Barclays, Met Gala and Everywhere Mandating COVID Vaccine for Workers, Customers

As the delta variant of COVID-19 rages across the region, local and state governments -- as well as private-sector employers -- have been mulling vaccination mandates to help stop the spread.

This week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked private businesses, such as bars and restaurants, to require proof of vaccination as a condition for admission. And major employers in our area - from the city government with its 300,000 employees to your corner restaurant or bar - have announced plans to require vaccinations or regular testing for workers. On top of it all, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for indoor diners and gymgoers, starting in phases over several weeks in August and September.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of employers and businesses in the tri-state area requiring vaccination for workers and customers.

Public-Sector Employers

• New York City Health + Hospitals employees were the region's first major employer to announce vaccination requirements for workers. Starting Aug. 2, all employees either had to be vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.
• New York City municipal employees will have to get vaccinated or tested by Sept. 13, the first day of school for public school kids.
• New York state employees must be vaccinated or tested weekly starting on Labor Day
• New York State Court System employees must be vaccinated by Sept. 7 or undergo weekly testing
• MTA employees will have to be vaccinated or tested weekly starting on Labor Day
• Port Authority of New York & New Jersey employees will have to be vaccinated by Labor Day.
• New Jersey is mandating vaccination or weekly testing for employees at certain hospitals, high-risk healthcare facilities, jails, prisons and congregate care facilities starting on Labor Day
• New Jersey is also joining the growing list of states to require teachers to be vaccinated for COVID-19 this fall. All school personnel working in grade levels between preschool and twelfth grade be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. Employees who do not comply by that deadline must undergo regular testing.
• The cities of New Rochelle and Yonkers are both requiring vaccination or regular testing for employees starting Sept. 8.
• Newark city employees must also provide proof of vaccination; the mandate is subject to medical and religious exemptions

Large Private Employers

• Equinox and SoulCycle will require proof of vaccination for both employees and gym members starting in September.
• Disney is requiring for all salaried and non-union employees to get vaccinated within 60 days.
• Walmart is mandating vaccinations for employees at its headquarters in Arkansas, but the company has made no announcements about hourly workers at its locations in the tri-state area.
• Facebook, which has a few thousand employees in New York, said it's making vaccination mandatory for all employees returning to its U.S. offices, and they will need to wear masks.
• Microsoft will demand that its roughly 100,000 U.S. employees — as well as visitors and others — show proof of vaccination starting in September.
• Tyson Foods said it will require all of its approximately 120,000 U.S. employees to get the shot over the next three months.
• The big three U.S. automakers, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and Ford Motor Company, and their estimated 150,000 unionized workers will have to go back to wearing masks starting Wednesday, while nonunion Toyota, with a U.S. workforce of about 36,000, said it will do likewise.
• New York Stock Exchange said it will require the COVID vaccines for everyone working on the trading floor starting Sept. 13.

Local businesses and event spaces

• Broadway theaters will require vaccinations for all audience members, performers, backstage crew and theater staff through October. Children or others with medical or religious beliefs the prevent vaccination can attend shows with a recent negative PCR test and a negative rapid test within six hours of a show.
• Union Square Hospitality Group, which operates more than a dozen restaurants in the city including Union Square Café and Gramercy Tavern, will require vaccinations for all employees and diners starting on Sept. 7.
• City Winery, which operates venues in New York City and the Hudson Valley, has required vaccinations or recent tests since the state began allowing live performances in May.
• Met Gala organizers announced that all attendees at the Sept. 13 event must provide proof of full vaccination and they will be required to wear masks indoors, except when eating or drinking.
• The Hebrew Home at Riverdale nursing home will require vaccine for all employees, residents, visitors and contractors starting Oct. 1.
• Barclays Center guests, as well as employees, will require proof of full vaccination starting Sept. 13 in "accordance with the mandate recently announced by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio."

Colleges and Universities

• The State University of New York system is requiring vaccinations for all students attending in-person classes this fall; faculty and staff must follow the state's vaccination rules.
• City University of New York students will have to be vaccinated before returning to in-person classes; faculty and staff must follow the state's vaccination rules.
• Rutgers University is requiring vaccination for all students returning to campus this fall; faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to get the shot.
• Montclair State University requires vaccines for all residential and commuter students; new faculty and staff including adjunct professors must also get the shot, but current employees are not required to get vaccinated.
• New York University is requiring vaccinations for all students, faculty administrators and staff ahead of the fall semester.
• Fordham University is requiring vaccinations for all students and in-person faculty and staff ahead of the fall semester.
• Columbia University is requiring vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff starting this fall.
• Yale University is requiring vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff starting this fall.
• Princeton University is requiring students, professors, faculty and staff to be vaccinated starting this fall.
• Hofstra University is requiring vaccinations for students taking classes in person; faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to get the shot.
• Kean University is requiring vaccinations for all students; faculty and staff are encouraged to get the shot.
• St. Johns University is requiring vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff.
• Seton Hall University is requiring vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff.
• Molly College has announced a vaccine mandate for faculty, staff and administrators for the fall semester.