Statement from Mitchell Katz, M.D., President and CEO Of NYC Health + Hospitals, On New City Health and Safety Requirement For COVID-19 Vaccine On Weekly Testing for Health Care Workers
Jul 21, 2021
“I am so proud of the role NYC Health + Hospitals has played during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our heroic, dedicated staff came together as a system to serve, help, and save New Yorkers. Now it is time for us to take additional steps to keep our patients and each other safe.
As the mayor announced today, starting Monday, August 2, we will ask all our staff to protect their patients and each other by taking one of two steps: Get a COVID-19 vaccine if they are not already vaccinated or go for weekly COVID-19 testing to be certain that they do not transmit this virus.
Although we all wear masks at NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, we know that the Delta variant is incredibly contagious. And we know that vaccines work in preventing people from getting sick with this strain. We also know some of our patients are at risk for COVID-19 because of underlying illness; some of those illnesses such as immunosuppression may prevent them from mounting an adequate response to the vaccine. That’s why we must do everything possible to protect our patients and each other.
We will work collaboratively with all of staff and labor partners to make it easy to be vaccinated or tested weekly. We will continue to offer walk-in vaccination and testing across our health system sites, and we will make testing available for all shifts.
I hope the example we set by protecting our patients and protecting our coworkers will inspire other New Yorkers who have not yet been vaccinated to do so.”