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ALBANY (AP) – Home helpers who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 are not allowed to work in New York as of Friday under a new state mandate which an industry group says , could lead to the loss of their jobs by thousands of caregivers.
The mandate, put in place by Governor Kathy Hochul, also applies to workers in assisted living facilities, palliative care, treatment centers and home care programs for AIDS. It is in addition to another mandate, implemented last month, that covered workers in hospitals and nursing homes.
Data on how many of the state’s more than 210,000 home helpers who had been vaccinated before the deadline was not immediately available from the state, but it is feared that many still have not received the first. vaccine required.
Joe Pecora, vice president of the Home Healthcare Workers of America, recently estimated that nearly 70% of the 32,000 group members had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Friday morning, it was not clear whether home health agencies should suspend or fire large numbers of workers. Hospitals statewide have had to lay off staff who have refused injections, but a last-minute rush of workers reluctant to get vaccinated has prevented large-scale staff shortages.
Hochul, a Democrat, said healthcare worker mandates are necessary to protect vulnerable New Yorkers from infection by unvaccinated caregivers. Many deaths in state nursing homes during the worst months of the pandemic in 2020 have been blamed on infected staff unknowingly spreading the virus to already fragile patients.
The state’s mandate is expected to expand again on November 1 to cover workers who work in public facilities providing health care to people with developmental disabilities or mental health needs.
Legal challenges to overturn the warrants have so far failed, but a federal judge has temporarily allowed healthcare workers to seek a religious exemption from vaccination while legal battles unfold.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.
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