Mon, Mar 29th 2021 01:55 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced a new expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in New York. Beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 30, all New Yorkers 30 years of age and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine. Beginning April 6, universal eligibility goes into effect and all New Yorkers 16 years of age and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine.
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Mon, Mar 29th 2021 11:55 am
The patience of thousands of NY seniors and their families has finally been rewarded with relaxed visitation and communal activities now being authorized by the New York State Department of Health, the regulating agency.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 04:50 pm
Since the pandemic began a year ago, University at Buffalo researchers and the Erie County Public Health Laboratory have been using a process called genomic sequencing to decode the genes of SARS-CoV2 and better understand how it is evolving.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 04:50 pm
On Friday, New York Senate Republican Leader Robert Ortt was joined by State Sens. Ed Rath and George Borrello, and Assembly members Angelo Morinello and Mike Norris, to discuss a newly introduced resolution (J541) to rescind Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 11 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants. The event was held at Soliday's Restaurant in Niagara Falls.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 04:10 pm
Earlier this week, New York Attorney General Letitia James took action to protect millions of New Yorkers and block debt collectors from seizing billions of dollars in emergency stimulus payments authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 03:50 pm
The U.S. Small Business Administration is increasing the maximum amount small businesses and nonprofit organizations can borrow through its COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Starting the week of April 6, the SBA is raising the loan limit for the COVID-19 EIDL program from six months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $150,000 to up to 24 months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $500,000.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 03:45 pm
Congressman Brian Higgins announced federal funding totaling $10,819,250 for Neighborhood Health Center, Community Health Center of Buffalo (CHCB), and Jericho Road Community Health Center. The funding, included in the American Rescue Plan, will help health centers expand access to COVID-19 vaccines in underserved communities.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 03:45 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday announced the launch of Excelsior Pass, a free, voluntary platform developed in partnership with IBM, which, his team said, "utilizes proven, secure technology to confirm an individual's recent negative PCR or antigen test result or proof of vaccination to help fast-track the reopening of businesses and event venues in accordance with New York State Department of Health guidelines."
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 02:25 pm
The Erie County Department of Health on Friday announced five specimens collected from Erie County residents in January have been identified as containing COVID-19 "California variants." This comes from the genetic sequencing of nearly 1,000 specimens by the interdisciplinary team at the University at Buffalo's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 12:40 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced the launch of a free, online citizen public health training course for New Yorkers to learn about preparedness for and prevention of public health emergencies from top public health experts.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 12:35 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced 14 community-based pop-up vaccination sites are coming online over the next week at houses of worship, community centers and local businesses. These sites are expected to vaccinate more than 4,200 people throughout the week.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 10:50 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker on Thursday announced the release of revised nursing home visitation guidance to align with guidelines recently released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 10:20 am
Due to a larger-than-expected influx of coronavirus vaccine doses from New York state, the Allegany County Department of Health is temporarily opening registration for vaccinations appointments to eligible residents in seven neighboring counties at its mass vaccination site in Wellsville through Sunday.
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Fri, Mar 26th 2021 10:15 am
Congressman Brian Higgins, D-NY-26 announced President Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 1276, the VA VACCINE Act of 2021, which expands the number of veterans eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to include all veterans, not just those currently enrolled in the VA health care system.
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Wed, Mar 24th 2021 02:20 pm
The Niagara County Department of Health received 500 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine from New York state and quickly set up point-of-dispensing (POD) operations to ensure prompt use.
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Wed, Mar 24th 2021 12:40 pm
New York Attorney General Letitia James, as part of a coalition of 12 attorneys general, on Wednesday called on Facebook and Twitter to take stronger measures to stop the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine disinformation being spread by "anti-vaxxers" on their social media platforms.
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Wed, Mar 24th 2021 09:55 am
It has been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic made its way to Western New York. While the year has been filled with sadness, fear and uncertainty, there have also been signs of hope and resilience.
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Wed, Mar 24th 2021 09:55 am
A joint statement of Congressman Brian Higgins (D-NY-26) and the Hon. Wayne Easter, P.C., M.P., co-chairs of the U.S. and Canadian sections of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG), respectively:
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Wed, Mar 24th 2021 09:55 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced expanded tax credits available through NY State of Health, New York's health plan marketplace. The expansion will result in more New Yorkers being eligible for financial assistance and the further reduction in health insurance premiums in New York.
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Tue, Mar 23rd 2021 05:40 pm
Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic Health had been preparing to implement its 2020-25 strategic plan. Like many things, the plan was put on hold to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Tue, Mar 23rd 2021 12:45 pm
Republican Assemblyman Angelo Morinello joined members of the Senate and Assembly minority conferences on Monday for a press conference calling for the repeal of two of Gov. Cuomo's executive orders - 202.52 and 202.74 - which require customers to purchase food with any order of an alcoholic beverage, while forcing restaurants and bars to close at 11p.m.
