In the fight against the rapid spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, vaccinations will be mandatory for parts of the medical staff in the state of New York.
“New York State requires health care workers with patient contact to be vaccinated in state hospitals to ensure the safety of patients and employees,” wrote Governor Andrew Cuomo, 63, on Twitter on Wednesday.
All other officials in all areas would either have to be vaccinated or regularly submit a Covid test. This regulation will come into force on September 6th on Labor Day.
Corona numbers are increasing enormously
The highly contagious Delta variant is putting increasing pressure on the opening course of the USA. Just under 50 percent of all Americans – 163 million people – are fully vaccinated. That is significantly less than the government had targeted for this point in time.
Meanwhile, the number of new infections is increasing significantly and is many times higher than the low value at the beginning of June. The number of deaths per day had recently increased again and was 533 on Tuesday – at peak times, more than 4,000 people per day had died.
$ 100 for the spades
US policy is struggling with low vaccination rates, especially in problematic southern states such as Florida, Missouri and Arkansas. According to experts, there is also a need for greater readiness for the vaccine in other parts of the country. The City of New York is offering vaccine recipients $ 100 as an incentive starting Friday.
The government of US President Joe Biden (78) is also considering measures at the federal level and is considering compulsory corona vaccination for its more than two million employees. The democrat has spoken out against a general compulsory vaccination. Politically, however, even a mandatory vaccination that is limited to government employees could become tricky, because many people could see this as an encroachment on individual freedom – the vaccination campaign threatens to become a political bone of contention. (SDA)