New York state might resort to using National Guard members to replace health care workers who haven’t received the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement on Sept. 25, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said that options to deal with hospital staffing shortages include deploying medically trained members of the National Guard. The situation would allow her to declare an emergency to increase the supply of health care workers to include licensed workers from other states, other countries, and retired nurses.
According to her office, about 16 percent of the state’s 450,000 hospital staff members, or about 72,000 workers, haven’t yet been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, her office said that health care workers who are terminated after not getting the vaccine can’t receive unemployment insurance unless they’re able to provide a valid doctor-approved request. The statement made no mention of religious exemptions.
“What New York is attempting to do is slam shut an escape hatch from an unconstitutional vaccine mandate,” attorney Christopher Ferrara, Thomas More Society special counsel, said in a statement. “And they are doing this while knowing that many people have sincere religious objections to vaccines that were tested, developed, or produced with cell lines derived from aborted children.”
“Reducing the number of unvaccinated personnel who can expose vulnerable patients to the potentially deadly disease in the healthcare setting is of utmost importance. Time is of the essence,” they argued in a court filing.