CategoryCOVID-19 Newsletters

Federal Update Congress Prepares to Vote on COVID-19 Relief and Government Funding Package Today (December 21st), Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders announced that they had reached an agreement on a new emergency COVID-19 relief and omnibus spending package to avert a government shutdown. The COVID-19 relief package consists of approximately $900 billion of funding for households and businesses, testing, vaccine distribution,…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Updates, Addresses Budget Concerns On December 16th, Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced updates on the State’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts. The State has received 87,750 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to date, with approximately 80,000 additional doses expected in the coming days to support…

State Updates Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order 202.82 on Vaccination Processes On December 13th, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order (EO) 202.82 (available here), which authorizes the use of new/temporary vaccination sites for administering the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. At these Points of Dispensing (PODs) and other vaccination sites, which will be approved and overseen by the…

State Updates  Updates on Vaccine Administration On December 9th, Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced several updates regarding the State’s vaccine administration plan. The federal government will be distributing the vaccine to New York State and to New York City, but the State’s plan will drive allocations of both shipments. Nursing…

Federal Updates Biden Announces HHS Secretary Nominee Xavier Becerra, Other Health Team Members Framing it in the context of day one readiness to address the COVID pandemic, on December 7th President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team announced its selection of an array of health care nominees and appointees for the incoming Federal administration. Biden will nominate Attorney…

Federal Updates HHS Issues RFI on Making COVID-19 Waivers Permanent On November 25th, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a request for information (RFI) regarding temporary regulatory waivers made available during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). HHS is considering making some of the various temporary adjustments to regulations and guidance permanent…

Governor Cuomo Announces Updated COVID-19 Micro-Cluster Focus Zones On November 23rd, Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced new micro-cluster zones across New York State, including new orange “warning” zones on Staten Island and in Monroe and Onondaga Counties, and new yellow “precautionary” zones in Upper Manhattan and Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The…

FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for First At-Home COVID-19 Test On November 17th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the first prescription at-home COVID-19 test. The test, which was developed by Lucira Health, uses molecular amplification technology for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in patients with known or suspected COVID-19. It can be used…

SPG COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy Federal-State Crosswalk SPG has created a new Vaccination Strategy Crosswalk which compares policy and guidance elements of the federal and New York State COVID-19 vaccination playbook and strategy documents released so far. We will update this document when more information is published, and we continue to update our other COVID-19 Resources on an ongoing basis.…

Governor Cuomo Announces New COVID-19 Restrictions in New York Today (November 11th), Governor Cuomo announced that due to a rise in COVID-19 infections, some restrictions will be reimposed on New York State activities. Starting on Friday, November 13th at 10pm, bars and restaurants with state liquor licenses and gyms must close at 10pm. New York State will also…

DFS Extends Emergency Regulations Requiring Insurers to Waive Cost Sharing Today (November 9th), the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) extended emergency regulations which were initially published March 16th that require DFS-regulated insurance plans to waive cost-sharing for: COVID-19 testing/visits, including in-network laboratory tests for COVID-19 and visits to diagnose COVID-19 through telehealth, the emergency department, or at an in-network provider or…

Governor Cuomo Announces New Out-of-State Travel Guidelines On October 31st, Governor Cuomo announced new guidelines that will allow out-of-state travelers coming to New York to “test out” of the mandatory 14-day quarantine. Effective November 4th, out-of-state travelers may test out of the mandatory quarantine as follows: For travelers who were in another state for more than…