NY to Require Health Care Workers to Receive COVID-19 Booster Shot

New York is planning to require health care workers to receive a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, building on the state’s previous mandate for that industry, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.

The regulation will be considered next week by the Public Health and Health Planning Council, an obscure state body that has the power to enact emergency health regulations.

“We're the first state in the nation to institute this because this has been such an important priority,” Hochul said.

Given that the health care field in New York was already understaffed prior to the pandemic, recent staffing shortages have placed a strain on the industry. That’s been made worse by workers coming down with COVID, Hochul said.

If approved, health care workers who haven’t received the booster shot will have a two-week grace period to get newly inoculated. Hochul said the move came at the recommendation of state Department of Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett.

“We talked about it first, we had a conversation, is this the right thing to do? We agreed together,” Hochul said.

New York first implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers in the fall. The move was criticized by some who feared that facilities would be left understaffed if unvaccinated workers left in droves.

In some areas of the state, anecdotal reports have indicated a significant shortage due to loss of staff. The state has since sought to postpone elective surgeries in hospitals with limited capacity.

While New York was the target of litigation over the original mandate, the rule was upheld by an appellate-level court and left in place by the U.S. Supreme Court in December.

As of Wednesday, 97% of the state’s hospital staff had been vaccinated, though it’s unclear what share of those workers have received the booster.