NYC public schools, Pentagon announce vaccine mandates after Pfizer approval

Two notable vaccine mandates have been announced from New York City and the Pentagon as the first COVID-19 vaccine officially receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced Monday that all staff in the city's public schools will be required to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27. This will apply to "principals, teachers, custodians, food service, you name it," he said. According to The New York Times, the mayor had previously announced that city workers would be required to either get vaccinated or submit for coronavirus testing weekly.

In his announcement, de Blasio noted this was coming on the same morning that the FDA said it was fully approving Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, which was previously authorized for emergency use in the United States. Experts said this would likely lead to additional vaccine mandates.

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"This is a game-changing moment," de Blasio said of the Pfizer FDA approval. "We've been waiting for this for a long time, to have the full approval of a vaccine. We now have it. This helps us move forward."

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby also announced Monday that all service members will be required to get vaccinated as a result of the FDA approval.

"We're going to move forward, making that vaccine mandatory," Kirby said, per CNN. "We're preparing the guidance to the force right now. And the actual completion date of it, in other words, how fast we want to see it get done, we're working through that guidance right now."