Gov. Kathy Hochul on school vaccine mandate: “I don’t have the ability”

Rochester, New York – On Wednesday Gov. Kathy Hochul clarified that at the moment she does not have the power in terms of mandating vaccines for all school staff.

According to Hochul, the state legislature did not give her the executive powers necessary to make the move. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s powers expired when New York’s state of emergency expired in June.

“So I can’t mandate that right now, but I also plan on working,” Hochul said. “I am working already with everyone who’s involved to see if we can get to the same outcome.”

On Tuesday Hochul said the mandate would include the option of either getting the vaccine or face weekly testing “for now.” She made vaccination a goal as part of her first day in office, where she introduced several measures including immediately directing the New York State Department of Health to require universal masking in New York’s schools.

New York City already implemented a vaccine requirement of its own but does not give the option of weekly testing.

The proposed guidance is causing some frustration in at least one local district.

The Rochester City School District announced its teachers and staff will have to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or face weekly testing come the fall.

According to local school leaders, they had no plans to implement a vaccine mandate, at least for students.

Hochul says she’s working closely with superintendents and school boards to get those vaccine mandates in place and she added that more guidance would be “coming soon.”