New York ended its mask mandate for mass transit on Wednesday, lifting one of the last remaining state restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, officials urged people to get the new COVID-19 vaccine booster to curb outbreaks this fall and winter.
Mask wearing will now be optional on trains, buses and other mass transit sites in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a media briefing. The state’s mask mandate will remain in place for nursing homes, adult care facilities and other health care settings, she added.
The announcement came as New York rolled out a new COVID-19 vaccine booster that targets both the original virus and the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which account for nearly all infections in New York. The booster is now available to New Yorkers ages 12 and above at some pharmacies, medical offices and other health providers statewide, Hochul said.
While the federal mask mandate for mass transit ended in April, New York kept its transit mask requirements in place, citing the ongoing threat of COVID-19 outbreaks.
In late July, one of New York’s largest mass-transit workers’ unions urged Hochul’s administration to ease its mask mandate amid a series of angry confrontations between conductors and passengers upset about having to wear a mask.
On Wednesday, Ed Valente, the general chairman of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees, praised Hochul for heeding the union’s calls to transition Metro-North to being mask optional.
“With attacks on conductors at an all-time high, removing the mask mandate is the right move here,” said Valente, who is also a conductor.
At the briefing, Hochul said the lull in COVID-19 cases and hospitalization in recent weeks warranted making mask wearing voluntary in most settings.
“We do believe that we’re in a good place right now, especially if New Yorkers take advantage of this new booster,” she said. “That is how we get back to a normal normal, not a new normal.”
COVID-19 infections have recently plummeted in New York to around 10 cases per 100,000 population from the early January peak of more than 450 cases per 100,000 population. Hospitalizations are now hovering at around 2,200, down from around 12,500 this past winter, state data show.
Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, asserted Hochul’s “mask optional” announcement “restores a sense of normalcy as we get back on trains and buses to return to work and school.”
“Some of us may still choose to wear masks to protect ourselves −and that’s OK −so they will not disappear entirely, but it’s one less contentious ‘Rule of the Rails’ that needs to be enforced when there are so many that are critical to rider safety,” Daglian added in a statement.
How to get to COVID booster in New York
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett noted state and federal health officials expected the new booster to provide better protection against infection than prior vaccines, though so-called breakthrough cases will still occur.
The new booster will also improve upon the existing vaccines’ robust protection against severe illness and death, which has limited the risk of New York returning to the darkest days of the pandemic when waves of COVID-19 patients nearly overwhelmed the health care system, Bassett added.
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“I’m confident we will be heading into a winter where we will be able to contain COVID,” Bassett said.
The new Pfizer-BioNTech booster was granted emergency authorization for anyone ages 12 and up, while Moderna’s vaccine is authorized for adults only. Both were authorized for use at least two months after any previous COVID-19 shots.
New Yorkers can find local sites offering the new booster via the vaccines.gov website, or by calling 1-800-232-0233.
Thomas Zambito of USA TODAY Network’s New York state team contributed to this report.
