Y’all say it. We want the funk, gotta have that funk. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Beautiful. Beautiful. Thank you. God bless you.

All right. I'm going back to my official position over here. Hey, you never know what's going to happen at City Hall.

[Laughter]

So, in addition to the amazing Homecoming concerts you've heard about already there is more to come. Homecoming week, we're building it out, we're doing even more. And good news, one of the most iconic cultural locations, one of the places that when you think of culture, when you think of music in New York City – and George Clinton just talked about it – you think about the Apollo Theater and the Apollo Theater is back. The Apollo Theater is back, shows beginning again, this is another great sign of our rebirth. And I'll tell you people feel a reverence for the Apollo Theater. And it's going to be very important that people can go back and be part of this history again.

So, we're going to celebrate that the Apollo is back with a special event, the Uptown Saturday Night Extravaganza. It will be on Saturday, August 28th doors open at 6:30 and as always proof of vaccination required. Information on the show will be available on the Apollo website tomorrow. Free tickets available starting Monday. Go to Apollotheaters.org. And this show's going to be amazing. A 50th anniversary musical salute to the legendary Summer Soul Music Festival in Harlem that people are giving so much respect to now. And it's a – this whole show will be a salute to that. There'll be also attributed to R&B Hall of Famer Lloyd Price led by Ray Chew and the Harlem Music Festival All-Stars. So, since it is the Apollo, there will be R&B. There will be jazz. There will be dance. There'll be gospel. There will be Latin and a taste of Broadway.

So, here's what we got – Forces of Nature Dance Company, the Nat Adderley Jr. Jazz Quintet. We have Nona Hendryx – for all of you who know the history of music, Nona Hendryx crucial, crucial figure. The amazing Bishop Hezekiah Walker will be there. Baba Don and the East Harlem Latin All-Stars, the IMPACT Repertory Theater from Broadway, performers from Lackawanna Blues and Ain't Too Proud. And the MCs, Imhotep Gary Byrd, and Debbie Jackson. Amazing, amazing lineup – the 28th. And we have with us now, one of the performers, and as I said, she has done extraordinary things in her career. She is a musical innovator. She is one of the people – again, there are so many musical acts that owe their inspiration to the work that she did throughout her career. She is an art rock legend. She is a founding member with Patti LaBelle and Bluebells, an amazing, amazing artist and an honor to have with us, Nona Hendryx.

[...]

Yeah, it worked, it worked. I – you know, I'm sure your high school was good too. I'm really glad you had another high school and college in the Apollo, and it helped make you the great, amazing performer and visionary you are. And I want to thank you and we cannot wait to see you perform. Chirlane and I'll be there. Really excited to see it.

Nona Hendryx: [Inaudible] great to see you again. I want to also thank Voza Rivers and Lloyd Williams, who – the Harlem Week godfathers. And just wanted to say that because they were instrumental in my being here.

Mayor: They do amazing work. They do amazing work. They –

Hendryx: Yes, they do, absolutely.

Mayor: And Harlem Week is such an important part of this city and part of our comeback too. And listen, just, thank you. Thank you for being another one of the people stepping forward to help bring New York City back.

Hendryx: Absolutely. It's my home.

Mayor: God bless, thank you. Now, everyone, the Apollo, it means so much to us. You heard Nona, in a beautiful testimony to the meaning of the Apollo. I want to hear from someone who's done so much to protect and preserve and build on the legacy of the Apollo. She's really a hero for her efforts because it – can't imagine New York City without the Apollo and it is now stronger than ever. She is the President and CEO of the Apollo Theater, Jonelle Procope. Welcome.

[...]

Jonelle, thank you. I can tell you're excited and you're ready. And the Apollo being back means New York City is back. And, again, thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your stewardship of that amazing institution and really looking forward to this beautiful show. Thank you so much, Jonelle.

Jonelle Procope: Thank you.

Mayor: So everyone, we’re going to – just amazing stuff happening. Comeback, coming strong. We've got lots of work to do. We got to keep building the vaccination effort. We have a lot of things to do to make this recovery work, but boy, are there a lot of people putting their shoulder into it and giving their heart and soul to it. It's really beautiful.

Let me say two more things before we go to our indicators. First I mentioned yesterday, very important, major gang takedown in Manhattan. This is part of the effort to strengthen public safety, continue what New York City has proven we can be, the safest big city in America. This is a major gang takedown, it happened yesterday. Now we have the details – 13 members of Chico gang charged with 21 shootings, 14 semi-automatic pistols seized as well as three revolvers and, very tellingly, five of the guns purchased out-of-state in the State of Maine. Again, this challenge of guns coming into the city. We're working with the Biden administration, and this is important that we deepen the federal efforts to stop the flow of guns into New York City. But in the meantime, the NYPD is really speeding up these gang takedowns. We're getting a lot of great work from prosecutors thanks to District Attorney Cy Vance and his team. The courts are coming back. We need them to come back full strength. We're going to keep saying it – really appreciate what's happened so far. We want the courts at 100 percent full strength, but what we're seeing is more and more gang takedowns, more and more people who've done violence getting off the street. The message to anyone who does violence or thinks about doing violence, you will be caught, you will be held accountable. It is happening every single day, and that word is spreading out there in the neighborhoods of the city, and that's going to help keep us safer.

