Supply of the COVID-19 vaccine in New York remains the overarching obstacle as the state will continue to receive about 300,000 doses a week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said.
At that rate, the pool of eligible New Yorkers to be vaccinated will take “months and months,” he added. There are now more than 7 million who are eligible to be vaccinated in the state, and people with comorbidities like cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes will be able to sign up for appointments starting at midnight on Saturday.
New York has already used about 90% of its overall dose allocation for the week.
“We get a supply on a weekly basis,” Cuomo said. “It’s Monday, already 90% of that allocation is done.”
The state has sought to prioritize health care workers in the first round of vaccinations and unused doses at hospitals will be allocated to people with qualifying health issues starting next week.
So far, more than 2 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in New York, with the vast majority being first doses. Essential workers, as well as restaurant workers, taxi drivers and people who are in facilities for the developmentally disabled also now qualify.
The bottleneck from the federal government has loosened a bit in the last month, when President Joe Biden’s administration announced doses to states would increase by about 16%.
“We need an increase in the federal supply,” Cuomo said. “The Biden administration has increased the federal supply. We know they’re not making it in the basement of the White House. Onyl the federal government can buy the vaccine. But we need more.”
