Friday is the main vaccination deadline for health care workers | Local news

People working in non-hospital or long-term care settings must be vaccinated with at least one COVID-19 vaccine or tax exempted by this Friday.

“Remember that there are no philosophical exceptions to these vaccine obligations,” Cheryl Betigor, Deputy Health Commissioner, said in a virtual briefing Wednesday. “The test is just an alternative option for those with religious or medical exemptions.”

October 15 was the deadline for hospital, long-term care, and university staff to receive at least one vaccination.

“We are still waiting for the final data from the last few days before the mandate came into effect and the results of the surveys submitted to the long-term care facility,” Betty Goal said.

“But so far, the data looked very promising, including the surge in long-term care worker immunization rates to at least 90%.”

On Wednesday, the White House announced plans to roll out a pediatric vaccine. The Biden administration has secured sufficient supplies to vaccinate 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 if the vaccine is approved for that age group. The FDA’s Vaccine Advisors will meet next week to consider requesting Pfizer to approve vaccines for children.

With FDA approval in the first week of November, children aged 5 to 11 will be in Philadelphia hospitals, federal-qualified health centers, pharmacies, and other pediatric care providers, according to Betty Goal. You may be able to start vaccination from November 4th. She said that 70% of children’s immune donors are allowed to receive the COVID vaccine.

“Our understanding is that people aged 5 to 11 will have enough vaccine. It will probably be possible in a few days, as well as booster immunization if you struggle to get the vaccine on the first day. 1 week.”

She expressed concern about the potential for a surge in COVID cases as the weather gets colder.

“I know that people will soon spend more time inside as we are beginning to feel the cold of autumn in the air. There are clear options in front of us. “Bettigole said.

“We can do everything we can to avoid the fall and winter surge in COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths, or we can choose to protect ourselves, our families and each other. I can do it.”

“For those who haven’t been vaccinated yet, it means stepping up and taking shots,” Betty Goal continued. “For those who are vaccinated, that means remembering that we haven’t left the forest yet.”

New York City has announced the mandatory COVID vaccine for all local government workers. Otherwise, they will be on unpaid vacation. Betigor said this is not what is currently being discussed for Philadelphia city workers.

“For city workers, there is no obligation for the kind of vaccine that New York has, so it is neither a vaccine nor an obligatory abolition,” she explained. “You need to be vaccinated or have a double mask.”

“Because we have all these obligations, it depends on where we are in this pandemic,” Betty Goal continued. “So things aren’t good because we’re still in Philadelphia and we still have a high infection rate. There are still quite a few people in the hospital, but we don’t see a surge in cases. “

“I’ve heard from many people about the city that they see people in large gatherings hidden in the door,” she continued.

“If you start doing that, the number of cases will skyrocket. If you can cover it, you don’t have to take on more obligations than it does now.”

Bettigole said the city has an average of about 255 new cases a day.

She reiterated the importance of wearing a mask if she was in a crowded area indoors, gathering outdoors instead of indoors if she had the option, and taking booster shots if she was in the recommended group. rice field. Boosters are recommended for people over the age of 65, with underlying illness, or working in high-risk occupations.

As of Wednesday, 1,076,947 inhabitants had been vaccinated at least once, and more than 800,000 were fully vaccinated, according to the Philadelphia Public Health Service. From a fairness perspective, Betigor said the city continues to make progress in closing the gap between vaccination for adults under the age of 45 and vaccines for those over the age of 45.