Cuomo considering mandatory vaccines for nursing home workers, teachers

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday floated the possibility of implementing COVID-19 vaccination mandates for nursing home workers and teachers if a recent uptick in cases in New York doesn’t improve as the Delta variant spreads.

“If the numbers don’t come down, I think you have to consider mandatory vaccines for nursing home workers,” Cuomo said during a press conference from this Manhattan office. “The nursing homes are [a] high-risk population.” The vaccination rate among nursing home staffers lags nearly 20 percent behind the residents they care for, as 87 percent of residents have been partially or fully vaccinated, compared to 68 percent of workers.