NY Health Commissioner Zucker resigns, medical vaccine mandate looms
New York state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, a central figure in COVID-19 related scandals that plagued former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has submitted his resignation, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Zucker will remain as the top state health official until a replacement for the commissioner job is chosen, Hochul said Thursday during a media briefing in Manhattan, adding there are several candidates being considered for the job.
Hochul said she agreed with Zucker’s decision to resign, calling him a dedicated public servant.
Zucker was connected to several controversial COVID-19 policy decisions, including a measure that pressed nursing homes to accept COVID-positive residents at the height of the pandemic last year. Zucker was also connected to the Cuomo administration withholding the true COVID death toll for nursing homes for months.
More: Investigations into Northeast nursing homes ongoing as true COVID death toll rises by 16K
Hochul had previously been serving as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor before replacing him as governor last month, when Cuomo resigned under the weight of sexual harassment allegations against him.
Hochul on Thursday also urged health care workers to comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate requiring medical workers to receive the first dose by Monday, or lose their job.
“It does not have to happen my friends. What is looming for Monday is completely avoidable and there’s no excuses,” she said, adding her administration will soon be revealing details of a plan to fill staffing gaps if thousands of workers currently refusing vaccination lose their jobs.
The comments came as Hochul’s administration faces several lawsuits challenging aspects of its medical worker vaccine mandate.
A federal judge in Utica last week issued an order temporarily blocking New York from enforcing the vaccine mandate against medical workers seeking a religious exemption, citing a lawsuit claiming its removal by state officials was unconstitutional.
The state filed legal documents Wednesday defending the mandate and the judge, U.S. Northern District Justice David Hurd, noted he would make a decision regarding religious exemptions on or before Oct. 12.
On Wednesday, the Civil Services Employees Association, or CSEA, also filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Albany County asking a judge to temporary halt enforcement of the state’s vaccine mandate for court system workers. The union noted it represents 5,800 union members impacted by the measure, as first reported by the Times Union of Albany.
The CSEA asserted the vaccine mandate cannot be enforced against the union members until a decision is issued in their improper practices charge filed with the state Public Employment Relations Board, court records show.
What Zucker’s resignation letter says
The Department of Health released Zucker’s resignation letter to Hochul, with Zucker saying it is time for him to pass the baton in the “marathon journey that we call public service in New York State.”
“With a fierce dedication to the public’s health, I have carried it through many a crisis in the past seven years and five months and placed the welfare of our residents at the…
Read More: NY Health Commissioner Zucker resigns, medical vaccine mandate looms