Lastly, before indicators, I want to see if we can pan out on my. My brother cameraman pan out, please, to this beautiful excellent mural behind me. And you see Summer in New York City and yes, you guessed it, it's the borough of Staten Island. Next week, City Hall in Your Borough in Staten Island. We are going to be out there going all over Staten Island, talking about things that we're going to do to help bring back Staten Island strong, working with Borough President Jimmy Oddo and other leaders of Staten Island, really looking forward to it. We've had great City Hall in Your Borough experiences in Staten Island before. We're going to do it again. So, an exciting week ahead, looking forward to it, everyone.

Now let's do indicators. Number one, we're doing doses. So, again, big number, growing number, particularly with the youngest New Yorkers. And this is so much of the game plan, reach those 12 to 17 year olds, but also particularly with the mandates for restaurants, indoor entertainment. We're going to reach a lot of folks in their 20s, in their 30s who need to get vaccinated. So to date, 10,394,533 vaccinations. Number two, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report, 155 patients, 35.88 percent confirmed positivity, hospitalization rate 1.43 per 100,000. And new reported cases on a seven-day average today's report, 1,683 cases. I want to do a few words in Spanish on the vaccination effort, the fact that we've reached now 75 percent of New York City adults with at least one dose.

[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'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Dave Chokshi, Commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Dr. Ted Long, the Executive Director of the New York City Test and Trace Corps. First we have Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you? It sounds like you have a great musical time there today.

Mayor: Yeah, Juliet, I'm exploring new musical vistas over here, you know, anything's possible. So I had George Clinton coaching me. I mean, it was amazing before the press conference, George Clinton coaching me on which notes to hit, it’s kind of like my mind has been blown many times over here. How are you doing today?

Question: Great. So, I want to tell you about my experience yesterday and asking if you're not planning to roll out perhaps specific protocols for businesses to check back vaccination IDs. I went to a restaurant last night, nothing was checked. So, is it better for people to all be on the same page with a specific protocol or are you just leaving it up to individual businesses to do what they have to do?

Mayor: So, Juliet, first of all, this is obviously brand new, started on Tuesday. We expect it's going to take a little time for some places to get used to it or to figure out the best way. We can certainly – and I think it's a great suggestion, you know, put a specific template out there for folks to use if that's helpful to them. But I think a lot of business owners are going to have their own approach. You know, I talked to people about just my own experience using the NYC COVID Safe app. You take a picture of your driver's license, you take a picture of your vaccine card, you just pull up the app, and when you go in any place, just show them one after another, it takes a few seconds. And you know, that's really easy just like in a restaurant or in a bar, they check ID for someone getting a drink. But if it would be helpful to offer very specific models, I think that's a great idea. And we'll have our Small Business Services folks do that. But in general, you know, of course, we know everyone's got different experiences, but the feedback we're generally getting is that a lot of folks, particularly, in the restaurant industry are saying, ‘this makes it straightforward, we want everyone to feel safe, we can say to our customers now, everyone's vaccinated, people can breathe a little easier, we can say to our employees, everyone's vaccinated, it's a safe environment.’ There's a lot of enthusiasm for that, but we will work with them to figure out the best way to make it work. Go ahead, Juliet.

Question: Okay. Yeah, maybe give that a shot. Because it was a little disturbing, quite frankly, yesterday I'm walking into a very busy restaurant and, you know, not checked. Anyway –

Mayor: And Juliet, I’m sorry to interrupt. It'd be great if you, or any of your colleagues, if you have that experience, share it with our team here at City Hall. We, obviously, will not name names, but it's knowing the specific locations that allows our team just to reach out to them and say, ‘Hey, let's work with you on this.’ Remember there's no penalties until the week of September 13th. So, knowing if a place isn't doing it yet allows us to say, hey, we got to reach out and have a conversation with them just to make sure it's working. Go ahead.

Question: Okay. Sure. I was wondering what other efforts you're making to get City employees vaccinated. Gothamist has a report that says as of Monday 58 percent of City workers have received at least one dose. Is that satisfactory to you? And what else are you doing to encourage people to get that vaccine? Because that's now a requirement to return to work.

Mayor: Yeah, look, the – one, no, I'm not going to be satisfied until we reach a much higher level, but I do see constant progress. City workers, definitely, like everyone else, a lot of them are turning to this $100 incentive. And, again, it's there for them and every one of their family members too – each one, a hundred dollars. The mandates we put in place, which we're phasing in for vaccination for City employees, are definitely having an impact. And then City employees are like everyone else, are out in communities and they want to participate. They want to go to restaurants. They want to go to movies. And that is also going to have an impact that there's a vaccine mandate. So, I do believe this is going to move the needle substantially, but we're also saying to agencies, you've got to keep working at it – we’re holding every agency head responsible for figuring out new approaches to reaching their employees and getting that number up. So, there'll be a lot more on that. We intend to get that number up for sure.

