On a brand new Judging Freedom, Judge Andrew Napolitano discusses the news that New York City has set a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private-sector works.

This new ‘first in the nation’ requirement is scheduled to go into effect on December 27th, says outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

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The new mandate comes after New York identified eight cases of the omicron variant and the United States once again averages 100,000 new, reported cases of the virus every day. It will cover about 184,000 businesses and applies to all in-person employees who work in an office with others.

By Dec. 27, unvaccinated employees must have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, de Blasio said. Under the new mandate, unvaccinated employees won't have the option to get tested instead, but the city plans to offer religious and medical exemptions.

"We've got omicron as a new factor, we've got the colder weather, which is really going to create additional challenges with the delta variant, we've got holiday gatherings," de Blasio said during his appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We in New York City have decided to use a preemptive strike to really do something bold to stop the further growth of Covid and the dangers it's causing to all of us."

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