New virus variant detected in New York

Albany, NY- New York, once the center of the pandemic, faced a growing crisis Monday over the slow pace of coronavirus vaccination, as the death toll continues to rise in the second wave, Governor Andrew M Cuomo is receiving increasing pressure to modify the process.

The small number of people who have received the vaccine is particularly notable in New York City, where just 110,000 people – in a city of more than eight million people – have received the first of two doses. needed to help prevent severe cases of the disease. This represents about a quarter of the total number received by the city.

Concern about vaccination in New York reflects the problems reported during a reduced vaccination nationwide, and it occurs as a man in his 60s became the state’s first confirmed case of a more contagious variant of the virus.

The man is recovering, although Cuomo said they were the first indications that the case – which occurred in the city of Saratoga Springs, located in the north of the state – was evidence of a community spread.

“I think it’s a lot more spread out than people think,” Cuomo said.

Confirmation of the variant in New York could complicate the planned inoculation of some 20 million residents, while criticism of that process begins to mount.

On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio called on the Cuomo administration to authorize inoculation to a larger number of essential workers and New Yorkers 75 and older.

“Much more can be done if both categories are approved,” De Blasio said at a news conference on Monday.

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