Governor Andrew Cuomo may have had his emergency powers suspended but that’s not holding him back from speaking out about Covid-19 vaccines, mandated testing and masks, hoping his words will resonate with front line workers hesitant to protect themselves and posing a potential danger to others.
Cuomo made a passionate plea Monday for New Yorkers to get vaccinated. (Cuomo’s comments came a day before a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office found that Cuomo engaged in serial sexual harassment of multiple women – current and former state employees, plus several women outside of state government. Early insider chatter, as of press time, was of the uncertain nature of the governor’s political future.)
He said that almost all of the new Covid-19 cases are from unvaccinated New Yorkers even though “vaccinated people can spread the Delta variant… The problem with that is, you then have 100 percent of the people spreading the Delta variant. So if you are unvaccinated, the Delta variant should be a major concern to you and you should be worried about it.
“The Delta variant spreads very quickly,” Cuomo said. “If you are vaccinated, you’re less likely to catch it. And you’re very unlikely to be hospitalized.”
Over the past year the number of hospitalizations tallied by the New York State Health Department did not match the number released by the Center for Disease Control in Washington. Although the numbers might not be as reliable as you might expect, the number of deaths from Covid-19 is indisputable. Last year, when questioned about the nursing home deaths and hospital deaths, Cuomo said, “Who cares where they died, they died.”
Since January there have been 12,684 deaths throughout the state. Each month saw a lower death rate than the previous month. Last month 107 people died from Covid-19 and in January, 5,035 died from the disease. To put this in stark contrast, each day in January had more than 107 deaths.
Cuomo is strongly urging state and local governments as well as private business owners to implement a mask, weekly test or vaccine policy.
“A mask policy will be important. But I don’t believe a mask policy is going to be enough,” Cuomo said. “I think we’re going to have to talk about a vaccination policy. What does that mean? Well, we’ve taken the first step you either have to get a vaccine or a weekly test.”
Cuomo is sending up a trial balloon using the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to implement the ‘vaccine or test’ policy for its employees beginning Labor Day, Monday, September 6. He said he’s expecting pushback with this requirement.
“People are going to be saying over the next month, ‘I don’t want to take the vaccine’ and it’s a pain in the neck to get tested every week,” Cuomo said. “In our hospitals, public-facing employees must be vaccinated. Not vaccinated or tested once a week, you must be vaccinated. If you are a receiving nurse, receiving doctor and people are coming in from the public and you’re dealing with dozens of people, maybe hundreds of people, you should be vaccinated. You should be vaccinated or don’t work in a front line position.
“I believe school districts should say to teachers either vaccine or test. For public-facing people, who are in a high-risk situation, I say there should be a mandatory vaccine policy and we put one in place in New York State.”
The New York State United Teachers union disagreed with Cuomo and gave immediate pushback for his statement.
“We have advocated since the beginning of the year that any educator who wants a vaccine should have easy access to one,” said NYSUT President Anthony Pallotta. “We would support local efforts to encourage more vaccinations, such as through programs that require that those who are not vaccinated get tested on a regular basis. But it’s critical that districts come up with plans to make testing available on-site and at no cost. What we have not supported is a vaccine mandate.”
Cuomo fears the worse if this episode of the pandemic saga gets out of control.
“We have seen the Covid movie. We’ve seen this movie. I’ve seen this movie,” Cuomo said. “New Yorkers saw the movie. You know what happens with the Delta variant. You know what those facts mean. You know what’s going to happen in the movie. Don’t wait for what you know is going to happen. We beat the damn thing by being smart the first time. Be smart again. New Yorkers did not make a decision the first time because of the CDC. It was because they got the facts. They’re smart and they made a decision based on the facts.”
One of the attempts to get teenagers vaccinated was a program called “Get a Shot to Make Your Future,” with an incentive to win a full scholarship to a SUNY or CUNY school, including tuition, room and board and allowances for fees, books, supplies and transportation up to the cost of attendance at one of the State or City colleges.
There were 50 winners over a five-week period every Wednesday in June, including three Jewish recipients of the award. The winners were Ivy Bloomfield of Brooklyn, Emily Brodsky of Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County, and varsity footballer Ben Lesher, a student at Byram Hills High School in Armonk, northern Westchester County.
Federal Covid-19 relief and outreach funds will be used to cover the cost of this vaccination incentive program. The governor had nothing but praise for the winners.
“Getting vaccinated is the key to our success defeating Covid-19 and restoring the economy. This extraordinary incentive for the state’s young people has helped us put shots in arms across New York,” Cuomo said. “This life-changing opportunity has helped us spread the word to an important demographic – 12- to 17-year-olds – about the importance of getting vaccinated.
“The key to New York’s recovery, rebirth, and revitalization is getting as many eligible New Yorkers vaccinated as quickly as possible. We’re working hard and getting creative to put shots in arms, and we’re targeting our efforts at groups of people with lower vaccination rates, especially young adults, who have the lowest vaccination rate of any age group in the state. Our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a free ride to any public college or university in the state holds an approximately $100,000 value.”
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said, “We continue to encourage our younger populations to realize the benefits of getting vaccinated to regain normalcy across New York State and on our campuses. We welcome these to the SUNY family and the many opportunities they will have for a high-quality education and future success. New Yorkers have made tremendous progress in ending the pandemic by getting vaccinated but we must continue to help our younger populations see the benefits of getting vaccinated as well.”