New York is back under a state of emergency to deal with the new variant, despite no detection of Omicron in the state. But the governor says “it’s coming.” New York City’s new mask advisory comes as the city requires vaccines for child care workers. New Yorkers will be required to wear a mask even if they’re vaccinated, according to the mayor and health commissioner.
A federal judge has blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for health workers in ten states, after those ten states sued the Biden administration over the mandate, saying the mandate is unconstitutional. The judge wrote: “Congress did not clearly authorize CMS to enact this politically and economically vast, federalism-altering, and boundary-pushing mandate, which Supreme Court precedent requires.” This comes as some federal employees will have until after the holidays to be vaccinated, according to a memo sent to some federal agencies by the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB said managers can wait to fire or suspend their employees until after the holidays. White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the memo on Monday. Psaki did downplay it, saying “nothing has changed” regarding the deadline.