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Mon, Mar 22nd 2021 02:05 pm
Niagara County Legislature Chairwoman Becky Wydysh and Public Health Director Daniel J. Stapleton on Monday said they are in favor of allowing school districts that can meet the new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) safety measure to fully reopen - provided they continue to meet the other existing opening guidelines.
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Mon, Mar 22nd 2021 01:45 pm
Congressman Brian Higgins is continuing to push for a full reopening of the border between the U.S. and Canada by July and encouraging a partial reopening, including additional exemptions to allow families to reunite, much sooner. Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the northern border closing to nonessential travel.
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Mon, Mar 22nd 2021 01:40 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced the launch of the "Roll Up Your Sleeve" campaign to promote houses of worship of all faiths across the state to sign up as vaccination sites for their communities. Worship sites can begin to serve as points of distribution for the COVID-19 vaccine starting in April, significantly increasing the number of doses they can administer.
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Mon, Mar 22nd 2021 01:20 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new guidance has been rolled out allowing pharmacies to vaccinate New Yorkers with comorbidities. Pharmacies were previously able to vaccinate New Yorkers over the age of 60 and teachers.
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Fri, Mar 19th 2021 05:15 pm
The U.S. Small Business Administration is launching a splash page for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) application portal in anticipation of opening applications for the much-anticipated critical economic relief program on Thursday, April 8.
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Fri, Mar 19th 2021 05:10 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday announced the "New York Forward" COVID-safe offices partnership with major commercial real estate partners to expand access to COVID-19 testing for employers. As part of the initiative, 21 participating landlords have committed to provide space and facilitate access to testing services for tenants interested in conducting regular diagnostic testing of their employees.
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Fri, Mar 19th 2021 05:05 pm
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted "Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention."
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Thu, Mar 18th 2021 10:30 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced 16 community-based pop-up vaccination sites are coming online over the next week at churches, public housing developments and community centers. These sites are expected to vaccinate more than 4,500 people throughout the week.
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Thu, Mar 18th 2021 10:30 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was joined by Major League Baseball dignitaries on Thursday as he announced the New York Mets and New York Yankees can resume play with spectators in the stadiums beginning April 1.
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Thu, Mar 18th 2021 09:30 am
HEALTHeLINK is the recipient of federal funding from the Strengthening the Technical Advancement and Readiness of Public Health via Health Information Exchange (The STAR HIE Program): "Improving COVID-19 Vaccination Data: Connecting Immunization Information Systems (IIS) to Health Information Exchanges" from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
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Wed, Mar 17th 2021 02:35 pm
Congressman Brian Higgins, D-NY-26, announced school districts in Erie and Niagara counties will receive over $391 million in funding provided through the American Rescue Plan recently approved by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden.
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Wed, Mar 17th 2021 10:45 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced appointments are now available at 10 new state-run mass-vaccination sites across the state, including The Conference & Event Center Niagara Falls at 101 Old Falls St. All 10 sites will open Friday, March 19, and will operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Each site will have the ability to vaccinate more than 1,000 New Yorkers daily, dependent on supply from the federal government.
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Wed, Mar 17th 2021 09:50 am
Congressman Chris Jacobs, R-NY-27, cosponsored and helped pass H.R. 1799, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Extension Act.
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Tue, Mar 16th 2021 02:15 pm
U.S. Reps. Brian Higgins (D-NY-26), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), chairman of the House Ways and Subcommittee on Oversight, celebrated a decision by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to allow recipients of stimulus checks under the CARES Act to enjoy their full stimulus award. Under the IRS's move, Americans who claim the recovery rebate credit will not have their stimulus garnished or diminished by existing federal tax liabilities.
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Tue, Mar 16th 2021 11:30 am
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced extended deferment periods for all disaster loans, including the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, until 2022.
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Mon, Mar 15th 2021 07:15 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced wedding receptions and catered events can resume statewide. All venues hosting weddings and catered events must follow the state's strict health and safety protocols, including the following requirements:
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Mon, Mar 15th 2021 03:20 pm
Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association and the New York State Center for Assisted Living (NYSHFA/NYSCAL) - a statewide organization representing over 425 skilled nursing and assisted living providers - issued the following statement in response to various "nursing home reform" bills in the Legislature.
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Fri, Mar 12th 2021 05:30 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday signed legislation (S.2588-A/A.3354-B) granting public and private employees time off to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Under this new law, employees will be granted up to four hours of excused leave per injection that will not be charged against any other leave the employee has earned or accrued.
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Fri, Mar 12th 2021 05:25 pm
Almost exactly a year to the day since the coronavirus global pandemic was declared, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul marked the solemn occasion in downtown Buffalo at Catholic Health's Associate Regional Training Center by thanking health care workers for their "courage" and received a dose of the life-saving vaccine.
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