New York State Mandates Covid Vaccines For All Health Care Workers

New York is mandating Covid-19 vaccines for all health care workers. Here's what we know so far.

According to the Governor's office, the requirement includes staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities like nursing homes, adult care sites and other congregate care settings. Only limited exemptions for medical or religious reasons will be available. According to the news, workers will be required to get their first doses by September 27th.

"When COVID ambushed New York last year, New Yorkers acted, while the Federal Government denied the problem," Governor Cuomo said. "Now, the Delta variant is spreading across the nation and across New York -- new daily positives are up over 1000% over the last six weeks, and over 80 percent of recent positives in New York State are linked to the Delta variant. We must now act again to stop the spread. Our healthcare heroes led the battle against the virus, and now we need them to lead the battle between the variant and the vaccine."

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration was briefed on the move. Hochul will take over as governor when Cuomo resigns next week.

According to Syracuse.com, to date, 75% of the state’s hospital workers and 74% of adult care facility workers have been vaccinated. Among nursing home workers, 68% have been vaccinated. Cuomo previously announced a vaccine mandate for all employees at state-run hospitals who work with patients.

All New York state employees must be vaccinated by Labor Day or face weekly Covid testing. The same requirement applies to workers at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Port Authority in New York City.

You can read more online here.