Northwell fires workers for refusing vaccine
Northwell says it has fired two dozen workers who refused to get vaccinated
The state is requiring all health care workers at hospitals and nursing homes to receive at least the first dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus by midnight. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Northwell said in a statement that it reached out to a "few hundred" employees last week to remind them of the vaccine mandate. The unvaccinated leaders who lost their jobs are at the management level, or above, the health care provider said.
"We are now beginning the process to exit the rest of our unvaccinated staff," the statement said. "Northwell wants to reassure the public that during this time, there will be no impact to the quality of patient care at any of our facilities. We are proud that our workforce is already nearly 100 percent vaccinated."
The state is requiring all health care workers at hospitals and nursing homes to receive at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by midnight. The mandate was issued by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Aug. 16. Workers at adult care facilities, hospice and home care entities have until Oct. 7 to get a first dose.
On Saturday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was preparing to issue a state of emergency if severe staff shortages occur in hospitals and nursing homes after the mandate takes effect.
The map below shows vaccination rates across Long Island communities. Click around that map and view charts showing the latest local trends in new cases, testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
This map shows vaccination rates in Long Island communities, with data as of Sept. 23.
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Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
