Toddler Mask Mandate Remains in New York City as School Year Wraps Up

New York City is still requiring toddlers to mask up despite the school year coming to an end, and Mayor Eric Adams (D) is giving no timeline as to when he will lift mandates for the young pupils.

While the city and the state lifted mask mandates for school children – enrolled from kindergarten to high school – earlier this year, Adams is still maintaining mask requirements for pre-k students because they are not able to receive the coronavirus vaccine, the New York Post reported. Currently, there are no vaccine mandates imposed on schools in the city.

When asked by the Post on Wednesday if he had a set a date for lifting mask requirements for toddlers, Adams did not specifically answer the question.

“I want to remove masks and see our babies’ faces as quickly as possible,” the Democrat mayor said. “We are prepared, not panicked, as we move into the next phase of the pandemic.”

New York City parents are enraged at Adams for wavering on his word to lift mandates for the young pupils. Danielle Pollack, a mother of two toddlers, told the Post she voted for Adams in November 2021 “because his whole platform was that he would get things back to normal.” However, her confidence in the mayor is seemingly diminishing.

“It’s just been really frustrating, because it seems like Mayor Adams is doing nothing about it, [and] won’t even give a timeline,” Pollack said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during the New York State Democratic Convention in New York City on Thursday, February 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

When pressed by Fox News host Bill Hemmer in April during an interview on America’s Newsroom, Adams dodged questions on why young children were still required to wear masks, instead stating he was trying to catch the suspect involved in the New York Subway attack that just took place at the time.

Breitbart News reported on the exchange:

Co-host Bill Hemmer asked, [relevant exchange begins around 12:10] “You were not wearing a mask at this superspreader event last week in Washington, D.C. Yet there are children in New York, as young as two years old, required to wear a mask. How does that policy make sense?”

Adams responded, “I know it’s enticing to engage in a COVID conversation, but right now, I’m focused on catching a dangerous person. … I look forward to coming back and laying out all of our COVID plans for the future.”

As Breitbart News previously reported, when Adams was running for mayor back in July 2021, he disagreed with then-Mayor Bill De Blasio for maintaining mask mandates for school children.

When asked by CNN host Erin Burnett if the then-candidate agreed with “de Blasio’s decision to keep a mask mandate for all students, even those above the age of 12?” Adams responded, “No, I do not.”

“I believe what we must do is follow the science,” the mayor said. “If the CDC states that we don’t need masks and we don’t have to wear them, that’s fine.”

After Adams replaced his predecessor, he initially went back on his word to lift mask mandates for all students but would appear maskless in public still. His rationale for keeping mandates on school children in early February was to “follow the science.”