NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New Yorkers who experience side effects after getting vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to take a paid sick day — a measure aimed at assuaging non-vaccinated residents’ concerns about missing work, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.
The New York State Department of Labor is set to release guidance that will require employers to let workers who experience side effects take a paid day off, Cuomo said at a news briefing on Thursday.
A new study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 48% of unvaccinated people are concerned that adverse side effects will force them to miss work, the governor explained. The sick days will be covered under the state's Paid Sick Leave Law, he said.
“The side effects of the vaccine are very limited. I don’t know anyone, frankly, who couldn’t go to work the next day because of the side effects of the vaccine, but it is possible that you get mild flu-like symptoms,” he said. “But it’s not about the reality. It’s about the perception.”
“If someone has side effects, and they take off a day, that, by law, will be considered a paid sick leave day,” he added. “So they must get paid for any day that they need to recuperate from the side effects of the vaccine.”
The state previously passed a law allowing employees to take four hours of paid leave, per dose, to get vaccinated, Cuomo noted.
“Again I don’t want to suggest that there are going to be side effects, because it’s relatively de minimis,” he said. “But if that’s an issue for you, that issue is resolved. You won’t miss a day’s pay because of getting a vaccine.”
“I understand the fears expressed in that study, but they’re not reality-based,” he added. “If you’re one of the very few that happens to get side effects from the vaccine, that’s a paid sick day, so that won’t cost you money either.”
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