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(Albany, NY) The Senate Democratic Majority today advanced legislation to stand up for workers in New York State.

This package will enact the “NY Hero Act” sponsored by Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, which requires the creation of health and safety standards for COVID-19 and other airborne infectious diseases in the workplace guaranteeing a greater employee voice in the workplace.

This package also includes legislation to encourage employer use of shared work programs to avoid layoffs and legislation to increase the amount of shared work benefits to the maximum allowed by federal law. In addition, these bills will promote career paths into healthcare, permit employee time off for vaccinations to be administered, and grant an enhanced death benefit to families of deceased public employees.

“To address the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, we must protect and support a strong workforce,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. “Workers across the state have shown incredible selflessness and perseverance throughout the pandemic, and this legislation is a step in recognizing and addressing their sacrifices. I commend my colleagues in the Senate Majority for sponsoring this legislation that will have a positive impact on so many hardworking New Yorkers.”

The legislation passed by the Senate Majority includes:

• NY Hero Act: This bill, S.1034A, sponsored by Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, will implement airborne infectious disease standards requiring employers to implement an infectious disease exposure prevention plan.
• Shared Work Program Petition: This bill, S.17A, sponsored by Senator Shelley B. Mayer, will allow employees to petition their employer to apply for the shared work program in order to avoid layoffs or to rehire laid off workers.
• Vaccination Leave: This bill, S.2588A, sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes, will  grant public and private employees four hours of time off, per dose, to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
• Healthcare Employment Incentivization: This bill, S.3470, sponsored by Senator Tim Kennedy will require the New York State Department of Labor and Department of Health to establish a program to incentivize unemployed individuals to enter short-staffed jobs in healthcare by expediting training and certification.
• Shared Work Program Benefit Extension: This bill, S.4049, sponsored by Senator Jessica Ramos to increase the amount of unemployment insurance benefits an employee can claim under the shared work program to limits of the federal maximum.
• Public Employee Death Benefit: This bill, S.4681, sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes, will extend previously enacted accidental death benefits to the families of frontline workers who have passed away due to COVID-19.

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• Overview
• Trainings
• Resources

Overview

Become a vaccinator!

New York State is encouraging eligible New Yorkers to take the required trainings to become vaccinators and support the State’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

Governor Cuomo signed an Executive Order expanding the eligible pool of trainees who can administer vaccinations at a point of dispensing or “POD site” (flexible vaccination sites that can be set up in any community) using a non-patient specific order provided they first receive training. A non-patient specific standing order is a general order to vaccinate anyone who comes to be vaccinated at a POD and doesn’t name each person. These include:

• Licensed practical nurses (LPNs)
  • Unlike other healthcare settings, supervision by a Registered Nurse (RN) is not required in a POD site for LPNs to vaccinate using a non-patient specific standing order.
• Pharmacists who are not certified to administer immunizations by the New York State Education Department (SED)
• Midwives who are not certified to administer immunizations by SED
• Dentists
• Dental hygienists who have been issued a dental hygiene restricted local infiltration anesthesia/nitrous oxide analgesia certificate
• Podiatrists
• Emergency Medical Technicians
• Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians
• Students in eligible education programs (medicine, nursing, PA, pharmacy students who do not have a limited permit that includes a certificate to administer vaccinations, dentistry, podiatry, and midwifery)
• Temporarily-Licensed Pharmacy Technicians

All POD sites that have these non-traditional vaccinators (referred to below as “new vaccinators”) must have oversight from or be approved by New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) or the applicable Local Health Department, and must have medical oversight by a licensed physician, licensed physician assistant (PA), or certified nurse practitioner (NP). The individuals providing such medical oversight must have a current certification in CPR.

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Trainings

The following training requirements are for all new vaccinators, except for temporarily-licensed pharmacy technicians. Pharmacy technicians should refer to the Interim Guidance Implementing Executive Order 202.90 – Licensing of Temporarily-Licensed Pharmacy Technicians for more information, including certification and training requirements, found at the following link: http://www.op.nysed.gov/COVID-19tlpt.html

Required Training Under the Executive Order

1. Students: Sign up at https://apps.health.ny.gov/public/studentvolunteer/instructions
   
   For all other new vaccinators: Sign up at ServNYhttps://apps.health.ny.gov/pub/servny/.Volunteers are notified of opportunities based on the preferences indicated at registration.  In some cases, you may hear from a local Medical Reserve Corps rather than from the State of New York. Deployment to vaccinate at a POD site will depend on the staffing needs of the POD site. In some cases, there may be a need to fill non-vaccinator roles. Registering with ServNY does not guarantee deployment to a POD site.
    
2. Complete the online NYSDOH COVID-19 Vaccine Training for Vaccinators modules. There are four training modules:
   • Background on COVID-19 Vaccines:
   • COVID-19 Vaccine Considerations, Patient Screening, Education, and Consent
   • COVID-19 Vaccine Administration, Anaphylaxis, and Post-Vaccination Information:
   • COVID-19 Vaccine Shipping, Storage, and Handling
      
3. Complete the online Privacy and Security of Health Information in New York State module.
    
4. Complete in-person clinical vaccine administration training with assessment of skills and competencies in accordance with NYSDOH guidance.  
   • For students, vaccine administration training and skills assessment must be attested to and provided by their educational institution in accordance with NYSDOH guidance.
   • For all other new vaccinators, the in-person vaccine administration training must cover the areas listed in the Immunization Action Coalition Skills Checklist for Vaccine Administration. The assessment of the individual’s skills and competencies must be done using this checklist, with all areas identified as meeting or exceeding required skills and competencies for vaccine administration.
     • The checklist may be signed by a physician, PA, NP, or RN OR a certified EMS provider who is designated as an evaluator after their skills have been directly observed and signed off by the licensed physician, licensed PA, or certified NP who is medically supervising the POD or the EMS agency Medical Director. Preferred EMS evaluators include Certified Lab Instructors, Certified Instructor Coordinator, Field Training Officers, EMS Training Coordinators.
     • The training and skills assessment can be done at the POD site or, for EMS providers, by the EMS agency.
        
5. Additional requirements for students: Have completed, at a minimum, at least 1 year of clinical experience, as attested to by their educational institution in accordance with NYSDOH guidance.
    
6. For any providers who are licensed or certified outside of NYS, in order to be covered by the liability immunity under the PREP Act: Complete the CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Training modules found here:  https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/training.html

How to Complete the Online NYSDOH COVID-19 Vaccine Training for Vaccinators and the Privacy and Security of Health Information in NYS modules

1. For non EMS providers, you must sign in or register on the New York State Department of Health’s Learning Management System (LMS).
   For EMS providers, go to www.VitalSignsAcademy.com and click on the top right hand side of the page “Login/Register”. 
2. You must complete the training modules in your system.To access the direct modules in the LMS system:
   Module 1 – Background on COVID-19 Vaccines
   Module 2 – COVID-19 Vaccine Considerations
   Module 3 – COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
   Module 4 – Shipping, Storage, and Handling
   Privacy and Security of Health Information in New York State
   
   For EMS providers, direct links will be available once you have logged in to www.VitalSignsAcademy.com.

*updated 2/19/2021

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Resources

• NYSDOH COVID-19 Vaccine Information for Providers
• CDC COVID-19 Vaccine
• Immunization Action Coalition COVID-19 Vaccine
• Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
• Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
• CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Clinical Training and Resources for HCPs
• CDC Engaging in Effective COVID-19 Vaccine Conversations
• CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Toolkits