Vaccination Update
Updated Guidance and Advisories
New York State recently issued some resources of interest for State- and City-enrolled vaccinators, including updated guidance for ordering the vaccine. The Department of Health (DOH) also issued an advisory for vaccinators entitled COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Considerations for People with History of Myocarditis or Pericarditis. Members should be aware of the concerns for individuals with this condition. Updated Fact Sheets for both mRNA vaccines provide new information on this risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also issued an advisory urging vaccination in light of the spread of the Delta variant.
Government Worker Vaccination Mandates
Last week, Governor Cuomo announced that New York will require State employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Labor Day or undergo weekly testing.
In addition, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) Commissioner and NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) recently announced a new health care mandate requiring all City workers to provide one-time proof of vaccination or undergo weekly COVID-19 tests beginning Sept. 13th. In advance of this benchmark, the City is mandating the vaccine for 45,000 City workers and contractors in residential and congregate care settings by Aug. 16th. Both of these mandates are in addition to the Health Worker COVID-Safe Requirement announced by Mayor de Blasio last week, which requires H+H employees and those working in DOHMH clinical settings to provide either a one-time verification of immunization or weekly proof of a negative COVID-19 test by Aug. 2nd. The press release on this initiative can be found here.
Finally, last week, President Biden directed all federal workers and onsite contractors to be vaccinated or otherwise submit to regular COVID-19 testing. Onsite contractors are contractors who work in federal buildings and workplaces. Nongovernmental organizations that receive federal funds are NOT included in this directive. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will mandate the vaccine for its frontline health care workers, who have two months to get vaccinated.
LeadingAge NY is collecting sample vaccination mandate policies for reference should members be considering this strategy.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-929-9342