New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a vaccine mandate for all public transit workers across the state, adding that those who refuse to be vaccinated by the Labor Day deadline would be tested regularly.
“I don’t believe a mask policy is going to be enough,” Cuomo said on Monday. “I think we’re going to have to talk about a vaccination policy.”
LINK BETWEEN CASES AND DEATHS GREATLY WEAKENED IN DELTA SURGE
This mandate comes less than a week after Cuomo made vaccinations mandatory for patient-facing healthcare workers in state-owned hospitals, without giving them the option to submit themselves to regular testing.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will establish a weekly testing program for employees who report to job locations in New York, according to Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority. The agency is also “redoubling our efforts to encourage all employees to get vaccinated,” and officials are “carefully consulting with the leaders of the Port Authority unions to assist in this effort and to provide advice and suggestions in terms of implementation.”
The March 2020 public health emergency declaration gave Cuomo the authority to issue statewide social distancing regulations, such as mandatory mask-wearing in all public places. But the declaration expired on June 25, along with Cuomo’s emergency pandemic powers. While Cuomo cannot mandate masking at the local level, he urged individual counties to “step up” and “do the right thing” to mitigate the further spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
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Coronavirus cases in New York began a steady uptick at the end of June, though deaths due to COVID-19 have not risen as quickly or as drastically. This tracks with what public health officials have said about the delta variant. It is especially dangerous for people who are unvaccinated, but people who have gotten the shots are far less likely to be hospitalized or become severely ill. Three-quarters of all New York adults have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 69% have been fully vaccinated.
