🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
As of Wednesday, about 84 percent of New York's estimated 450,000 hospital workers were fully vaccinated upon the state-imposed vaccination mandate deadline for health care workers according to state data.
New York nursing home staff vaccination percentage also increased to 89 percent as of Sunday, state data showed.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul gave an 11th-hour plea to the remaining 72,000 hospital workers who have yet to comply with the mandate, which has a September 2th deadline to meet. Otherwise, employees who refuse vaccinations will face job suspensions or terminations.
At a press briefing, Hochul said, "A lot of your employers are anxious to just give you the jab in the arm and say you're part of the family, we need your help to continue on."
"To those who have not yet made that decision, please do the right thing," Hochul said.
For more reporting by the Associated Press, see below.
Hospitals and nursing homes braced for the prospect of severe staff shortages fueled by workers getting suspended or fired for refusing to be inoculated. Some hospitals began taking actions against holdout workers by Monday. And with thousands of workers still thought to be holding out, administrators around the state prepared contingency plans that included cutting back on noncritical services and limiting admissions at nursing homes.
Hochul said she will sign an executive order that will allow her to call in medically trained National Guard members and retirees, or vaccinated workers from outside the state, to fill any gaps. The governor has held firm on the mandate in the face of pleas to delay it and multiple lawsuits challenging its constitutionality.
The rules apply not just to people like doctors and nurses, but also to others who work in health care institutions, like food service workers, administrators and cleaners.
The Erie County Medical Center Corporation in Buffalo said about 5 percent of its hospital workforce has been put on unpaid leave due the mandate, along with 20 percent of staff at its nursing home.
The state's largest health care provider, Northwell Health, said it has begun removing unvaccinated workers from their system.
Northwell Health said nearly 100 percent of its workforce was vaccinated. The New York City's hospital system reported a 95 percent rate for nurses and a higher rate for doctors.
"I feel good, very good about our ability to have the staffing we need in the public hospitals," said Mitchell Katz, head of the city's public hospital system.
The mandate comes as hospitals are already reeling from staff shortages fueled in part by workers retiring and employees seeking other jobs after 18 months of the pandemic.
Health care workers can apply for a religious exemption, at least for now. A federal judge on Oct. 12 will consider a legal challenge arguing that such exemptions are constitutionally required.
