Good afternoon from Albany, New York, where I live as of a month ago, and where Governor Kathy Hochul is preparing for a potential hospital staffing crisis as a statewide vaccine mandate for health care workers goes into effect at midnight.
The rule, which Hochul supports but was issued by her disgraced predecessor Andrew Cuomo, requires about 665,000 New York State public- and private-hospital workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of their employment; those affected aren't being given the option to get tested regularly instead of getting the shot. The latest official state data, posted Sept. 22, show that about 16% of such workers have yet to get vaccinated, though it's unclear if there's been a yet-unreported rush among unvaccinated staffers to get inoculated as the deadline draws nearer.
Public health experts are generally in favor of vaccine requirements for health care workers, which can keep staffers and patients safer from outbreaks. But hospital administrators across the Empire State are bracing for the rule to exacerbate staffing shortages that have been plaguing medical facilities across the state (and the country) for months as pandemic burnout has led some workers to quit, and the Delta variant has put further pressure on intensive-care units. While some New York hospitals and hospital systems say their staffers are almost entirely vaccinated, others are predicting problems; some are even delaying elective surgeries because it's unclear if they'll have enough doctors, nurses and so on to handle the procedures.
It's unclear at this point whether predictions of a staffing apocalypse will come true. It's entirely possible that most unvaccinated workers simply get their shots to keep their jobs; similar mandates have resulted in higher vaccination rates and few departures at companies like United Airlines and at public institutions like New York City's school system . Still, Hochul has shared several ideas to address a potential hospital-staffing crisis, ranging from authorizing retired or out-of-state workers to help out, to activating the National Guard. One mitigating factor: unlike some other U.S. states, New York is not currently in the throes of a major COVID-19 surge; statewide hospitalizations are up from early this summer but nowhere near the levels of the spikes in spring 2020 or winter 2020-21.
Those outside of New York should keep an eye on how the mandate plays out here. Many other states have issued or are eyeing similar requirements, and the Biden Administration is set to require workers at all U.S. hospitals and other medical facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding to be vaccinated, a rule expected to cover more than 17 million Americans. If patient outcomes suffer as a result of staffing shortages triggered by New York's vaccine mandate, leaders elsewhere would be wise to plan accordingly before issuing similar rules of their own or before the Biden mandate comes into effect, which could happen in the coming weeks, barring legal challenges.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
About 471.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of yesterday afternoon, of which nearly 390.7 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 55.4% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 231.8 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 4.7 million people have died. On September 26, there were 304,919 new cases and 4,863 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 4.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 42.9 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 688,000 people have died. On September 26, there were 30,952 new cases and 286 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Sept. 27, 9 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
U.S. President Joe Biden received his Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot today after acknowledging that the U.S. still has work to do to get more people inoculated in the first place. "Boosters are important, but the most important thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated," he said before getting his shot; about 38% of Americans remain unvaccinated. Regulators authorized Pfizer boosters last week for several groups, including Americans 65 and older (Biden is 78) as well as those at higher risk for medical or professional reasons. The process was controversial in part because U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky overruled an advisory committee's vote by recommending boosters even for those under 65 who are in certain high-risk groups; her move was seen by critics as part and parcel with other Biden Administration decisions that privilege the White House’s agenda ahead of the guidance of public health officials and regulators.
U.S. megaretailer Costco is limiting purchases of some household staples, including toilet paper and cleaning products, the New York Times reports. The rule is a result of increased demand for such goods amid the Delta wave as well as ongoing supply chain issues that have been snarling the global economy and throwing the usual "just-in-time" delivery system into chaos. "A year ago, there was a shortage of merchandise,” Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti said on a recent earnings call, referencing the panic buying that marked the early pandemic era. “Now they’ve got plenty of merchandise, but there’s two- or three-week delays on getting it delivered.”
The Grand Princess, the Princess Cruises vessel on which thousands of passengers were stranded amid a coronavirus outbreak early in the U.S. pandemic, returned to sea Saturday for the first time in nearly two years, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Princess Cruises has made several modifications to try and prevent new outbreaks: all passengers are required to be vaccinated, the ship's HVAC system has been upgraded for better ventilation and filtration, and voyages aboard the 2,600-person vessel will be limited to 75% capacity for now.
Coronavirus restrictions will be gradually lifted over the next several weeks in Sydney, Australia, officials there announced today. The rules will be lifted in accordance with local vaccination rates, with more activities allowed as a given area hits benchmarks like 70, 80, and 90% vaccinated. However, all unvaccinated Australians will still be barred from sporting events, restaurants and other public spaces.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Alex Fitzpatrick and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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