Moderator: Next we have Andrew from NBC.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. For you and for your medical team, I'm wondering if there's any consistent guidance on the types of masks that younger children should be wearing going back to school – we're talking about under 12 kids that can't get vaccinated. Is there any thought to the Department of Education distributing KN95s or something that's more protective given how contagious Delta is and how unprotected the youngest kids are?

Mayor: Very good question. Appreciate that question, Andrew. I'll turn in a second to Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Long. I'll just say what we found last year – I'm very, very pleased with this. You know, there are a lot of doubting Thomases about bringing school back. We brought school back. We had a very successful experience, very safe experience. But one of the most interesting parts was, many people said, ‘oh, kids have gone to be able to handle being masked.’ I felt, just in my gut as a parent, they would deal with it. Kids are incredibly adaptable. And I think one of the great success stories of the last school year was kids wearing their masks very consistently right down to 3-K and pre-K successfully. Your question obviously is, what mask makes the most sense in this new environment with Delta. So I'm just – as I passed to the doctor – saying the good news is kids wear masks really well. They're really comfortable with that. It's been a real good thing. Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Long, what do you advise to parents as the right mask for this moment?

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, sir. And thanks, Andrew, for this important question. Our mask guidance in general also does apply to younger children in that the most important things are to have a snug fit of the mask as well as to use layers where possible. Some masks have layers themselves, otherwise using multiple masks. You know, two masks can also provide some layering too. Both Dr. Long and I are fathers of younger children so what I would add to that is that comfort is particularly important for younger children. Having a mask that a child will wear consistently and properly is also important. And so sometimes it takes trying a few different options to figure out what's best, you know, for your particular child. With respect to the higher grade masks, these are the KN95 or KF94 masks, I do advise that parents look at them because they do offer additional protection. But there may be a trade off between comfort and, you know, the protection that a mask like that can offer. So, I think in some cases that will work for a particular child, but again, we have to focus on the big picture, which is we want people to wear masks that work for them, that are snug and that have layers.

Mayor: So, just picking up on that, before Dr. Long. Dave, I'm picking up from one of your great quotes about the best vaccine is the one you can get now. I hear you saying to parents, the best mask for your child is the one your child will wear consistently and comfortably. Would you agree with that?

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir. Yes, that's well summarized. And that's the most important thing because we want them to wear masks consistently throughout the school day.

Mayor: Perfect. Go ahead, Dr. Long.

Executive Director Ted Long, NYC Test and Trace Corps.: Yes, sir. Actually, you stole my quote. I was going to give that exact quote, attributed to Dr. Chokshi, the best mask is the one your child will wear. What I would add on that is that our real world experience in New York City, which includes how our students have worn masks in the period that we studied this, which was the first half of last year, we published this in the Journal of Pediatrics. We basically found that if you're a student or a teacher in remote learning, you’re at the same risk, if not higher risk, of contracting COVID than if you were a student or teacher in the school setting, because of all the precautions, including to your point, Andrew, how our children were consistently wearing masks in our schools. It made them safe and potentially safer than even if they weren't remote learning. So, we have a strong real world basis to show how safe our schools have been. 

Mayor: Excellent. Thank you. Go ahead, Andrew.

Question: Also given that you were successful at using your pulpit, your national TV appearances, your daily briefings to give the city the freedom to vaccinate months ago, back when it was limited to category 1-A and category 1-B, and you were very successful at moving the ball there. Why have you not been more emphatic in trying to get national attention to making the vaccine available to kids ages five to 11, isn't that, some scientists would argue, even more critical than what we now have, which is a booster shot available to people who've gotten two shots already? 

Mayor: Well, I appreciate the way you invoked history. And I say it, you know, with humility, I do think a lot of the things we've done here in New York City have help really move things, and whether it was the freedom to vaccinate effort, or more recently what we've done with our vaccine mandates and indoor dining and public employees and the $100 incentive. So, I do feel we should always be looking for the next place to push. To the question, it's a very good one, what can we do to get those five to 11-year-olds vaccinated? I think the Biden administration has been very focused on continuing to move things rapidly. I don't sense any delay or anything that they're missing, but I think you're making a great point. We need it and we need it quickly, and I'm going to take that point and go check again on what's happening to see if we need to do some very special push there. We need to reach everyone with vaccination and we have found the vaccination effort amazingly successful for this nation. So, let's get to those five to 11-year-olds. Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Long, do you have any update you can offer on what that timeline looks like right now?

