New York's largest health provider is the first hospital to announce it is firing employees for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the state's Monday deadline.
Northwell Health announced that it had fired about two dozen 'unvaccinated leaders' at management level or above out of around 74,000 employees.
With just 84 percent of 450,000 hospital staff in New York having received at least one dose of the vaccine, that means another 72,000 hospital workers could also be suspended or fired for refusing to be inoculated, according to state data.
Northwell Health (pictured) became the first hospital system in New York to announce that it had fired employees - about two dozen out of 74,000 - when the state's vaccine mandate came into effect on Monday
Severe shortages are expected and hospital administrators have prepared contingency plans that included cutting back on noncritical services and limiting admissions at nursing homes.
New York Gov Kathy Hochul said this weekend she was prepared to call in medically trained National Guard members and retirees, or vaccinated workers from outside the state, to fill any gaps.
The governor has held firm on the mandate in the face of pleas to delay it and multiple lawsuits challenging its constitutionality.
The mandate for healthcare workers was issued in August by former Gov Andrew Cuomo and supported by Hochul when she succeeded him.
All health care workers in New York state at hospitals and nursing homes were required to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by
