Hochul gets COVID booster at nursing school ribbon-cutting in upstate N.Y.
ALBANY — Gov. Hochul mixed it up on Monday when she got a COVID booster shot.
Hochul received a dose of Moderna’s coronavirus shot while attending the grand opening of Binghamton University’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences in upstate Johnson City.
The governor, who previously got the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine back in March, encouraged eligible New Yorkers to join her in rolling up their sleeves.
“All of us have a moral responsibility to work with others who are hesitant and let them know we want them to join the ranks of the people who are going to have their health and that they should do this for themselves and their families,” Hochul said. “We’re making a big difference.
“We cannot declare victory over this pandemic until we hit higher numbers,” she added.
Roughly 87% of New Yorkers over 18 have gotten at least one dose of vaccine, although 77.9% are fully immunized against the deadly virus.
Hochul commended first responders and health care professionals as she hailed the new nursing school, which opened earlier this year and is housed in a former Endicott-Johnson shoe box factory.
The governor noted that while New York’s statewide seven-day average stands at 2.10%, some areas are doing better than others when it comes to containing the virus and getting people inoculated.
State data shows that the seven-day average for the five boroughs is 1.05%, while areas like the Finger Lakes are currently reporting a 4.40% average.
Across the state, COVID hospitalizations are up slightly as well with 2,044 people currently being treated for the virus.
Hochul’s appearance at the new nursing school comes as major questions remain about the state’s COVID vaccine mandate for health care workers and the number of medical professionals who have either been let go or resigned over the edict.
As promised, the state filed an appeal earlier this month after a federal judge ruled that healthcare workers in the state are entitled to apply for religious exemptions from vaccine mandates.
Hochul, meanwhile, said she is hopeful that the COVID crisis could act as a catalyst, much like 9/11 drove many to join the armed forces or to become first responders, and inspire New Yorkers to choose nursing as a profession.
“This pandemic taught us something: that we have to be prepared,” she said. “We have to have people that have first-rate educations and we need more of those people, we have been facing shortages. "
