New York begins a week of tension and confrontations with a series of vaccination mandates that require thousands of
health care workers, schools and courts to be vaccinated
against COVID-19, otherwise they may be fired, even without insurance. unemployment.
Although a large part of the staff
has already been immunized, more than 84%
of hospital workers and teachers, there are still groups that are resisting.
The authorities have been clear in this regard: the requirement will be met even if this means that they lose their jobs and have to turn to the National Guard, employees of other states or the military to replace them.
This Monday
, September 27, should be the deadline
for thousands of New York workers to be immunized, in different areas.
But in practice, the rule
has only become firm for those who work in health care
, after a series of lawsuits, which will be defined this week.
New York fears that it will be short-staffed in some health centers after the pandemic already affected the availability of workers.Mary Altaffer / AP
Hospital and nursing home workers do need to have at least one dose by 11:59 pm today, although they can request an exception for religious reasons.
Judges, court officials and court officials
must meet the same requirement, although the Civil Service Employees Association managed to get a New York judge to postpone the deadline for its 5,000 affiliated court employees.
On the
other hand, a federal judge blocked temporarily on Friday the mandate for staff of
schools
established by the City of New York.
Mandatory immunity in hospitals and nursing homes
Until last week, a good part of the health personnel was fully vaccinated: 84% in hospitals, 81% in care centers for the elderly and 77% in nursing homes, according to official data.
Although the exact numbers vary by hospital in question: While Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian have nearly 100% of their staff immunized, Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo expects to have 10%, 400 employees, without the vaccine for the deadline, according to CNN data.
Governor Kathy Hochul indicated this weekend that if there is a shortage of personnel in hospitals, she will declare an emergency and summon the National Guard, as well as professionals from other states and countries.
New York Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandate Goes Into Effect
Sept.
27, 202103: 02
"We continue in a battle against COVID-19 to protect our loved ones, and we have to fight with all the tools at our disposal," he said.
However, workers can rely on a federal judge's temporary restraining order that prevents the state from enforcing the mandate if a religious exemption is alleged.
Health centers across the state have so far tried to encourage their employees to get vaccinated, and have prepared to continue operating if they don't.
Some are cutting back on elective surgeries, limiting income and retaining volunteers.
Lewis County General Hospital in Lowville, New York, said on a case-by-case basis that it would suspend maternity services starting this weekend because dozens of staff members gave up on getting vaccinated, according to NPR News.
Should teachers be vaccinated?
New York City also established the vaccine requirement for public school employees after the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August.
However, a federal appeals court issued a temporary injunction against the injunction, meaning it cannot go into effect yet.
Despite incentives, many schools lack teachers due to the pandemic
Sept.
26, 202101: 44
About 81% of all department employees and
87% of teachers had received at least one dose
as of Thursday night, according to the New York Department of Education.
In concrete numbers, this implies about 10,000 employees who have not yet shown proof of vaccination.
While the case is being resolved in court, the previous policy of the mayor, Bill de Blasio, which establishes that all those who are not immunized must take the COVID-19 test every week.
