Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday that she is considering redefining “fully vaccinated” to include the booster shot for COVID-19.
Hochul, speaking during a morning news conference, said that the escalating number of virus cases, deaths and hospitalizations across New York has her considering the more stringent measure.
“Fully vaccinated may mean boosted,” Hochul said, adding that she may make an announcement during her State of the State address next month. “Be prepared for that.”
The designation, if adopted, could affect policy surrounding access to workplaces and other public indoor sites.
The mask mandate she put in place last week was the least intrusive action she could take, considering the spiraling amount of illness and death, Hochul said.
She said she worried about the vaccination rate leveling off. Just over 70% of New Yorkers have had a completed vaccine series as of Wednesday.
Hochul also said that she is working to increase the health care workforce at hospitals, a problem before the pandemic that has worsened. She said the state has plans to train 1,000 nurses and to help obtain visas for health care workers who want to come here from other countries.
The governor express concern that many people are not taking the omicron variant of the virus seriously.
“This is a crisis. This is a health care crisis. People are going to die,” she said.
Seventy-one New Yorkers died of virus-related illnesses on Tuesday, according to state data. The seven-day positivity rate on Long Island stood at 7.12%, the highest level since January.
Hochul expressed hope that leaders around the state who have said they will not enforce the state’s mandate requiring masks or vaccines in indoor public places would “change their minds,” as numbers keep getting higher and hospitals become further taxed.
Incoming Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, taking office on Jan. 1, has said he will not enforce the mandate. The administration of the current Nassau executive, Laura Curran, will not be “actively enforcing” the mandate during its final weeks, a spokesperson said. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s office said there will be enforcement of the mandate, though focused mainly on “education” of local businesses.
Hochul has said the state will not compel counties to enforce the order aimed at slowing the rapid spread of COVID-19.
Elsewhere, the principal of Division Avenue High School in Levittown said the escalating level of illness there prompted the school to shift to remote learning for Thursday and Friday.
“Due to the unforeseen and rapid rise of COVID cases at our school, we will pivot to remote learning for Thursday, Dec. 16 and Friday Dec. 17 to allow us to complete contact tracing in conjunction with the Nassau County Department of Health,” said Principal John Coscia.
In addition, he said no student is permitted to attend BOCES GC Tech, Barry Tech, LI School for the Arts, alternative education or drivers education during those days.
All athletic games and practices for Thursday and Friday will be rescheduled.
East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School switched to six days of remote learning Wednesday after positive COVID-19 tests forced “approximately 100 students” to quarantine, the district’s superintendent said.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
Sign up to get text alerts about COVID-19 and other topics at newsday.com/text.