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes. Thank you, sir. What we know is that the studies are underway. Both of the major mRNA vaccine manufacturers, that's Pfizer and Moderna, are studying their vaccines in five to 11-year-olds. It is important, of course, to allow those studies to proceed so that we do ensure that when we administer the vaccines, they are just as safe and effective in that age group, as they are for all other ages that have already been authorized. Our understanding is that Pfizer is likely to be the first to submit to the FDA for five to 11-year-olds, and that is likely to happen sometime in September. And then I agree with the Mayor's point, which is, we need an expeditious review and vetting of that data to get to authorization so that we can actually administer the vaccines. But the bottom line is that we have to let the science proceed. We think that the first checkpoint will be sometime in September to understand what the data shows, and then it's likely to be later in this year here, you know, if I had to estimate, perhaps sometime in November or December before the FDA were to authorize the vaccines for use.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next we have Henry from Bloomberg.

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing today? 

Mayor: Doing good, Henry, how you been? 

Question: I'm very good. Thank you. You've been asked this question before, but as the school approaches, a question becomes more acute and more and more parents are asking for a remote option, not just for immunocompromised kids, but for kids who inevitably will be quarantined as case numbers go up. And then there's just this general feeling among parents that their schools may be too overcrowded to conduct a social distancing the way it was practiced when there were very few kids attending school. So, in light of this, and in light of the fact that several people in the school bureaucracy, if you will, parents groups are calling for a remote option. Don’t you think it may be time to plan a centralized plan for a remote curriculum? 

Mayor: Thank you for the question. I know it's an honest question. No, we've had this conversation constantly. Look, again, my kids pre-K to 12th grade were in New York City public schools. I have spent my whole career working with New York City public schools. I feel very, very deeply the life of our public schools. I've talked to thousands and thousands and thousands of parents over the years, and I understand health and safety is the number one concern to parents. I want you to remember what Ted Long said a moment ago, we found that our kids were safest in school. We have the gold standard of health and safety measures. It worked unbelievably well. It is proven. It is documented. Dr. Varma and Dr. Long put out a paper, Dr. Long can speak about on this, to show just how extraordinary the effort was. Our kids are going to come back. We're going to follow the CDC guidance, the State Education Department guidance, we’re going to keep kids safe. And I am absolutely convinced that with all the health and safety measures put in place, and a lot more vaccination that is going to happen between now and the opening day of school, with kids and with adults in the school system, this is going to be the place that the kids need to be. It's also the place they need to be for a whole lot of other reasons, including other health, physical health, and mental health reasons. So, we have one plan. Dr. Long, could you speak to, again, I think I'm remembering my facts, right, the study that you participated in and what it told us.

Executive Director Long: Yes. So, this study, Henry, I'd be happy to send it to you. It was published in the Journal of Pediatrics, which is one of the leading pediatrics journals, by its name, of course. And this was a study where we looked at transmission, either in our schools for students and teachers, and outside of our schools, among students and teachers in remote learning. What we found is that students and teachers in remote learning had the same risk of contracting COVID, if not a higher risk, than students and teachers that were in our schools. For us, the conclusion there is that – and this was all pre-vaccine – so, we did not have the benefit of the vaccine coverage when we did this study. So, the measures that we had at that time, like mask usage, like Dr. Chokshi said, and like all the other ventilation changes that we had made, confirmed strong protection against transmission of COVID in our schools. The result we've found has been replicated since, in fact, as similarly found in other studies. One other one I'll quickly highlight is it is published in one of the CDC – it's called the MMR – found that cases that were thought to be linked in a school when they were genotyped actually were different genotypes of the virus, meaning cases than we even thought to be transmitted in those schools at that time, were actually contract from the community because there were different strains of the virus. All to say that we believe our schools are safe and that we have the evidence in this article and other articles, which I'd be happy to send you as well as support. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Henry. 

Question: Thanks. I'm familiar with Dr. Long’s excellent review there, his work there. But today it's a different story. That was pre-vaccine, it was also pre-Delta, and my question really is what are you going to do when kids are quarantined? What are they going to do? How are they going to continue their studies? 

Mayor: Good question, and what I'd say is you're right to say the study was pre-vaccine, pre-Delta. I just want to offer one key point before answering your other question. You know, the number of people vaccinated in this city changes the situation, even with the challenge of Delta. I mean, you can just see it out there. I mean, when we got 5.2 million people with at least one dose, that changes the playing field entirely in the city. So, Delta is a real challenge, but the reason you see the life of New York City moving so effectively right now is because of vaccination. Vaccination still overcomes Delta, and the worst impacts of Delta. So, I do say you're right to say it's a different playing field, but I'd say – I think that's very clear that the positive difference that so many people are vaccinated, more getting vaccinated every day, outweighs the negative.

So vis-a-vis a kid who is quarantined, remember, first of all, if you, and I'll start, and then Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Long can add, or clarify, if you're a child who is vaccinated in that 12-year-old and up group, or an adult in the school system vaccinated, and there is some evidence of COVID in the school, unless you are symptomatic, you're continuing to be in school. You're vaccinated. You are safe. If you're not symptomatic, you're in school. So, you're going to see a lot fewer people going home for those quarantines, among those who do go home for a quarantine, it's now seven days, not a long time in the context of the whole school year. And we want everyone to be safe. We want everyone to have the information they need, but that quarantine period is very brief. We will be talking in the coming days about exactly how there'll be education for those kids during that time. But it is a very temporary kind of – it's like, you know, when we're helping kids for a very temporary period of time to keep continuity, but overwhelmingly, we're going to see kids in school getting educated the way that actually works in-person. Dr. Chokshi or Dr. Long, just speaking about, again, the difference this time if kids or adults are vaccinated, that they will not be leaving school, if they're not symptomatic, could you just amplify that?

