NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York will aim to make vaccinations—or regular testing—mandatory for all state employees by Labor Day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
Cuomo said the state was working with unions to implement the requirement “quickly and fairly” as he encouraged all local governments to do the same. New York City has already required vaccinations or regular tests for its employees.
Cuomo also said that all patient-facing healthcare workers at state hospitals will be required to get vaccinated, with regular testing not an alternative.
“There will be no testing option for patient-facing healthcare workers,” Cuomo said during a virtual meeting of the Association for a Better New York. “I think we need dramatic action to get control of this situation.”
If COVID-19 numbers continue to go up heading into the school year, Cuomo said school districts in areas with high COVID rates should also “consider taking more aggressive actions.”
“It will be hard, and I understand the politics, but I also understand if we don’t take the right actions, schools can become super-spreaders in September,” the governor said.
The governor also encouraged businesses to bring their employees back into the office by Labor Day, with a vaccination requirement.
“Private companies: Bring your employees back from remote work!” a slide he showed during his briefing read.
Cuomo noted that COVID-19 cases are rising in the state, driven by the delta variant of the coronavirus. He said there were 2,203 new cases in the state on Wednesday compared to 275 new cases on June 28.
A day after the CDC recommended that the fully vaccinated start masking up indoors in much of the country, Cuomo said the state would do a “full review of the CDC guidance” with federal officials and international health experts.
A map from the CDC shows all of New York City and Long Island, as well as parts of northern New Jersey, qualify for the new CDC guidance, with “substantial” or “high” COVID-19 transmission.
Cuomo said the new guidance should be “carefully reviewed” as he urged local governments in areas of the state with high transmission to “seriously consider the CDC guidance.”
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