NYC mayor says COVID mandates may need to return, blasts people who say 'I want to do whatever I want'

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams, during an interview with Caribbean Power Jam Radio’s "The Reset Show," defended the rescinding of a COVID vaccine for city workers and that there may be a time that mandates will be in place again.

Adams defended his decision to rescind the vaccine mandate because COVID was becoming normalized, adding that when employees said, "I want to do whatever I want," that it was not right.

NEW YORK City mayor Eric Adams (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

"I know what COVID looked like, and I know that if we didn’t have those mandates – I take my hat off to Bill de Blasio. That was a tough call, because you know New Yorkers…No New Yorker wants anyone telling them anything," Adams said during the interview. "That’s who we are. We don’t want to be mandated. We don’t want anyone to tell us to put on a mask."

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The mayor continued to talk about a cultural mind shift of fighting a dangerous and deadly virus, adding that he went to the hospitals and saw trailers of bodies.

He also said he saw nurses and doctors at hospitals wearing makeshift masks and plastic bags to protect themselves.

FILE - A health worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination clinic in Reading, Pa. COVID-19 vaccinations are at a critical juncture as companies test whether new approaches like combination shots or nasal drops can keep up with a mutating coronavirus — even though it’s not clear if any change is needed.  ((AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File))

"This was real. If we didn’t have that vaccine and we didn’t have those mandates, we would have lost so many more lives," Adams said. "And so, those who made the determination that, no, I still want to come into a work environment and I’m not going to be vaccinated, no, I want to still ride the trains. I want to do whatever I want. That just wasn’t right. That wasn’t right."

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Adams did not immediately respond to questions regarding the matter.

Adams announced on Feb. 6 that the city would make COVID vaccines optional for current and prospective city workers, effective Feb. 10.

The announcement came as more than 96% of city workers were fully vaccinated against coronavirus. Despite the reversal, the approximately 1,780 former city workers who were terminated for not complying with the COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the past will not automatically get their jobs back, but can reapply for positions in their former agencies.

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