Hochul to unvaccinated health care workers: ‘Please do the right thing’ - syracuse.com

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New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul made a last-minute plea today to convince unvaccinated health care workers in New York to get their shots.

New York’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for workers in hospitals and nursing home starts at midnight tonight. Workers must have at least their first vaccine dose today or face losing their jobs tomorrow.

“To those who’ve not yet made that decision, please do the right thing,” Hochul said during a press conference in New York City. “This is simple common sense. It’s just doing the right thing because it’s so obvious.”

Any workers hoping Hochul would change her mind will be disappointed.

“We’re not relenting,” she said. “We’re not backing off. This is important.”

Tens of thousands of workers across the state remain unvaccinated. Hospital and nursing home leaders and state officials have been preparing to deal with potential staffing shortages caused by employees refusing to comply with the mandate.

READ MORE: Monday could be last shift for 100s of unvaccinated workers at Syracuse’s biggest hospital

Options include using the National Guard, recruiting retirees and bringing in workers from out of state and even other countries. Hochul said today she’ll explore reassigning workers from facilities with high vaccination rates to places that need help.

She plans to sign an executive order today giving her the power to take many of those steps.

Downstate facilities are better off than many places Upstate, Hochul added, but did not have exact numbers. She repeatedly called the situation preventable.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, she said. “This is so unnecessary.”

She said hospitals and nursing homes have had plenty of warning and should be ready to handle staffing issues with the state’s help. Already some facilities have postponed elective surgeries.

Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse is temporarily closing 22 of its 35 operating rooms due to the staff crunch.

A court blocked the mandate from taking effect for workers who obtained or are seeking a religious exemption, but Hochul said she expects to prevail when the judge hears arguments.

She has said the decision to not include a religious exemption was intentional and has noted major religious leaders endorse the vaccines.

The mandate is meant to keep people safe, Hochul said.

“The only way we can do that is to ensure that everyone is vaccinated, but particularly individuals who are taking care of the people who are sick,” she said. “They have a right to be treated by someone who will not make them get sicker.”

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

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Hochul to unvaccinated health care workers: ‘Please do the right thing’ - syracuse.com
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