Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a)
Definitions.
(1)
Personnel, for the purposes of this section, shall mean all
persons employed or affiliated with a healthcare or residential facility or
agency, whether paid or unpaid, including but not limited to employees, members
of the medical and nursing staff, contract staff, students, and volunteers, who
engage in activities such that if they were infected with influenza, they could
potentially expose patients or residents to the disease.
(2)
Healthcare and residential
facilities and agencies, for the purposes of this section, shall
include:
(i) any facility or institution
included in the definition of hospital in section 2801 of the Public Health Law, including
but not limited to general hospitals, nursing homes, and diagnostic and
treatment centers;
(ii) any agency
established pursuant to article 36 of the Public Health Law, including but not
limited to certified home health agencies, long term home health care programs,
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) home care programs, licensed home
care service agencies, and limited licensed home care service agencies;
and
(iii) hospices as defined in
section 4002 of the Public Health Law.
(3)
Influenza
season, for the purposes of this section, shall mean the period of
time during which influenza is prevalent as determined by the
commissioner.
(4)
Patient or resident, for the purposes of this
section, shall mean any person receiving services from a healthcare or
residential facility or agency, including but not limited to inpatients and
outpatients, overnight residents, adult day health care participants, and home
care and hospice patients, as well as any person presenting for registration or
admission at a healthcare or residential facility or agency.
(5)
Influenza vaccine or
vaccine, for the purposes of this section, means a vaccine
currently licensed for immunization and distribution in the United States by
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for active immunization for the
prevention of influenza disease caused by influenza virus(es), or authorized
for such use by the FDA pursuant to an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or as
an Emergency Investigational New Drug (EIND).
(b) All healthcare and residential facilities
and agencies shall determine and document which persons qualify as personnel
under this section.
(c) All
healthcare and residential facilities and agencies shall document the influenza
vaccination status of all personnel for the current influenza season in each
individual's personnel record or other appropriate record. Documentation of
vaccination must include:
(1) a document,
prepared by the licensed healthcare practitioner who administered the vaccine,
indicating that one dose of influenza vaccine was administered, and specifying
the vaccine formulation and the date of administration; or
(2) for personnel employed by a healthcare
employer other than the healthcare or residential facility or agency in which
he or she is providing service, an attestation by the employer that the
employee(s) named in the attestation have been vaccinated against influenza for
the current influenza season, and that the healthcare employer maintains
documentation of vaccination of those employees, as described in paragraph (1)
of this subdivision; or
(3) for
student personnel, an attestation by the professional school that the
student(s) named in the attestation have been vaccinated against influenza for
the current influenza season, and that the school maintains documentation of
vaccination of those students, as described in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision.
(d) During
the influenza season, all healthcare and residential facilities and agencies
shall ensure that all personnel not vaccinated against influenza for the
current influenza season wear a surgical or procedure mask while in areas where
patients or residents are typically present, except that:
(1) when personnel provide services outside
the home of a patient or resident, and not inside a healthcare or residential
facility, mask wear shall not be required by this section, provided that this
paragraph shall not be interpreted as eliminating any requirement that
personnel wear a mask pursuant to standard and transmission-based precautions
not addressed by this section;
(2)
personnel required to wear a mask by this subdivision, but who provide speech
therapy services, may remove the mask when necessary to deliver care, such as
when modeling speech; and
(3) for
any person who lip reads, personnel required to wear a mask by this subdivision
may remove the mask when necessary for communication.
(e) Upon the request of the department, a
healthcare or residential facility or agency must report the number and
percentage of personnel that have been vaccinated against influenza for the
current influenza season.
(f) All
healthcare and residential facilities and agencies shall develop and implement
a policy and procedure to ensure compliance with the provisions of this
section. The policy and procedure shall include, but is not limited to,
identification of those areas where unvaccinated personnel must wear a mask
pursuant to subdivision (d) of this section.
(g) Healthcare and residential facilities and
agencies shall supply surgical or procedure masks required by this section at
no cost to personnel.
(h) Nothing
in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting any healthcare or
residential facility or agency from adopting policies that are more stringent
than the requirements of this section.
