New York City will soon require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for people to enter indoor restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues, a move endorsed by President Joe Biden, who on Tuesday continued to push for more Americans to get vaccinated.
New York’s new requirement, the first of its kind in a major U.S. city, will go into effect Aug. 16, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.
“The goal here is to convince everyone that this is the time,” de Blasio said. “If we’re going to stop the delta variant, the time is now.”
Later in the day, Biden pointed out infections in the U.S. will continue to rise in the coming weeks because of the delta variant, which he said “is moving like wildfire through the unvaccinated community,” calling the development a “largely preventable tragedy.”
The U.S. reported 599,334 new cases in the week ending Sunday. A week earlier, cases numbered 364,123. The country is now recording about 2,500 deaths per week.
The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida rose to an all-time high of 11,515 patients in one day, according to from data the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And Texas now has more total statewide deaths than New York, the early epicenter of the pandemic in the nation.
Florida and Texas accounted for one-third of all the COVID-19 cases reported last week, according to the White House.
Biden also announced Tuesday that the U.S. has donated more than 110 million vaccine doses to over 60
