Tens of thousands of health workers who have not been vaccinated can be laid off.
New York Governor Katie Katie Gokul is considering involving the National Guard and medics from other states to fill the shortage of staff in hospitals where tens of thousands of workers are unlikely to have time to undergo mandatory COVID-19 vaccination by Monday.
The plan outlined in Gokul’s statement will allow her to declare a state of emergency to increase the influx of health workers, including licensed professionals from other states and countries, as well as retired nurses.
Gokul also said that the state is studying the possibility of involving officers of the National Guard with medical training in the staff of hospitals and other medical institutions. According to the governor’s office, about 16% of the state’s 450,000 hospital staff, or about 70,000 employees, have not been fully vaccinated.
The plan is being implemented against the backdrop of a wider conflict between heads of state and federal governments in favor of compulsory vaccination and workers who oppose vaccination, including on religious grounds.
“We continue to fight COVID-19 to protect our loved ones,” Gokul said, announcing the plan. “I am grateful to all the health workers who have been vaccinated and I urge all the unvaccinated health workers who remain to do so now so that they can provide medical care.”
Gokul’s office said that doctors fired for refusing to vaccinate would not be able to get unemployment insurance unless they submitted a doctor-approved request for medical exemption.
It is unclear how the religious exclusion lawsuits will affect the state’s plan to release unvaccinated health workers.