Public health officials in New York are considering making seasonal flu shots mandatory for public school students this year.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker talked to reporters on Thursday about efforts to help mitigate the spread of influenza during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re looking at all these possibilities to see what we can do. I think public health information is the first necessary thing to do, but we are looking at that as a possibility,” Zucker said.
Cuomo noted that the state would be “promoting” the flu shot to the public and encouraging everyone to get the vaccination. The governor said that he “hadn’t heard” of Zucker’s consideration of a flu shot mandate, but he also noted that it was not his “area of expertise.”
“[The flu] will be complicating with COVID. Symptoms of the flu are much like symptoms for COVID. Testing, the flu season will also complicate the testing because many of the testing labs that do the COVID tests also do flu tests, so it’s important that people get their shots,” he said.
Massachusetts officials announced in August that the state would be mandating the flu shot for all students this fall. Students will have to get the shot before the end of the calendar year unless they qualify for medical or religious exemptions.
