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Albany pushing hard for vaccinations, booster shots among healthcare workers, youngsters

Max Schulte
/
WXXI News

Albany is pushing harder for healthcare workers and 12-15-year-olds to get their booster shots, as the Omicron variant of COVID runs wild.

The healthcare system is being drained by this latest surge of the virus and, not only is there a push for boosters, Albany is tightening the rules for nursing home visits. That includes requirements for surgical masks on the visitors and showing a COVID negative test no more than 24 hours old.

"Disappointed and frustrating because if everyone that is eligible for vaccination has been vaccinated and everyone that's eligible for a booster has been boosted, we would be in a much better place than we are right now," said Infectious Disease expert Dr. Thomas Russo. "We just have to keep plugging. Hopefully, people appreciate the value of vaccination and something that's worth pointing out: if you get vaccinated and are optimally protected, that's 24/7 protection."

For the healthcare workers inside, there is no test-out option. The state has lost many staffers in nursing homes because they have refused to be vaccinated, something which has also hit hospitals.

Russo, who's a professor and chief of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs Medical school and staff assistant at the VA Medical Center, said healthcare workers have an obligation to be vaccinated and boosted because of risks.

"Asymptomatic for a couple of days before symptoms develop or even asymptomatic for the entire course and therefore potentially transmit virus to others," he said, "and as healthcare workers, we interact with individuals who can be particularly vulnerable, so it's really an obligation to optimize our protection for ourselves and in that manner we'll minimize the chances of us spreading our virus to our patients."

He said boosters for kids are also important because there are a lot of people on the school bus.

"We should think of a school bus as an indoor setting. It's critical that everyone uses masks at all times," he said. "Ventilation on a bus is going to be less than optimal and, particularly during these cool weather months, the windows will not be open. However, I think that if all the children on the bus and the drivers are all using masks, I think they can safely transport our children to school."

That's particularly important because of the vast number of young people infected in this virus surge.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.
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