What to Know
- A vaccine mandate for NYC public schools teachers and other workers was meant to go into effect Monday but it was temporarily blocked for the second time
- In an email to staff, NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter said schools should still prepare for the possibility that the vaccine mandate will take effect this week after a Wednesday court hearing
- Monday is also the start date for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state medical worker vaccine mandate; many still haven’t met the requirement and hospitals and nursing homes are bracing for potential staff shortages
A mandate requiring New York City public school teachers and other educational workers to show proof of at least one vaccine dose was meant to go into effect Monday, but it was temporarily blocked for the second time as legal battles over the constitutionality of such rules continue.
Unlike the state’s vaccine mandate for medical workers, which was also slated to take effect Monday and has encountered its own court challenges, unvaccinated NYC school staff don’t have the option to forgo the shots in favor of weekly COVID-19 tests. An attorney representing Department of Education employees says opponents of the mandate just want that option scribed into the rule.
“Quite many of them are not anti-vaccination. They’re anti-mandate,” said attorney Louis Gelormino. “think the true thing that united them all is that they’re the only municipal workers in New York City that are being forced to get this vaccination and they’re the only school teachers in New York state that are being forced to get this vaccination.”
Department of Education spokesperson Danielle Filson says officials are seeking a speedy resolution by the circuit court next week. As of Friday, the department said 85% of its employees are at least partially vaccinated, including 89% of teachers.
Many health care workers have still not yet received a required first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine days before the state’s deadline, leaving the prospect of potentially thousands of health care workers being forced off the job on Monday. NBC New York’s Ida Siegal reports.
Even though most school workers have been vaccinated, unions representing New York City principals and teachers warned the 1 million-student school system could be short as many as 10,000 teachers, along with other staffers, if the mandate forces some away from the classroom.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has resisted calls to delay the mandate, insisting the city was ready. He has also said the city has an army of fully vaccinated substitutes ready to deploy should there be any concern about adequate staffing in its schools.
“We’ve been planning all along. We have a lot of substitutes ready,” the Democrat said in a radio interview on Friday. “A lot is going to happen between now and Monday but beyond that, we are ready, even to the tune of, if we need thousands, we have thousands.”
In an email to staff, NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter said schools should still prepare for the possibility that the vaccine mandate will take effect this week. The court issue could come as early as Wednesday when a three-judge panel will take up the motion referred by a judge for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which granted the temporary injunction late Friday.
The requirement to receive at least one dose of the COVID vaccine was supposed to go into effect by Sept. 27, 2021.
While teachers and staff will all report for duty Monday as they await the upcoming court decision, there are growing concerns of potential staffing shortages in hospitals and nursing homes over Gov. Kathy Hochul’s vaccine mandate.
Many healthcare workers in New York had still not yet received a required first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine before Monday’s deadline, leaving the prospect of potentially thousands being forced off the job.
Like de Blasio, Hochul has said she is prepared to distribute resources as needed to accommodate any personnel limitations that emerge because of the mandate. She said Saturday she is prepared to call in medically trained National Guard members, retirees and workers outside New York to address potential staffing shortages.
Ultimately, Hochul argues that patients should not have to worry that the health professionals who they trust to protect them could infect them with COVID-19. She insists that vaccine mandates “are the smart thing to do” and must be continued.
If necessary, Hochul said, she will declare a state of emergency through an executive order designed to address staffing shortages in hospitals and nursing homes once the mandate takes effect on Monday.
The order would allow healthcare professionals who are licensed in other states or countries, are recent graduates or are formerly practicing health care professionals to practice in New York, Hochul said. She is also exploring ways to expedite visa requests for medical professionals.
“I am monitoring the staffing situation closely, and we have a plan to increase our healthcare workforce and help alleviate the burdens on our hospitals and other healthcare facilities,” the governor said in a weekend media statement.
Hospitals around the state have been preparing contingency plans that included cutting back on elective surgeries. Many nursing homes were limiting admissions in anticipation of a staffing shortage.
“We’re roughly about 84% statewide vaccinated right now, so any initiatives that the governor could advance to increase the workforce is welcome and needed,” said Stephen Hanse, who represents nursing homes statewide as president of the New York State Health Facilities Association and the New York State Center for Assisted Living.
Hochul, a Democrat, has resisted calls to delay the mandate, and her 11th-hour announcement could ratchet up pressure on vaccine holdouts. She said workers terminated because of refusal to be vaccinated are not eligible for unemployment insurance without a doctor-approved request for medical accommodation.
