Effects of Return-to-Office, Public Schools Reopening, and Vaccination Mandates on COVID-19 Cases Among Municipal Employee Residents of New York City

Objective: On September 13, 2021, teleworking ended for New York City municipal employees, and Department of Education employees returned to reopened schools. On October 29, COVID-19 vaccination was mandated. We assessed these mandates' short-term effects on disease transmission.

Methods: Using difference-in-difference analyses, we calculated COVID-19 incidence rate ratios (IRRs) among residents 18 to 64 years old by employment status before and after policy implementation.

Results: IRRs after (September 23-October 28) versus before (July 5-September 12) the return-to-office mandate were similar between office-based City employees and non-City employees. Among Department of Education employees, the IRR after schools reopened was elevated by 28.4% (95% confidence interval, 17.3%-40.3%). Among City employees, the IRR after (October 29-November 30) versus before (September 23-October 28) the vaccination mandate was lowered by 20.1% (95% confidence interval, 13.7%-26.0%).

Conclusions: Workforce mandates influenced disease transmission, among other societal effects.