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir, and you captured it well. What I would just add is that this shows not just the individual benefits of vaccination, but also some of the ripple effects that vaccination has for the school community, meaning that vaccination affords protection for the student or the staff member who gets it, but also helps to prevent some of the cascading effects, whether it's avoiding unnecessary quarantines and being able to stay for in-person learning, or creating a protective shell, really, by high levels of vaccination in the school community, particularly for the younger children who cannot yet get vaccinated as we spoke about earlier. So, it's all to say that vaccination works both at the individual level, as well as at the population level, to help keep our schools safer. 

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Long, anything to add? 

Executive Director Long: Just a quick point, Dr. Chokshi, hit all the main points, but I, you know, per CDC, if you're vaccinated, you don't need to quarantine even if you get tested on between days three and five. So, if you're a student and you're a close contact or in a classroom and you're vaccinated, you can stay in school still. The schools will now stay open because of the vaccine, which has a huge benefit to both the individuals that stay in school, but also to keeping our schools open into our city as Dr. Chokshi said. 

Mayor: Thank you.

Moderator: Next. We have Kristin from the Staten Island Advance.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you today? 

Mayor: I am doing well, Kristin. I'm looking forward to seeing you next week. 

Question: Yes, I also was at the concert on Tuesday night. Really great time.

Mayor:  You know, a lot for Staten Island to be proud of that night, the amazing talent that came out of Staten Island on display, all in one place. That was pretty cool. 

Question: It was. Did you ever get your official Wu Tang name? Are they still working that out? 

Mayor: Breaking news, breaking news – 

Bill Neidhardt: King Blasi.

Mayor: Breaking news, breaking news – is it Z? 

Bill Neidhardt: Raekwon has just confirmed –

Mayor: Raekwon – we have breaking news, Bill Neidhardt is confirming now, wait a minute, wait a minute, Kristin, breaking news. King – how are we spelling it?

Bill Neidhardt: B-L-A-S-I. That’s according to Raekwon. 

Mayor: B-L-A-S-I, really? Okay, Raekwon – no one argues would Raekwon, we respect his greatness – 

Question: We do. 

Mayor: King Blasi. B-L-A-S-I. Fascinating. 

Question: Okay. 

Mayor: Okay, there it is. It's formal. 

Question: All right. I appreciate that very important update, thank you.

Mayor: Yes, it’s literally breaking. I didn't know it until now, Kristin, and so you have achieved the ultimate in breaking news, I didn't know it either. Okay.

Question: So, I spoke with a lot of Staten Islanders who's told me that they wished to use the State's Excelsior Pass Plus, because it requires that two-factor authentication, verifies the person's vaccination status with the immunization databases which is something that the, you know, the City's app does not do. There have been, from what I'm hearing, widespread issues with people who are vaccinated at City-run sites and some other sites getting their information verified on the State's app for, you know, whatever reason. Is there any plan to update the City's app that would use the two-factor authentication to verify somebody's vaccination status with official records, instead of, you know, how it is now, which is just a photo really?

Mayor: Well, look, we made a decision to do something different, and with absolute respect for the Excelsior Pass, that that was a great tool. We want a different kind of tool. We wanted something very simple. We wanted something that, for those concerned about anything that connected to the internet, this is not that. This is something self-contained, if you will. So, the goal here was to say, well, that's there if you prefer that approach, the State approach, that's great. That works with restaurants, bars, everyone honored that. Ours is very simple. And again, reminding people I'm going to believe the vast majority of human beings do things the right way, and, you know, if anyone is tempted to use a fraudulent vaccination card, that's a real problem because that's actually a major crime that can literally lead to prison time. So, I think people are going to increasingly understand don't mess around with that. But if you have to show some kind of proof of vaccination and have an ID that matches it, we feel good that that's a good, strong standard, and our app allows people to show that. But look again, if someone prefers the Excelsior approach, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. It's there, you know, it's there for folks to use. Go ahead, Kristin.

Question: Great. Thank you. And I've been reporting on a towing company, Runway Towing, based out of Queens, that has been accused in a class action lawsuit of overcharging New Yorkers for a variety of services, tows, gas, flat tires, things of that nature. Runway Towing has held the exclusive contract to tow from the Staten Island Expressway and some other city highways as part of the Arterial Program that's overseen by the Police Department. Despite the lawsuit that's ongoing and their rejection of their license renewal by the City, they are still exclusively towing on these roads. Now, last week, their license expired, but they are able to still tow through a temporary operating letter while they appeal. Their license denial is in process. Now, the Police Department has deferred all questions to DCWP. But I just wanted to get your take on how the system is run with the NYPD, you know, selecting only one towing business to service highways across the city and the decision to continue using them after their license renewal was rejected due to illegal overcharging. 

