World leaders will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to speak at the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA's) big meeting next week, the assembly leader and New York City officials have said, prompting swift objections from at least one nation.

With the diplomatic world’s premier event being held in person for the first time during the pandemic, New York City International Affairs Commissioner Penny Abeywardena told the assembly in a letter last week that officials consider the hall a “convention centre” and therefore subject to the city’s vaccination requirement.

“We are proud to join in the ongoing efforts to keep all UNGA attendees and our fellow New Yorkers safe during the pandemic,” she and Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement Wednesday, adding that the city would offer free, walk-in vaccinations — Johnson & Johnson’s single shot — and testing outside the UN during the meeting.

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