Issuing a major directive in his last weeks in office, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said Monday that all health care workers in the state, including staff at all hospitals, nursing homes, adult care, and other congregate care settings, must have gotten at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Sept. 27.
The state health department, Mr. Cuomo said in a news release, will issue special orders intended to prevent a “danger to the health of the people” in order to compel all hospital and nursing home employees to get vaccinated, with limited exceptions for those with religious or medical reasons. He cited the trajectory of the Delta variant across the state and said “we must now act again to stop the spread.”
To date, 75 percent of the state’s roughly 450,000 hospital workers, 74 percent of the state’s 30,000 adult care facility workers and 68 percent of the state’s 145,500 nursing home workers have been fully vaccinated, the state said.
The mandate will apply to all hospitals, nursing homes, and adult care facilities, public and private. Unlike state workers, who have the option of being tested weekly instead of getting vaccinated, private hospital and nursing home workers will no longer have the testing option, said Rich Azzopardi, senior adviser to the governor.
“We…
