State workers in New York must be vaccinated or get weekly tests, Cuomo says.
Source: New York Times
Responding to lagging vaccination rates and a rise in coronavirus cases, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Wednesday that New Yorks tens of thousands of state employees would be required to show proof of vaccination or face weekly testing. The governor also announced a much stricter mandate for state-run hospitals, saying that all patient-facing health care workers at those facilities would be required to be vaccinated, without the option of regular testing instead. Mr. Cuomos announcement comes two days after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a similar requirement for New York Citys government work force of 300,000 employees.
Much of the nation is grappling with the rapid spread of the Delta coronavirus variant. Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California announced a similar requirement that would cover 246,000 state government employees, as well as two million health care workers in the public and private sectors. The Biden administration is considering a similar requirement for all civilian federal employees, officials said on Tuesday. Such a policy would be a stark shift for a president who has grappled with the authority he has to force Americans to get vaccinated. Mr. Biden is expected to say more about his plans later this week.
The increasing support among government officials for vaccine mandates, which have met with pushback from some unions, underscores their concern with a far more contagious variant that poses a special threat to children, and older and unvaccinated people.Were working with our unions to implement this quickly and fairly, Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, said during remarks to a state business group on Wednesday. The new state policy will go into effect by Labor Day, he said.
Earlier this week, Mr. Cuomo had shied away from imposing such a requirement on the states work force, arguing that most public-facing employees were municipal workers, and suggesting it was more of a decision for localities. But Mr. Cuomos shift in stance appeared inevitable following Mr. de Blasios announcement and news of a similar forthcoming requirement at the federal level. Mr. Cuomo also highlighted the urgency, noting the steady rise in coronavirus cases statewide: About 2,200 new coronavirus cases were reported on Tuesday, up from 275 on a month ago, on June 28.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/nyregion/ny-state-worker-vaccine-mandate.html
JohnSJ
(92,116 posts)Scrivener7
(50,935 posts)SoCalNative
(4,613 posts)Should be get vaccinated or start looking for another job. Period.
MichMan
(11,901 posts)regrestic
(26 posts)Finally it needed to be done..
MiniMe
(21,714 posts)I'm tired of the Dems having to pay for the stupid people
MichMan
(11,901 posts)Once they realize they are essentially working for nothing they will get the message
MisterNiceKitty
(422 posts)& the CDC director said yesterday that more surveillance of the vaccinated was being mounted.
But this means that state workers will need to mask up while 100% of the staff are in the office.
If that's not optimal I think they should keep work from home procedures in place and now you don't have to worry about exposures at work or school.
Also how is social distancing being accounted for in this guidance? This goes hand in hand with universal masking
Occupancy limits would need to be adjusted too
BumRushDaShow
(128,757 posts)reasonable mitigation strategies like "masking" (generally for inside with strangers), "social distancing", "hand-washing/sanitizing"
to
"Go back normal!!! Get rid of your mask and have no fear if you are vaccinated!!1111!!! Go hug your loved ones again!!!111!!!"
then the walk-back needs to be carefully calibrated because of that previous stupidity, otherwise it would make it even more obvious that it WAS stupid.
MisterNiceKitty
(422 posts)Danmel
(4,912 posts)And I approve this message.
I never stopped wearing a mask in stores or crowds (not really hanging in crowds) either.