New Orleans on Monday started requiring kids ages 5 to 11 to have a COVID vaccine or a negative test to visit some places.

To enter restaurants and other businesses in the city, children ages 5 and up will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test, according to WWL-TV. Currently, they must only have at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, but will need both by February 2.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the mandate in December. It already was enforced for adults and children ages 12 and up. The mandate comes amid a surge in COVID cases in the nation resulting from the Omicron variant.

New Orleans' seven-day average for COVID cases is 925, with 1,106 COVID hospitalizations statewide, according to the city's COVID dashboard. The dashboard puts the COVID threat level at "severe outbreak."

"We've seen what Delta and now Omicron can do to children," said Dr. Mark Kline, chief medical officer at Children's Hospital New Orleans, according to NOLA.com. "We know that they are at risk for serious disease and even death."

Cities, such as Philadelphia and New York City, have also expanded their vaccine mandates to include children ages 5 and up, The Hill reported.

"Given that we have this period of time when kids are out of school, they are able to go get their vaccinations completed," said Dr. Ryan Pasternak of LSU Health New Orleans pediatrics, according to NOLA.com. "This is the chance. This is the best time parents have to get this done."

Public schools will also have a school vaccine mandate beginning in February, Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said, according to NOLA.com.

"Being vaccinated is one of the only tools that we have to keep COVID out of our buildings," Henderson said, according to WWNO. "When you are vaccinated, we can also limit the quarantines. It can end the disruptions of learning. What I'm asking today is that we all continue to do our part to return to a normal rhythm."

New Orleans, Vaccine Mandate, Children 5-11
New Orleans on Monday started requiring kids ages 5 to 11 to have a COVID vaccine or a negative test to visit some places. Above, a child receives a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Beaumont Health offices in Southfield, Michigan, on November 5, 2021. Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images

The Pfizer vaccine, which comes in a two-shot protocol, is the only vaccine currentlyavailable to children younger than 18.

Starting on February 1, the coronavirus vaccine will also be included in the list of required vaccines for children to attend school, although there is an option for families to opt out of the requirement.

About 34 percent of the city's 5- to 17-year-old population is completely vaccinated compared to about 81 percent of the adult population, according to information on the city's coronavirus dashboard.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.