Health workers told: You need shot by Sept. 27
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo is mandating all health care workers across the state get vaccinated against COVID.
All employees at public and privately run hospitals, nursing homes and long-term care facilities in New York must get at least their first shot by Sept. 27 as hospitalizations rise and the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread, the outgoing governor announced Monday.
“Our health care heroes led the battle against the virus, and now we need them to lead the battle between the variant and the vaccine,” Cuomo said in a statement.
The state is also giving the green light to booster shots for New Yorkers with compromised immune systems.
The mandate for health care workers was made through Section 16 of the Public Health Law, which allows the state Health Department to issue emergency regulations.
Limited exemptions will be made for medical or religious reasons.
To date, 75% of the state’s hospital workers and 74% of adult care facility workers have been vaccinated.
Only 68% of nursing home workers have rolled up their sleeves, according to state data.
The move earned the praise of hospital groups.
“The hospital community’s brave, dedicated workers have achieved impressive vaccination results, but it remains less than 100%.” said close Cuomo ally Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association. “New York’s mandate will help ensure that hospitals and other health care providers can deliver the best care for patients while keeping their workers and communities safe.”
The New York State Nurses Association said in a statement that frontline workers “understand more must be done to keep our communities safe” and called on the state to do more to ensure safe staffing levels at hospitals and prepare for potential surges.
“Overall, we are seeing a crisis in hospital emergency departments that indicates a general lack of preparedness. The [Health Department] should listen to the front line this time not just hospital CEOs,” the group said. “Hospitals must also ensure that new mandates do not contribute to already problematic staffing shortages.”
New York’s seven-day average positivity rate was 3.09% on Monday with 1,722 people currently hospitalized with the virus. Another 11 New Yorkers died of COVID on Sunday, according to the governor’s office.
Cuomo has said in the past that he couldn’t outright require immunizations without full federal approval; however, on Monday, he indicated more mandates could be forthcoming.
“I have strongly urged private businesses to implement vaccinated-only admission policies, and school districts to mandate vaccinations for teachers,” he said.
“Neither will occur without the state legally mandating the actions — private businesses will not enforce a vaccine mandate unless it’s the law, and local school districts will be hesitant to make these challenging decisions without legal direction.”