Monday, Sept. 27, is the deadline for a New York state directive that requires hospital and nursing home employees in the state to have gotten at least one shot of a COVID vaccine in order to work in person. The Health Department in New York issued an emergency order on Aug. 26 announcing the vaccination mandate for health care workers, giving them a month to get at least one shot.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday, Sept. 23 that that deadline is firm. “If you’re a health care worker, Monday is a big day,” she said. “What is looming for Monday is completely avoidable, and there’s no excuses.” Weekly testing is not being offered as an alternative and while there are limited medical exemptions being granted, which are left to an employers’ discretion, religious exemptions are not on the table. Similarly, California is requiring its health care workers to be fully vaccinated by Wednesday, Sept. 30. While the Golden State is going a step further by requiring full vaccination, which was announced on Aug. 5, officials are allowing both medical and religious exemptions. Maine also has a similar mandate that will go into effect on Thursday, Oct. 1, but it won’t be enforced until later next month, on Oct. 29. “Vaccinations are the best tool we have to protect the lives and livelihoods of Maine people and to curb this pandemic,” Gov. Janet T. Mills said in a statement when announcing the news on Aug. 12. “Health care workers perform a critical role in protecting the health of Maine people, and it is imperative that they take every precaution against this dangerous virus, especially given the threat of the highly transmissible Delta variant. With this requirement, we are protecting health care workers, their patients, including our most vulnerable, and our health care capacity.” RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. The New York Times reports that thousands of people will be out of the job due to New York’s mandate. The Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, New York may soon fire about 400 employees who have chosen not to get vaccinated, and NewYork-Presbyterian, New York City’s largest private hospital network, could terminate about 250 employees who are unvaccinated. Officials at Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care system, might have to let go of about 2,000 people who haven’t gotten their shots or applied for exemptions, as of Friday, Sept. 24. The company’s chief of human resources told the outlet that only a small number of employees are being approved for medical exemptions, like those who have allergies, noting that being pregnant or breastfeeding does not qualify. Religious exemptions, however, have become a challenge in New York. An Aug. 18 order, issued under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, allowed religious exemptions, and some hospitals granted them as a result, like NewYork-Presbyterian, which approved 129 religious exemptions. But the hospital had to withdraw those after the state’s policy changed a week later, according to court documents reviewed by The Times. Due to the confusion and controversy surrounding religious exemptions, there have been several lawsuits accusing New York of violating the First Amendment and discriminating on the basis of religion. The result of those lawsuits remains to be seen: on Oct. 12, a federal judge in Utica will make a ruling, but for now, there’s a temporary restraining order preventing New York from enforcing the vaccination mandate on those seeking religious exemptions. RELATED: If You’re Unvaccinated, the White House Is Implementing This New Rule. However, the Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents about 200 health care systems and nursing homes, told The Times they support the deadline. “The mandate is the best way to ensure the safest possible patient care environment and protect the public’s health,” Kenneth E. Raske, the association’s president, said in a statement to the newspaper. But late Friday, an appeals court judge granted a temporary injunction and referred the case to a three-judge panel, putting the mandate on pause. Department of Education spokesperson Danielle Filson told the Associated Press (AP) they expect this to be resolved on Wednesday, Sept. 29. “We’re confident our vaccine mandate will continue to be upheld once all the facts have been presented, because that is the level of protection our students and staff deserve,” she told the AP. RELATED: Unvaccinated People Are Banned From This as of Oct. 1, Homeland Security Says.
