Overview: Unvaccinated New York health care workers could lose jobs as soon as today over mandate; police issues in Massachusets and L.A.

Tens of thousands of New York health care workers could lose jobs as soon as today over vaccine: COVID-19 updates Tens of thousands of health care workers across New York could lose their jobs as soon as today, the deadline for vaccination. Latest COVID news. Christal Hayes and John Bacon USA TODAY

Tens of thousands of health care workers across New York state could lose their jobs as soon as today, the state-imposed deadline for them to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

All health care workers at hospitals and nursing homes are required to have at least one dose under the mandate issued last month by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Home care, hospice and adult care workers must be vaccinated by Oct. 7 under the rules, which some workers are challenging in the courts.

About 84% of the state's hospital employees were fully vaccinated as of last week. It was not clear how many others had received one shot. The state Labor Department issued a guidance that those who lose their jobs won't be eligible for unemployment benefits in most cases.

Gov. Kathy Hochul says she is considering plans to declare a state of emergency, bring in the National Guard and hire workers from others states and countries if staffing issues become dangerously low. ...

Other developments include:  ...

►In Milwaukee, Lancaster School will transition to virtual learning until Oct. 5 after 3% or more of the total school population tested positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period, according to a Sunday news release from Milwaukee Public Schools. 

►President Joe Biden urged those eligible for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to take them, calling them a "key step" in fighting the pandemic. Biden said he also plans to get his booster as soon as he can.

--  The State Police Association of Massachusetts said dozens of troopers are planning to leave their jobs after a judge on Thursday denied a request to delay Gov. Charlie Baker’s state employee COVID-19 vaccine mandate. ...

--Public health officials in Los Angeles have identified 211 coronavirus outbreaks at police or fire agencies throughout the county since the start of the pandemic, according to data obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The outbreaks, accounting for more than 2,500 cases from March 2020 to last month, represent 9% of total workplace outbreaks across the county, the newspaper reported Sunday. Outbreaks have occurred regularly even as vaccination rates increased among police and fire personnel and the number of individual coronavirus cases per outbreak has fallen since last winter.  ...