New York City will ring in 2022 in Times Square as planned despite record numbers of COVID-19 infections in the city and around the nation, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

�We want to show that we�re moving forward, and we want to show the world that New York City is fighting our way through this,� de Blasio, whose last day in office is Friday, said on NBC�s �Today� show.

After banning revelers from Times Square a year ago due to the pandemic, city officials previously announced plans for a scaled-back New Year�s bash with smaller crowds and vaccinations required.

While cities such as Atlanta have canceled New Year�s Eve celebrations, de Blasio said New York City�s high COVID-19 vaccination rate makes it feasible to welcome masked, socially distanced crowds to watch the ball drop in Times Square. �We�ve got to send a message to the world. New York City is open,� he said.

Thanks to the highly contagious omicron variant that was first identified as a variant of concern last month, new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have soared to their highest levels on record at over 265,000 per day on average. New York City reported a record number of new, confirmed cases � more than 39,590 � on Tuesday, according to New York state figures.

De Blasio said the answer is to �double down on vaccinations� and noted that 91% of New York City adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.

The city�s next mayor, Eric Adams, will take the oath of office in Times Square early Saturday. Adams, a Democrat like de Blasio, planned a news conference later Thursday to outline his pandemic plan.

(AP)