During her first pandemic briefing, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $65 million for local health departments to support “quick and reliable distribution” of COVID-19 booster shots.

The governor, a native of Buffalo, made the announcement at the University at Buffalo, where she thanked upstate officials for their work during the pandemic.

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She also said that she was willing to make “tough decisions any day, anywhere if I think they're going to protect the people of this state” when referring to mask mandates in schools.

"The last thing I want to see is a shutdown like we had last year, and there is no need for that," she said. “I'm not leaving open-ended mandates. We'll do it now, and we'll assess.”

The governor also announced that she is working to put in place “mandatory weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated public and charter school employees, and to establish a vaccination requirement for all staff at state-regulated facilities and congregate settings.”