Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Outgoing New York Governor Cuomo has issued a mandate for all health care workers to get vaccinated by the end of next month. The mandate comes as Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says the county may be at high risk for COVID spread by the end of this week.
A leading public health voice on COVID tells WBEN the mandate is a good idea, and it may be time to mask up, especially if unvaccinated.
Hospital and nursing home workers are among those now mandated to get COVID-19 inoculations. Dr. Tom Russo at the University of Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine says that's a good idea. "This is largely due to the delta variant. Although we've done pretty well with vaccinations, there's still a significant proportion of unvaccinated Americans still susceptible to infection, and we're seeing the consequences of that,' says Russo.
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Russo says if you're unvaccinated, now is the time to mask up. "If you're unvaccinated, certainly in an indoor setting or a crowded outdoor venue, mask use is appropriate. Obviously with cases increasing, we need to double down on these public health measures," says Russo.
Governor Cuomo announced hospital and nursing home workers Monday to get COVID-19 inoculations by late September. Russo thinks that is a wise idea. "That's the best means to protect our health care workers, which is an important workforce," says Russo. "More importantly by having a vaccinated workforce, that will protect the people they take care of."
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Russo says many in long term care settings are among the most vulnerable, and if they get infected will have a likelihood of having a bad outcome.
Catholic Health responded with this statement: "Catholic Health will comply with today’s mandate by Governor Cuomo to have all of its hospital and long-term care associates vaccinated for COVID-19 by September 27. “As always, associate and patient safety is our top priority,” said Mark Sullivan, President & CEO of Catholic Health. “We believe in the efficacy of the vaccine and want to do all we can to reduce the effects of COVID-19 on our healthcare team and people throughout our community. More than 73% of Catholic Health’s associates are already vaccinated for COVID-19. “We will work within the guidance of the New York State Department of Health to put a plan in place to meet this directive for the remainder of our workforce,” Sullivan continued. “As a leader in the vaccine rollout in Western New York, we continue to encourage all members of our community who are eligible, to receive the vaccine.”
Kaleida Health issued this statement: “We are aware of the Governor’s announcement today about mandating the Covid-19 vaccine. Where we have the ability to create our own policies, we have certainly worked diligently with our workforce to do so. However, when a new law or regulation governs, which happened quite often during the pandemic last year, we follow New York State mandates. That is unless and until additional changes or compromises to those mandates are made. All that said, we are awaiting official guidance from the New York State Department of Health as to how this will be implemented moving forward. While we want to be compliant, there are obviously many questions and concerns from our workforce that need to be addressed. As an organization overall, we are extremely proud to have reached 81% vaccination for our Phase 1A population.”