Dentists and dental hygienists are now authorized to give COVID-19 vaccination

Apr 7, 2024

Pursuant to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order # 202.82, just made public, dentists and dental hygienists (a dental hygienist must be certified for local infiltration anesthesia) are now authorized to administer vaccinations for COVID-19.  See the sections pertaining to dentistry below. 

 

DECEMBER 13, 2020 

Albany, NY

No. 202.82: Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency

No. 202.82

Section 6601 of the Education Law insofar as it limits the practice of dentistry to the treatment of the mouth and adjacent tissue, to the exclusion of any other part of the human body, so that, for the purposes of this Executive Order only, dentists may administer vaccinations against influenza and COVID-19 pursuant to a non-patient specific order at Points of Dispensing (POD) sites overseen or approved by the New York State Department of Health or local health departments and operated under the medical supervision of licensed physicians, licensed physician assistants, or certified nurse practitioners, provided such dentists first receive training in the following areas, as determined by the Commissioner of Health after consultation with the Commissioner of Education: (1) techniques, indications, precautions, contraindications, infection control practices; (2) use of personal protective equipment sufficient to provide the basic level of competence for such tasks; and (3) a current certificate in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which at a minimum must include a certification in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation by an online program that has received accreditation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), or the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education;

  • Subdivision 1 of section 6606 of the Education Law and section 61.9 of Title 8 of the NYCRR insofar as they restrict the practice of dental hygiene to the performance of dental services and require that the practice of dental hygiene be conducted in the office of any licensed dentist or appropriately equipped school or public institution, under the supervision of a dentist, so that, for the purposes of this Executive Order only, dental hygienists who have been issued a dental hygiene restricted local infiltration anesthesia/nitrous oxide analgesia certificate in accordance with section 6605-b of the Education Law and section 61.17 of Title 8 of the NYCRR may administer vaccinations against influenza and COVID-19 pursuant to a non-patient specific order at Points of Dispensing (POD) sites overseen or approved by the New York State Department of Health or local health departments and operated under the medical supervision of licensed physicians, licensed physician assistants, or certified nurse practitioners, provided such dental hygienists first receive training in the following areas, as determined by the Commissioner of Health after consultation with the Commissioner of Education: (1) techniques, indications, precautions, contraindications, infection control practices; (2) use of personal protective equipment sufficient to provide the basic level of competence for such tasks; and (3) a current certificate in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which at a minimum must include a certification in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation by an online program that has received accreditation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), or the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education;…
  • …A dentistry program approved and/or registered by the State Education Department pursuant to Article 133 of the Education Law and Part 61 of Title 8 of the NYCRR;