The New York State Department of Health suspends the enforcement of a Covid-19 booster requirement for health care workers on Monday, due to potential staffing shortages.
In the statement released by the Department of Health on Friday, the decision was made to “avoid potential staffing issues and give healthcare workers more time to get boosted, the State will no longer enforce the booster requirement that will go into effect on February 21,”
Officials will reassess the plan in three months and determine “whether additional steps need to be taken to increase booster rates among the healthcare workforce.”
New York scraps health care workers booster mandate to avoid 'staffing issues' https://t.co/ldwTSc2I2m
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 20, 2022
Moreover, the New York times also published its data and revealed that “95% of hospice workers had received or said they planned to get the booster, as did 84% of hospital workers. However, only 51% of nursing home workers said the same”.
Staffing shortages have plagued health centers in the state. According to Commissioner Mary T. Bassett, “The reality is that not enough healthcare workers will be boosted by next week’s requirement in order to avoid substantial staffing issues in our already overstressed healthcare system,”
She also urged the public, especially the healthcare workers to get vaccinated and receive booster shots against the virus.
“The vaccine and booster are critical tools to keep both healthcare workers and their patients safe, and we continue to urge everyone to get vaccinated and receive a booster dose when eligible,” Dr. Bassett added.
“That is why we are announcing additional efforts to work closely with healthcare facilities and ensure that our healthcare workforce is up-to-date on their doses.” she added.
However, despite the decision to delay the Covid-19 booster mandate, NYC healthcare workers are still required to have received their initial vaccination series.
According to the NYC health department, there were over 31,858 health workers working in hospitals, nursing homes and other health providers who were terminated or forced to resign in December because they would not comply with the vaccine mandate.
