Situation Report | January 4, 2021
On January 2, the state Department of Health (DOH) posted guidance that, for the first time, specifically identifies home care and hospice staff as a priority group to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Beginning week 5, or January 11, home care workers, including those in consumer directed programs, and hospice workers will be eligible to receive vaccines, according to the guidance.
This action by New York State follows a tremendous amount of advocacy by HCA that included letters to the Governor, the DOH Commissioner, and the Regional Advisory Task Force (RATF) hubs tasked with vaccine logistics, as well as numerous communications and personal appeals to lead officials at the RATF hubs over the holidays.
HCA strongly encourages members to reach out to their regional RATF vaccination hubs (listed here) to learn the specifics about vaccination schedules and sites in your respective areas. We encourage all members to get involved in each RATF.
This week, HCA has meetings with the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Capital Region RATF. We will be in contact with the other regional hubs to learn more about the vaccination rollout in each region while advocating for home care and hospice.