Plugged In To Covid-19

March 8, 2021

Coverage of State Actions Surrounding COVID-19

Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease in late 2019, the state has been required to implement mitigation strategies, as well as provide resources for communities and institutions. To help keep clients informed and up to date on the pandemic, the Team at Hinman Straub has released Plugged In To COVID-19; a daily newsletter providing coverage of NY state actions.

What’s Inside Plugged In To COVID-19

Governor’s Briefing and Announcements
CDC Issues Guidance for Fully Vaccinated Individuals
Guidance on COVID-19
Updated Links and Resources

Governor’s Briefings and Announcements on COVID-19

The Governor recently held a conference call with media outlets and provided an update on statewide COVID-19 data and activity as of 3/8/2021. The overall statewide positivity rate is 3.9%. Statewide hospitalizations total 4,800, with ICU admissions associated with COVID-19 totaling 1,000, of which 675 are intubated. The Governor also confirmed that, on the previous day, 75 New Yorkers have passed away as a result of COVID-19.

The Governor shared several announcements including the expansion for eligibility to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Effective tomorrow – 3/10/21, individuals 60 years and older will be eligible to schedule appointments for a vaccination at a pharmacy. In addition, public facing employees of government, public, and not-for profit employers and essential in-person public facing building service workers will all be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, beginning on 3/17/21. The Governor provided examples of the soon to be eligible groups which include Public Works workers, social services workers, child service and care workers, several DMV employees, election workers, etc. Additional guidance will be forthcoming.

Also beginning Wednesday March 17, 2021, all providers enrolled in the vaccine distribution program will be permitted to administer the COVID-19 vaccines to all eligible individuals, with the exception for enrolled pharmacies who will only be permitted to administer vaccines to individuals 60 years and older and teachers.

Ten additional mass vaccination sites are set to come online in the coming weeks. The new sites will be located in the New York City, Long Island, Hudson Valley, Capital, Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley and Western New York. Based on the Governor’s recent call with White House Officials, allocations of vaccine will be flat in the coming weeks, with an anticipated increase toward the end of March and beginning of April.

The Governor also announced he is signing the COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021 (S.471A / A.3207) which passed both the Senate and Assembly in January. The law provides protections related to commercial tenant eviction, commercial mortgage foreclosure, tax foreclosure, and credit discrimination. Currently, the protections apply to small businesses with up to 50 employees, and the Governor announced an agreement with the Legislature through a chapter amendment that will expand the law to include businesses with 100 or fewer employees. There is a further agreement to also include businesses with up to 500 employees, which were required to shut down in-person operations (for at least 2 weeks or more) under executive order or due to DOH directives during the time period of May 15, 2020 to May 1, 2021.

The Governor has asked the Long Island Railroad to resume cut or reduced rail services to mitigate overcrowded trains with added service.

Lastly, the Governor announced that restaurants, outside of New York City will be permitted to increase indoor dining capacity, from 50% to 75%, beginning March 19^th.

CDC Issues Guidance for Fully Vaccinated Individuals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued recommendations for individuals who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. The recommendations address how fully vaccinated people can safely visit with each other or with unvaccinated people in private settings; and how fully vaccinated people should approach isolation, quarantine, and testing.

For purposes of the CDC’s guidance, a person is considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 after 2 weeks or more time has passed from receiving their second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or 2 weeks or more after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson [J&J]/Janssen).

Outside of a healthcare setting, the CDC recommends that fully vaccinated individuals can:

Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing;
Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing;
Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure – if asymptomatic.

For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:

Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing;
Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease;
Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households;
Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings;
Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms;
Follow guidance issued by individual employers;
Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations.

Click here for additional information and a quick reference guide.

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) has not yet issued state guidance addressing the recommendations, or additional recommendations for fully vaccinated individuals.

Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccine

Department of Health (DOH):

COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Guidance Update – This updated guidance expands on the groups eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Specifically, eligible groups are being updated to include a spectrum of public facing workers, and individuals ages 60 years and older.

NY State Education Department (NYSED) –

Extension of Distance Education Flexibility for the 2021-2022 Academic Year – NYSED is extending the current distance education flexibility until the end of the 2021-2022 academic year, which permits institutions to continue to offer distance education courses in programs without triggering the need to register the programs in the distance education format.