New York state to end mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for health care workers

Metro

To Zach Williams

May 24, 2023 | 6:04 PM

Albany – The New York State Department of Health will lift vaccination requirements for health care workers by this fall, following legal challenges.

“Due to the changing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the evolution of vaccine recommendations, the New York State Department of Health has initiated the process of eliminating the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine for employees of regulated health care facilities.” the ministry said in a statement. .

Officials announced the move on Wednesday, asking a Rochester appellate judge to stop a lawsuit challenging the mandate before the court formally declared the state to have no such vaccination mandate. pressured to do so.

About 30,000 health workers have lost their jobs in recent years for refusing to get the coronavirus vaccine, out of about 1 million people covered by the mandate, according to the health ministry.

Following a lawsuit filed by a group of medical professionals for informed consent, a state Supreme Court judge in January nominated then-Director of the DOH, Dr. Mary Bassett, as a defendant and overturned the rule. .

The state subsequently appealed the ruling in order to preserve its authority over future vaccination mandates.

The ministry has suspended mandatory measures on COVID-19 mandates for health workers, but bureaucratic hurdles mean the vaccine rule will officially continue until September at the earliest.

The repeal of the regulation is pending review by the Public Health and Health Planning Council for approval, so the department does not plan to initiate new enforcement actions.

“However, it should be noted that facilities must continue to enforce their own internal policies regarding COVID-19 vaccination.”