Hochul Won’t Hire Back Unvaxxed Health Care Workers Despite Overturned Mandate, Worker Shortage

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) indicated Monday that she won’t permit the hiring of health care workers who’ve declined to get the COVID vaccine, despite her vaccine mandate being overturned in the courts and a serious healthcare worker shortage.

A state Supreme Court judge in Syracuse last week struck down the statewide vaccine mandate for medical staffers. The mandate was first implemented by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in 2021, and then Hochul supported the edict when she became governor.

“Our healthcare systems are in desperate need of staff right now, we’ve had ambulances waiting five hours at our local emergency rooms to unload patients,” Rochester-based reporter Jennifer Lewke told Hochul. “The hospitals and nursing homes say they’re waiting for DOH [New York State Department of Health] guidance on whether they can hire any of those workers back. What’s the latest on that?”