Tighter restrictions on non-vaccinators

New YorkNew York on Tuesday became the first major city in the United States to announce that it will need proof of a Covid vaccination to enter restaurants, theaters and gyms, joining a growing list of governments and companies that have begun implementing packages against those who refuse to be vaccinated.

Meat company Tyson Foods announced that it will order all of its 120,000; employees in the United States to be vaccinated in the next three months. About 150,000 labor union workers from three major auto companies in America will have to wear a mask again starting Wednesday.

“The goal is to convince everyone that the time has come. If we’re going to stop the delta variant, it’s time now, and that means we have to vaccinate now,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, announcing the action.

To enter institutions, a vaccination card will be required, which can be viewed on paper or through state or municipal government applications.

Cases of Covid-19 in the US increased sixfold in the past month, averaging more than 85,000 a day, a number not seen since mid-February. The average number of deaths in the past two weeks has increased from 254 per day to 386.

Florida now has more people hospitalized with Covid-19 than at any other time in the pandemic: more than 11,500. In Louisiana there are more than 2,100 hospitalized, most of them unvaccinated as well as an unprecedented number. In both states, the vaccination rate is lower than the national average.

“More people are coming into hospitals than they are leaving, and most of them are people over the age of 40 or 50,” said Justin Senior, CEO of the Florida Network Safety Hospital Alliance, a group that represents many Florida hospitals.

The crisis turned into a duel between Vaccine and the Delta alternative. Experts agree that the vaccine remains effective in preventing severe symptoms and deaths caused by the mutation.

Amid growing nationwide concern, the rate of vaccinations is slowly rising to an average of half a million per day, but that is still well below the 3.4 million in April.

70% of all adults in the United States have received at least one dose, and about 61% have received a full vaccination, but that is far short of the goal set by President Joe Biden for this time.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is running for re-election next year and has presidential ambitions for 2024, stood Tuesday despite the high rate of hospitalizations in his state, insisting that trend would dissipate immediately and refusing to use masks. Mandatory and application of no restrictions on commercial activity. But he urged residents to get vaccinated.

“We will not close,” DeSantis declared.

“We will keep schools open, we will protect the jobs of all state residents, and we will protect small businesses,” he added.