New York State will receive 170,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine in the coming weeks, Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed, this as COVID cases in the state continue to increase and state officials continue to carefully monitor the increase in hospitalizations.
Frontline healthcare workers and people living in nursing homes and long-term care facilities are expected to be the first priority to receive the first batch of the vaccine made by the pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer.
State officials prepare for a mass distribution of the double-dose vaccine, as COVID cases are on the rise in the country and throughout New York State.
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The state’s positive rate in the last day reached 4.63% and 69 people died of COVID-19.
Hospitalizations have reached 3,924 people.
Nearly every region has seen hospitalizations increase, more than doubling in western New York and the Mohawk Valley in the past three weeks, Cuomo said.
New York’s first delivery of the Pfizer vaccine will be enough for 170,000 New Yorkers.
We expect, if all safety & efficacy approvals are granted, to receive these doses on December 15.
The governor’s “biggest fear” is that the hospital system will be affected by stress and reach a breaking point.
Still, vaccine distribution is a ray of hope, although it presents a new set of challenges. Cuomo has placed Larry Schwartz, a longtime adviser both inside and outside government and a former senior adviser, at the forefront of the effort.
It will take approximately 75% to 80% of the state’s population to be vaccinated for the economy to return to normal, and that could take until September 2021, Cuomo said.
Cuomo wants to ensure that minority and poorer communities have access to the vaccine and plans a public education campaign about the effort.
“The good news is that the vaccine is out there,” Cuomo said. “The more people go to the hospital, the more it depends on us.”
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