Outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) touted how advanced the city's COVID-19 vaccination system is by saying they will give people $100 for getting the shot and even show up to the person's home.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough asked de Blasio if residents are able to get a booster shot because there have been long lines to get a COVID-19 test with the rise in cases the city has experienced in the last few weeks.
"They can get a booster right now. We'll give them $100 for showing up. We will go to your home if you want. I mean, imagine this. This is how developed our vaccination program is. We will go to your home," de Blasio said. "We’ll give vaccination to any family member who needs it. Whether it’s first shot, second shot, or booster, and you get $100 incentive for each person. I mean, we’re really bending over backwards to make it easy."
De Blasio added New York City is going to be implementing the toughest vaccine mandate for the private sector in response to the Omicron variant, which appears to be more transmissible than previous variants but a milder strain.
"But we also on Monday, this coming Monday, we’re implementing the toughest private sector vaccine mandate in the country, because we knew Omicron was going to be a challenge. It’s even bigger than we expected. Everyone needs to get vaccinated," he said. "Shouldn’t be a discussion anymore. Unless you love a shutdown, you know. If you love shutdowns, then let’s do the status quo. If you want to keep fighting through and get on to recovery, we need vaccine mandates. And we need to see more mayors, more governors, more CEOs turn the mandates. United Airlines did it to their great credit. We found it worked here. Our public sector workforce, 94 percent vaccinated."
Dr. Angelique Coetzee, one of the first doctors in South Africa to treat patients with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, told CNN on Monday they have seen a decrease in COVID cases in the region where the Omicron variant was first detected. While South Africa did see an increase in COVID cases with the Omicron variant, they did not see a rise in hospitalizations or deaths.