As summer approaches and the school year begins, Eric Adams is standing firm on his contentious mask rule for children under the age of five.
The mayor of New York City, speaking to reporters this week, offered no indication of when the city might repeal the controversial directive, which affects children aged two to four in city public schools.
On April 4, when he removed regulations for the remainder of the students, Adams agreed to waive the mask rule, but he later canceled it after cases began to rise again around the city.
Infection rates and cases have dropped dramatically in the city since then, and parents are blaming the former NYPD police captain for refusing to overturn the advise.
‘I want to remove masks and see our babies’ faces as quickly as possible,’ Adams, 61, said when pressed on the matter by The New York Post Wednesday,
‘We are prepared, not panicked, as we move into the next phase of the pandemic,’ the mayor told the paper.
‘My team of health experts and I continue to evaluate the data, day after day, and we will continue to communicate with New Yorkers with additional updates.’
A COVID vaccine is not available for this age group, and the World Health Organization has never suggested masking young children.