Healthcare Workers

"We've come a long way," Hochul said, noting vaccines,  booster shots and testing are more available.

Cathy Papia, a registered nurse in the Buffalo General ICU did not hesitate to get vaccinated. "I'm still at the bedside with families sobbing and crying with their dying family members on FaceTime because they can't be there.”

For Tucson physician Esther Kim, sanitizing herself and her clothes when she gets home before greeting her young children is one of the hardest parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Especially after so much stress at work, you want to come home and snuggle with your kids," she says.

The child care program, set up in response to COVID-19 will serve children of first responders, critical health

care workers and essential public sector workers, including child safety workers.