New booster mandate for health care workers in New York

New York — New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new booster mandate for health care workers.

According to Hochul, health care workers will be given two weeks to get the shot after they are eligible. Only medical exemptions will be allowed.

This comes months after the state implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The governor says she’s confident it will be approved swiftly.

The Public Health and Planning Council must approve it before it goes into effect.

“We are the first state in the nation to institute this. This has been such an important priority,” she said. “We’ve already been seeing what is happening in health care facilities. Staff is getting sick. They are leaving. We need them to get well – and the best fortification they can to do that means getting a booster shot as well.”

According to Hochul, the state is inching toward a plateau in COVID cases with hospitalizations starting to level off, too.