Mayor: I'm really glad you are raising this. Kristin, you're not going to be shocked that this is an area I don't know a lot of the specifics of, but I will get educated on it now, based on your question. I'm concerned. Look, if a company is not doing right by the people, then they shouldn't be able to do business with the City of New York, and we have lots of examples of that. Over the last eight years, we have many, many times disqualified companies that were doing the wrong thing, or punished them further. So, I need to get all the facts together. I’ll guarantee you we'll do that and give you an update, but if it's a company that should not be doing business with us anymore, or a company that's abusing the people in the city, then you know, we will cut them off. If that's the right thing to do.

Moderator: Next, we have Steve from WCBS 880.

Question: Hey, Mr. Mayor. Good morning. I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say we're looking forward to what's next in your acapella career. 

Mayor: Yeah, Steve thank you for noticing. Offers are pouring in major labels, but I'm not authorized to make any specific announcements at this point in time. 

Question: I understand there's a lot that still needs to happen here. I wanted to circle back on schools real quick. I think the one kind of variable that hasn't been talked about as much that, parents are especially worried about, when we talk about the track record of success that we had last year in New York City schools, but that was with a much smaller fraction of students than what we'd see with everyone back in person this year. So where do we get that level of confidence this year, that when we have 100 percent of students back instead of 15, 20 percent of what it was last year, that we will still see that same level of success and not have too many health hazards here. 

Mayor: Excellent question. Very big question. I’m going to take a moment to frame it then Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Long – I’d really appreciate it because you’re kind of getting to the heart of the matter here. Really want to emphasize, even though you could say, oh, there's more kids this year, fewer kids last year, we did not have vaccination. So, Delta – I take Delta really, really seriously, but let me tell you, old fashioned COVID versus no vaccination was really daunting, but we believe based on a lot of research of what was happening around the world, that if we layered all the health and safety approaches, if we had a gold standard, it would work, even without vaccination, and it did. And 200,000 kids is a lot of kids by any measure. Remember that as we kept learning more and more about COVID there were a lot of factors. So, there's definitely a consideration about distance, but ventilation, masks, but now the game's gotten entirely changed by vaccination. So, the doctors can speak to this and give you the best perspective. But what I would say is if you have vaccination on this high level that transcends all other considerations, I am obsessed with vaccination and proud to be. It is the X factor – 5.2 million New Yorkers have gotten at least one dose. We're about a month out from school. 300,000 kids in that 12-to-17 range already have gotten at least one dose. And we have a huge push on over these next weeks to get kids vaccinated. I know parents will respond.  

I think the bottom line is this, having this high a level of vaccination in our schools, and all the other elements of the gold standard of health and safety, we know we can keep our kids safe and we know it is going to be safer for many of them than being out other places, as Dr. Long said. It is based on a lot of research, a lot of history – it’s also based on the federal guidance. Our federal government has said resoundingly clearly our kids need to be back in school for many reasons. And they've issued the guidance and we're following that guidance. Dr. Chokshi, then Dr. Long. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir. I agree with your bottom line; I'll just add three points briefly. The first is to pick up on the emphasis on vaccination. This is why we are so strongly urging parents, family, students to get vaccinated ahead of the first day of school. This is our backs to school campaign, which is boots-on-the-ground engagement, making sure that all access barriers are lowered as much as possible, using incentives as the Mayor announced today, with respect to partnering with PTA's as well. And that's all focused around, the goal of ensuring maximum levels of vaccination ahead of the first day of school.  

I'll also add that the COVID Safe requirement that the Mayor has announced, applies to school staff, and that's an important part of ensuring maximum protection through vaccination. The second point is what we have learned from our experience last year is that layered approach to prevention that the Mayor has spoken about. Ventilation, masks, distancing, vaccination, testing – all of them work together, and they have a compound effect when we partner them in that way. Particularly with testing, it gives us visibility into what's happening with respect to the spread of COVID in our communities and our schools. And that will be the way that we can know that our schools are remaining safe over the coming months.  

And then the final point is just to emphasize again, as a doctor this is about keeping schools safe so that we can bring children back for in-person learning, which is fundamental, not just to their social development, their educational development, but for their long-term health, by which I mean both their physical and mental health. So, this charge that the Mayor has given us to keep schools safe is in pursuit of that very worthy mission. Thank you.  

Mayor: Amen. Dr. Long, anything to add? 

Executive Director Long: Yeah, I just want to quickly emphasize the first point that Dr. Chokshi said, which is that we know from this last year that our layered approach for health and safety can and did work. What's different now is that we have the opportunity now to get more and more people vaccinated to keep our schools in our city, more and more safe. For example, we're having mobile vaccine units go to malls for back-to-school sales, multiple malls in every single borough. We're going to pre-conditioning training, bringing vaccines there, right to you, if you're a student that's going to be going through pre-conditioning training. And of course, we have our at-home vaccination program, nyc.gov/homevaccine. The most we can do right now is to get as many students and teachers vaccinated as possible. It’s the most powerful tool we didn't have before. We have it now, let’s use it. 

