Letter to Governor Hochul with recommended actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 Working Group New York (2020)

As a member of New York's COVID-19 Working Group, CHLP has endorsed this letter to Governor Kathy Hochul ecommending six actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including in regard to both vaccine confidentiality/immunity passport privacy and vetoing the vaccine card/new crime bill:

1. Establish a Statewide COVID-19 and Long COVID-19 Community Advisory Group
2. Increase vaccine access and equity by partnering with community-based organizations
3. Ensure meaningful access to vaccines for justice-involved New Yorkers
4. Reinstate emergency measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on New Yorkers experiencing homelessness
5. Enact the Vaccine Confidentiality and Immunity Passports Privacy Bill
6. Veto S.4516-C/A.7536-B, the Vaccine Card Falsification Crime Bill

The COVID-19 Working Group New York is a coalition of doctors, health care professionals, scientists, social workers, community workers, activists, and epidemiologists committed to a rapid and community-oriented response to the SARSCoV-2 pandemic. Since April 2020, the coalition has submitted evidence-based, community-developed recommendations and strategies to New York State and New York City decision makers to address the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and intervene to fix the fractured, inequitable systems of care that have exacerbated its impact, with low-income communities of color bearing a disproportionate burden of infection, serious illness, and mortality.