“I, Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the Laws of the State of New York, hereby find, pursuant to Section 28 of Article 2-B of the Executive Law, that a disaster has occurred in New York State,” the declaration reads.
“The Executive Order enables us to respond more swiftly, and allows health care professionals to take additional steps that will help get more New Yorkers vaccinated,” Hochul said in a thread on Twitter announcing the move.
The declaration, which will be in effect through August 28, will expand the ranks of medical professionals who can administer monkey pox vaccinations to include midwives, EMS providers and pharmacists. It also allows physicians and nurse practitioners to issue “non-patient specific” standing orders for vaccines and requires that health care providers send vaccination data back to the state, THE HILL reported.
The news comes amid a rising number of monkey pox cases in the United States. According to Hochul, more than one in four of the country’s monkey pox cases are in New York state. There have been 1,838 cases of the virus reported in New York as of Friday, per the declaration.
The virus can cause swollen lymph nodes, fever, chills, rash and eventually lesions that fall off.
MA/PR