New York Is First Major US City To Impose Vaccine Pass Amid Delta Surge New York Is First Major US City To Impose Vaccine Pass Amid Delta Surge The highly contagious Delta variant has driven a surge in infections across the world, including places that had touted their success in overcoming the worst of the pandemic. People wait to ride on the Staten Island Ferry in New York City. New York, United States: New York on Tuesday announced the introduction of a de facto vaccine pass for some public spaces, as China's Wuhan said it would test all 11 million residents after the coronavirus returned to the place where it first emerged.