For Immediate Release

December 31, 2021

ALBANY, NY – United University Professions President Frederick E. Kowal today issued the following statement in response to Governor Hochul's latest vaccination mandate.

“United University Professions has long supported efforts to get the entire SUNY community vaccinated, not only for the health and safety of students, staff and UUP members, but also for the benefit of all New Yorkers, which is why we applaud Governor Hochul’s latest effort announced today. For this approach to be successful and make our communities safer, this needs to be done right.

"We’ve successfully worked through this process with the Governor when vaccines for our members at the SUNY hospitals were mandated. Our campuses are some of the safest places in New York, in no small part because UUP has been successful at encouraging members to be vaccinated. This can be seen in the high vaccination rate of our members at over 90 percent. We look forward to working with Governor Hochul and her staff to discuss this plan and negotiate its implementation to ensure the hard fought and won due process rights of our members are protected, while also ensuring the health and safety of the communities we serve.”