The metropolis’s new well being commissioner believes masks mandates for younger youngsters ought to be indefinitely maintained – a place in direct battle with Mayor Eric Adams, who just lately claimed youngsters wouldn’t need to put on them for much longer.
During his first press convention as commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan cautioned on Friday that youngsters underneath 5 years outdated ought to proceed carrying masks as a result of they’re not sufficiently old to get vaccinated. He additionally cited excessive hospital charges for younger youngsters with COVID-19.
“I think it’s indefinite at this point,” Vasan stated. “People who have tried to predict the future in this pandemic have had egg on their face, and I’m not going to do that today.”
“As a father of a 2 1/2-year-old and two other older kids, I want to keep them as safe as possible,” he stated. “I would love nothing more than to send my son to daycare without a mask. But as a scientist, and as a doctor, and an epidemiologist, I want to keep him safe.”
Adams, who earlier this month lifted the metropolis’s Key2NYC vaccine mandate for eating and different indoor actions, appeared to have a special tackle Thursday.
When confronted by an irate mum or dad demanding he reverse the masks mandate for toddlers, he insisted, “I got this. They will be unmasked.”
However, Adams spokeswoman Kate Smart stated Saturday — in a bid to “clarify” his remarks — that Adams helps holding the masks on kids till the well being consultants say it’s protected to take them off.
“There is no difference in their positions on masks or vaccine mandates,” Smart stated. “The commissioner was explaining why children should remain masked currently, but they both look forward to lifting mask requirements when it is safe to do so, and we expect to share an update very soon.”
Data collected by the American Academy of Pediatrics reveals that simply 0.1% to 1.5% of kid COVID circumstances resulted in hospitalization and 0.00% to 0.01% resulted in deaths.
The renewed debate over masks comes whereas the brand new Omicron subvariant BA.2 continues to surge. While it doesn’t appear to trigger extra extreme sickness, information reveals it’s extra transmissible.
“We’re keeping a close eye on the numbers, and we’ll continue to let you know what they tell us. At the same time, we know the increase in cases in other parts of the world can be worrisome,” Vasan stated.
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New York City dad and mom of toddlers on Saturday had blended opinions.
“We prefer not to have our children masked. It’s important for them to see faces, and it’s also really challenging to keep a 2-year-old in a mask,” stated Waverly Livingston of the Upper East Side.
She added that her daughter Evie, 2, has already had COVID-19, and the unintended effects had been minimal — a slight cough and stuffy nostril.
Sonja Puschmann, a heart specialist visiting from Germany, was ready for the Bryant Park carousel together with her 1-year-old son and stated she doesn’t assume younger youngsters ought to be masked.
“We do not have many children with big symptoms. They only have a little bit of a fever, some coughing. I think it would be better that the kids get COVID to get antibodies for it,” she stated. “Kids in their first winter get so many illnesses, and that’s normal for us.”
One mother from Prospect Park, Brooklyn, who didn’t wish to be named, stated she has had sufficient of masking our youngest youngsters.
“I’m going to give you an eye roll because I hate the idea,” she advised The Post. “My child is two and a half and he doesn’t know enough English to understand why he has to wear something wrapped around his face,” she stated.
But Emily Kangas of Sunnyside, Queens, stated youngsters ought to nonetheless put on masks.
“You don’t know how contagious things still are and how easily they transmit, especially in a school setting,” stated Kangas,who was at Bryant Park in Midtown together with her younger daughter, Aili Kangas.
The toddler, nonetheless, disagreed. When requested by her mother if she appreciated carrying a masks, Aili shook her head in disagreement.