Mayor: Amen. Go ahead, Steve. 

Question: I appreciate that very much. I wanted to switch topics here. I have a question on behalf of my colleague Marla Diamond. She's working on a story about the Washington Heights Armory, which of course would classify as an indoor fitness facility under the Key to NYC, and everyone going in there would have to show proof of vaccination, but it also hosts high school athletics. And it's telling a student track and field athletes they'll have to be vaccinated if they want to compete, once the season starts in October, I know yesterday, you said there wouldn't be any kind of mandate for students. So, it kind of sits at this intersection of two conflicting policies here. So, what's your – what could be the outcome here, if students want to compete at the Washington Heights Armory, but they won't be let in if they aren't vaccinated? 

Mayor: Yeah Steve, really fair question. Important question. First of all, as we say in baseball, tie goes to the runner. These rules related to facilities stand for everyone, all ages. We're keeping consistent with that. So, the Armory is right to say, regardless that folks are going to go there and have to be vaccinated. Also, the question I got yesterday was about schools, was about education. And I said, I don't anticipate a vaccination requirement for kids to go to school. We're looking at obviously other types of activities, athletics, and other types of activities. That's its own world. It always has been in the eyes of the health care leadership locally and nationally. So we'll be speaking more to school athletics separately. But yes, I think the Armory is doing that the right way. 

Moderator: Next, we have Erin from Politico. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.  

Mayor: Hello, Erin, how are you?  

Question: I'm good. How are you?  

Mayor: I'm good. 

Question: I was wondering the state and the CDC yesterday put out kind of the first data on breakthrough infections and the effectiveness of the vaccine since Delta essentially showing that it's down to about 80 percent for preventing infections – still, still much higher, I think around 95 for hospitalizations. Just wondering, does the city of any – do you have any city-specific data on the number of breakthrough infections, the effectiveness rate current for the vaccine, and does any of this information change the guidance, the advice you're giving people on sort of how they should be conducting themselves in general when they're vaccinated? 

Mayor: Yeah. I appreciate the question a lot because we are constantly watching any new development. That's the history of COVID now for a year and a half – things constantly evolving, having to watch new data and new science. As I turned to the doctors, I'd say, what rings through to me is – I'm a very practical guy, I want people to be alive. I want them to avoid the worst impacts of COVID. God forbid anyone even contracts COVID. The number one concern is making sure they come through it. Okay. If you're vaccinated overwhelmingly, you're going to come through it. If you're not vaccinated, you could be in danger. That rings true. Even with any new developments we're seeing with breakthrough cases, but in terms of specific numbers, Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Long, do we have any specific numbers we can share? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. Thank you. I mean, Erin, the study that you cited that came out from the New York State Department of Health yesterday, that did include New York City data from our citywide immunization registry. So, about half of all of the data points that were encompassed in that study are from New York City. The major takeaway from that as well as other studies released by the CDC yesterday in their announcement all point to what the Mayor just said. And it's important for us not to miss the forest for the trees on this – overwhelmingly, the vaccines will keep you alive and out of the hospital. Data from that New York State study showed that the vaccines remained over 90 percent effective at preventing hospitalization. That's why we remain laser focused on vaccination. We'll continue to track breakthrough cases, but very importantly, we have to distinguish breakthrough infections. Many of which are mild or asymptomatic from breakthrough disease, which are the outcomes that we really aim to prevent.  

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Long, anything to add?  

Executive Director Long: Nothing to add. Dr. Chokshi, as always, covered everything. 

Mayor: Covered it all. Thank you. Go ahead, Erin.  

Question: Okay. Thanks. And then separately, I know you've expressed an optimism about the new governor being sane and normal. But I'm just wondering are there any specific policy priorities that you had not been able to do given the situation in Albany previously, and the previous governor, that you think can get done now or will be after next Tuesday?  

Mayor: Yeah. Erin, I mean, look, first of all, there's some great things I think we can do if the legislature comes back, we're not sure what their timeline is. But I think be a whole new day in terms of having just an honest, substantive conversation about what's going to help New Yorkers as opposed to all the games that we saw with the previous governor. Right now, we have pieces of legislation that passed the legislature, like the vouchers bill related to getting homeless folks to affordable housing. We had no idea what the outgoing governor was going to do with that. It's a really important piece of legislation. The City has acted, the state legislature has acted. Here's an example of something we could do constructively together, city and state all on the same page. This is the kind of thing I'm hopeful that we can do with soon-to-be-Governor Hochul. I think there's a lot of areas where we'll be able to work together in a new way. So good question. We'll be saying a lot more as different pieces emerge, but I absolutely am feeling urgency to look at the things that were never possible before. And now see if we can find that common ground and move forward over these next few months. And I think the incoming governor is open to that. 

