The New York Public Health and Health Planning Council approved Gov. Kathy Hochul's (D) emergency regulation mandating all health care workers to get booster shots for COVID-19.
Nursing home industry officials fired back at the mandate, arguing that it will worsen the severe staffing shortage already occurring at many facilities.
“You’re going to create a dangerous situation at nursing homes across the state,” James Clyne, CEO of LeadingAge New York -- which represents many of the state's nursing home facilities -- told The New York Post.
Hospital and nursing home employees are required to get their booster shots within two weeks of eligibility.
“We are already losing health care workers because of them testing positive without symptoms. They’ve been going home… It’s been a source of enormous stress,” Hochul said, according to The New York Post.
According to the health department, only 19.4% of nursing home workers had received their booster shots, as of Jan. 4, the New York Post reported. Clyne questioned how realistic it is to expect 100% compliance within a few weeks without disrupting the operations of the nursing home facilities.
