Governor Kathy Hochul made the morning show rounds on her second day in office, giving everyone an idea of what her administration will be like.
In an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition, she said she will take a different approach to vaccination:
“I’m going to be doing more to empower local government officials who spend all their days training for this,” she said, “the local health departments, the emergency management individuals who know how to get vaccines out, so in my opinion it does not have to be so top heavy.”
She defended her statewide mask mandate, saying it takes the heat off local officlals.
“They want to be able to go back to their parents at a school board meeting and say, ‘This is a state mandate, we have to follow it,’ so because they didn’t have that they were the ones that were the brunt of all the criticism, and I have no trouble, problem at all, assuming that responsibility,” she said.
Hochul was asked about the reporting of nursing home deaths under Governor Cuomo, and what she will do differently.
“There are presumed and confirmed deaths,” she said, “and people should know both. Also we’re using CDC numbers which will be consistent, so there’s no opportunity for us to mask those numbers, nor would I want to mask those numbers. The public deserves a clear honest picture of what’s happening.”
Separately, Hochul has reportedly made her choice for lieutenant governor – State Senator Brian Benjamin of Harlem. A formal announcement is due later Thursday.