Malliotakis blasts Biden and de Blasio on vaccine mandates ‘overreach’
The city’s sole Republican in Congress blasted as an illegal “overreach” President Biden’s mandate that forces private businesses as well as the federal government to require their workers to get COVID-shots or be tested weekly.
“Just like Mayor [Bill] de Blasio has, President Biden is inappropriately mandating businesses to serve as his vaccine police force, requiring that they mandate their employees be vaccinated, tested weekly or face hefty fines,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), who represents Staten Island and portions of southern Brooklyn, said Friday.
“This mandate as a condition of employment in both the public and private sectors is wrong, infringes on the rights and freedoms of Americans and strays from the government’s role of informing, educating, and encouraging.”
She noted that Biden said last Dec. 4 he would not impose a vaccine mandate.
“He lied. This overreach is a step into the dystopian future where the government bulldozes constitutional rights. It will be challenged in court by governors across the nation and I encourage ours to do the same,” Malliotakis said.
The COVID-19 vaccine could affect two-thirds of the American workforce.
In New York, both Gov. Kathy Hochul and de Blasio have imposed vaccine mandates on staffers in the government and health care facility workforce and schools. The mayor is monitoring compliance in restaurants and other retail settings.
The vaxx edict has turned into an ideological and culture war between Democrats and those on the left and Republicans and those on the right.
Four Republican governors slammed Biden’s edict and vowed to challenge it in court.
But New York Democratic lawmakers backed the president’s edict.
“We have to get this virus under control,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who represents Queens and Nassau County.
He pointed out that many hotel and tourism industry workers are still unemployed because of restrictions on travel to stem the outbreak of Delta variant of COVID.
State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) backed the mandate and said Mallitotakis was “talking out both sides of her mouth.”
“We have done everything we can to get people vaccinated. We have tried everything else,” Savino said. “The number of unvaccinated people is putting a bigger burden on everyone else.”
Savino noted that Malliotakis, while serving in the state Assembly, voted for a state law eliminating the religious exemption for school vaccinations.
Recent studies found that unvaccinated Americans account for 99 percent of serious COVID hospitalizations and deaths. The vaccines have proven effective in preventing serious illness, even in breakthrough cases where those who got jabbed were infected, an analysis by the New York State Health Department revealed.
