[ad_1]
ALBANY, NY (AP) – Home helpers who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 are not allowed to work with patients in New York City as of Friday under a new state mandate that , according to an industrial group, 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.
The state’s immunization mandate states that healthcare employers can fire unvaccinated workers when they cannot be prevented from exposing patients or colleagues.
About 86% of the 244,750 home health aides who provide direct care in New York City have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to self-reported data from the state Department of Health provided to the Associated Press Friday.
Among these aids, 71.3% are fully vaccinated.
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.
The New York State Home Care Association urges home health agencies to notify the state Department of Health of any emergency capacity issues due to the warrant. The health ministry did not immediately provide data on immunization rates or staffing shortages for home care agencies.
As of Friday, 97% of staff at the New York nonprofit Visiting Nurse Service were vaccinated or received an exemption, according to spokeswoman Caren Browning. The home care agency has 8,800 home helpers and served 75,000 patients last year.
Browning said it was “one of the few home care agencies to have set up a vaccination clinic to vaccinate staff” and community members.
Representatives from major home care associations met with Hochul and state health department officials to push the state to phase in vaccinations and provide emergency funding to home care providers.
New York State Home Care Association president and CEO Al Cardillo warned that overseas and out-of-state workers alone would not be able to fill the gap of staff.
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.
Health Department spokeswoman Jill Montag said individuals have the right to demand that people entering their homes be vaccinated.
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.
[ad_2]
Source link