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Hochul said that she hasn’t ruled out a mandate for children between the ages of 12 and 17, as vaccination numbers in that demographic have been lagging.
Among New Yorkers, just 61 percent of those between the ages of 12 and 17 have received a first dose of the vaccine, leaving approximately a half-million still without a shot.
“(A vaccine mandate) is certainly an option, but I’m aware that it's something that parents are very, very, anxious about,” she said. “We want to encourage parents to understand the science and the data.
“This is the best thing you can do for your child to protect them from the virus.”
Hochul went on to say that there is no way to know the long-term effects of COVID-19 in children if they were to contract the virus, while reiterating her call to have parents push for their children to get vaccinated.
“We hope that parents can be listening to us in terms of doing what’s best for their children,” she said. “We’re willing to look at all options on the table, and if the numbers keep going up, and we have to find out how to contain it, we’ll look at the school and workplace settings against.
“We will take more actions if necessary,” she concluded. “We’re just asking parents to do what’s best for their children between the ages of 12 and 17, and we’ll do what we can do to make it easier on you.
“Just … Do it.”
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