NYC mayor says public workers face COVID-19 vaccine or weekly tests

Amid an increase in coronavirus cases, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new policy Wednesday requiring city public health care workers to get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.

Anyone who refuses the mandate, which begins Aug. 2, will be suspended without pay, de Blasio said at his daily news conference.

The new city policy comes as the coronavirus positivity rate rises across the state while the number of New Yorkers receiving vaccinations slows.

The daily COVID-19 positivity rate on Long Island on Tuesday was 2.3%, matching Sunday's rate, which was the highest level in the region since late April, according to state Health Department data.

Nassau County reported 138 new cases Tuesday while Suffolk reported 125.

There were 77 Long Islanders hospitalized with COVID-19, a 12-patient increase from Monday and up 22 from one week earlier. And the number of Long Island intensive care patients increased from 10 on Sunday to 22 on Tuesday, according to state data.

The statewide daily positivity rate Tuesday was 1.75%, and 1.41% on a seven-day average, according to state figures. A total of 462 New Yorkers were hospitalized with COVID-19 and five died of the virus on Tuesday, including one each in Nassau and Suffolk.

"Getting vaccinated is more crucial now than it's ever been before," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday in a statement. "As the delta variant makes its way through the nation, it is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones against the virus."

Statewide, 74% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine. That number falls to 61.8% of the entire population, adding eligible children ages 12 to 17. A total of 35,832 doses of the vaccine were administered Tuesday.

Nearly 68% of all Nassau residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine compared with 61.2% of Suffolk residents.

Policy might be 'going up the ladder'

In New York City, de Blasio nudged unvaccinated health care workers in the public health system to get vaccinated by requiring them to either be inoculated or agree to be tested weekly. The policy might be "going up the ladder" to cover municipal workers such as teachers, police officers and firefighters, he said.

"I think this is something we do piece by piece, but this is the wave of the future in my view — this idea of, you get vaccinated or you get tested very constantly," de Blasio said as he announced the plan Wednesday during a morning appearance on MSNBC.

The city wants other health care organizations to adopt a similar mandate, said Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner.

The mandate for city workers at its public hospitals — including clinics — comes as the more infectious delta variant spreads across the country.

On Tuesday, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the delta variant accounted for an estimated 83% of U.S. coronavirus cases. Similar figures have been found in genetically sequenced cases in New York City.

"Ultimately, a lot of people have been on the fence. This will be the moment when, like, OK, OK, I’ll get vaccinated or after they get tested week after week after week, I think a lot of health care workers are gonna say, ‘Hey, this is a hassle. Let’s just go ahead and get vaccinated,’" de Blasio said in an interview with CNN Wednesday morning.

Nassau officials said they did not have the authority to impose such a mandate on health care workers at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, the county's only public hospital.

NUMC and Stony Brook University Hospital did not respond to requests for comment about potentially implementing a similar policy.

Vaccinations for newly hired at Northwell Health

Joe Kemp, a spokesman for Northwell Health, Long Island's largest health system, said 77% of its workforce was vaccinated. Northwell, he said, will be mandating vaccinations for newly hired employees and plans to launch a requirement that unvaccinated workers receive regular COVID-19 testing.

"While we are not currently mandating the vaccine for team members, we continue to expand our vaccination program," Kemp said. "We are welcoming back volunteers in our hospitals, provided they are vaccinated. We are also launching a new requirement for students to be vaccinated."

De Blasio said the city was going to "look at different options" and could potentially expand the mandate to police officers, firefighters and teachers. An estimated one-third of workers at the city’s public hospitals and clinics are unvaccinated. The vaccination rate of teachers, police and firefighters wasn’t immediately available.

The city's public school system tested personnel and students regularly during the previous school year. They all must wear masks in the coming school year, de Blasio has said.

In an emailed statement, the United Federation of Teachers labor union said: "Thousands of UFT members have already been vaccinated through programs sponsored by the union, the city, and the state."

The labor unions representing police officers and firefighters did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) went to the House floor Wednesday morning to urge people to get vaccinated and to applaud Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) for telling people to get the shots.

"Over 40% of Americans are still not vaccinated. I mean, come on! What’s going on? We need to wake up, America. We need to get vaccinated," Suozzi said.

"People are saying ‘I want to live free or die.’ Well, they’re living free, and other people are dying!" he said. "There are people that are poisoning Americans' minds and jeopardizing their health in the process."

Warning that cases are rising every day in "a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Suozzi exhorted people to do it for themselves, their families and the country — and "so the economy can come back."

With Tom Brune and Matt Clark

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By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com,matthew.chayes@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert,

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.