NEW YORK (WBEN) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to hotel workers, but said local health departments would have to determine when and where employees could receive their shots.
Hotel workers are now included in New York state's 1B vaccination group, Cuomo said in a press release.
"Hotels in many parts of the state serve as quarantine areas for COVID positive persons to isolate from their families," the release said. "In turn, the staff at these facilities are being exposed to COVID regularly."
"Given the overall increase to the state's supply and the essential health care service that these hotel workers provide, the governor is granting localities the flexibility to add hotel workers to the 1B vaccination prioritization group," the release added.
Cuomo's announcement came amid ongoing calls for the state to expand eligibility to hotel workers.
In a statement released earlier this month, Hotel Trades Council President Rich Maroko said more than 400 union hotel workers have died of COVID-19 — and thousands have fallen sick after contracting the virus — since the pandemic began.
"Hotel workers are essential workers who have been working on the frontlines throughout this pandemic," Maroko said in the statement. "They've been serving high-risk populations like quarantining travelers and COVID-exposed and other high-risk populations."
