Although the New York government isn’t actively considering a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public school students across the state, the option remains on the table, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul. During the Oct. 27 press conference, Hochul noted that a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel voted to recommend the a lower dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. “We now have this available. We’ve been making preparations for weeks now,” she said, adding that the New York government has been in regular communication with all the providers, so that there will be various places that parents can go to to have their children vaccinated as soon as the vaccine becomes available. When a reporter asked whether there will be a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in public schools, Hochul said a mandate is not necessary at this point, because the New York’s COVID-19 numbers are decreasing. “That’s …