NY State Senate Bill 2021-S5398

Senate Bill S5398

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Requires the department of health to provide at least one site in each county of the state which offers COVID-19 vaccinations

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to health
Mar 03, 2021	referred to health

2021-S5398 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6437
Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S1288

2021-S5398 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the department of health to provide at least one site in each county of the state which offers COVID-19 vaccinations and to establish an enrollment portal which shall enable residents to be notified once they become eligible for the vaccine.

2021-S5398 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S5398

SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act relating to requiring the department of health to provide at
least one site in each county of the state which offers COVID-19 vacci-
nations

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to require the state department of
health to locate at least one COVID vaccination site in every county of
the state; each county would have the option to not participate. A
vaccination enrollment portal will also be established to facilitate the
coordination of vaccination appointments.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 - The state Department of Health shall establish at least one
location in each county in the state where COVID-19 vaccinations shall

be available provided, however, that a county may opt out of such
Department of Health vaccination site requirement by providing written
notification of such option to the department.

Section 2 - The state Department of Health shall establish an enrollment
portal enabling residents to receive notification when they become
eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination and the location of the site(s)
nearest the resident.

Section 3 - Effective Date - Immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

As more COVID-19 vaccines become available and are regularly being
delivered to New York State, it is imperative that access to vaccines be
expanded with conscious effort to include our more underserved areas and
rural communities. We have to ensure that every New Yorker who wants a
vaccine can get a vaccine without having to travel multiple hours away
from home. We have seen the efficiency with which the state-run vaccina-
tion sites have operated, however, those sites tend to be clustered in
more highly dense, urban areas and are often difficult or impossible for
people living in rural areas, especially our seniors, to get to. We are
at a crucial moment in this pandemic where we must make it as easy as
possible for people to get vaccinated.This requires that the state
Department of Health use its resources to ensure every county has access
to a state run site, if they would like one, so that we can get everyone
across the State of New York vaccinated in a timely manner in order to
safely get us out of this pandemic, keep people healthy, and reopen the
economy.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Legislation

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2021-S5398 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5398
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 3, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT relating to requiring the department  of  health  to  provide  at
   least  one  site  in  each  county  of the state which offers COVID-19
   vaccinations

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
 the  department  of health shall establish at least one location in each
 county in the state where  COVID-19  vaccinations  shall  be  available;
 provided,  however,  that  a  county  may  opt out of such department of
 health vaccination site requirement by providing written notification of
 such option to the department.
   § 2. The department of health shall  establish  an  enrollment  portal
 enabling residents to receive notification when they become eligible for
 the  COVID-19 vaccination and the location of the site nearest the resi-
 dent.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
 

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10317-03-1

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