Moderator: Next. We have Alice from CBS TV.  

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

Mayor: Good. How are you doing?  

Question: I'm doing well, thank you. Okay. So, there are lots of homecoming events celebrating progress being announced for those who are vaccinated to attend, but several parades were just canceled. New Jersey canceled its marathon this fall. Are there any other major events, like for example, the New York City Marathon thinking of canceling that you're aware of?  

Mayor: What I'm hearing is that most of the big events had previously modified their approach, either canceling or going to a much smaller format. I'll get you the latest update. Our team will get you an update on the marathon, but what I'm seeing is actually – because again, all the history we went through here, I think the vast majority of organizations had already made major adjustments for 2021. And were looking forward to coming back full strength in 2022. Obviously, there's some big events at the end of the year that are iconic and crucial, that we really hope will be in a good position for, but that's going to be based on the data and the science and having lots and lots more vaccinations. So, these next months are crucial. We have a real opportunity to overcome and push back Delta if we can really maximize vaccination in these next months. Go ahead.  

Question: And my other question was really a follow-up to Juliet's earlier question about the vaccine cards. Will there be any training for businesses on how to spot a fake vaccine card? We were talking with businesses on the Upper West Side the other night and kind of like what you were saying – they're saying it's basically just an honor system right now. They're not even sure how to spot a fake amongst people showing cards. 

Mayor: We definitely will provide training. And again, I appreciate questions like this because they are really helpful to say, okay, let's make it really clear, let's show a template. Let's show it to you guys as well. So, everyone sees the ways to do it, but definitely a lot of dialogue with restaurants, bars, theaters, et cetera. What I'd say is I really believe the vast majority of people are on the level, and we're also getting the word out really clearly. There can be major penalties for a fraudulent vaccination card. And remember if you have, you're showing it to someone, they are a witness, right? So, if you think, oh, I'm going to be cute and take a vaccination card and alter it, and then you go and you get in someplace, you've just shown that you did it in a legal act with serious penalties. So, my message to everyone is don't even think about that. Just go get vaccinated. It takes a few minutes. You get the card for the first dose, and you are legal, you are safe and move forward. So, I think the vast majority of people are going to do this the right way, but we absolutely owe it to all of these businesses to show them just basic ways to make sure that they're confirming an actual card. And by the way, if they don't feel comfortable in any situation, they can always say to someone that doesn't look like proof to us. We will train them in those situations. But I think the vast majority of people going to do this the right way. 

Moderator: Our last question for today goes to Dana from the New York Times. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. About vaccinations given that only 58 percent of city workers have gotten at least one dose, what's preventing you from outright mandating the vaccine, given that you're not running for reelection, like why not just go there – and relatedly, what percentage of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated, not just partially? 

Mayor: Yeah. Dana on the second part, 4.7 million fully vaccinated, 5.2 million at least one dose. Again, we overwhelmingly are seeing that folks who get the first dose, get the second dose. About 95 percent do that. So we're quite confident these numbers will keep growing apace. And as I said through almost 300,000 in just the 12-to-17 group. We're looking at all options – is the answer, Dana. I mean, it's, I know you are a student of politics, and I don't mind you framing it from the political perspective, but to say the least what I'm trying to do, what our health leadership is trying to do is make decisions, urgent decisions Now we know they're not always popular with everyone. We're doing what it takes to protect people. Some people don't like the vaccine mandate for public employees that we have now, some people don't like the mandate to make sure that our restaurants and bars and indoor entertainment, fitness are safe, the Key to NYC. I am making those decisions because I think that's what's going to keep people safe. And I believe that’s I would turn this city around, recover, and move forward. So all options are on the table. I hear your question. I say, we're looking at every approach we believe right now we have the right set of approaches for this moment, but I've used the analogy of climbing the ladder. I won't hesitate to take another step, if and when I believe it's the right time to do it. Go ahead, Dana. 

Question: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. On another topic, as you probably saw former Mayor Bloomberg's throwing a fundraiser for future Mayor Adams or likely-future Mayor Adams. What do you think about that? What's your reaction? 

Mayor: It's kind of classic. I mean, it's – when there's a winner, people connect to the winner. I have a lot of faith that Eric Adams who's a very experienced, worldly, wise person is going to know that a lot of folks are going to come forward to help him now that he's the winner, but if there's ever someone I've met, who remembers where he came from and what he believes in, it's Eric. And so, he'll have many new friends, but I think he will stay true to his values and to the changes that he believes we need in this city. And I'm certainly looking forward to being supportive of him as he does that. I'm excited about what he will be doing going forward. And my job of course, over the next four and a half months is to keep bringing this to the back strong and hand him that baton on January 1st and the city moving forward. So, with that, I'll say to everyone, that's the mission for all of us, keep bringing the city back. Vaccination is the key. And today you heard it. PTA members, that means you go get folks vaccinated, and the PTA will benefit as well. Everyone will benefit. Thank you everybody.