“Unfortunately, the state’s rigid and heavy-handed management of vaccine distribution has made it impossible for us to all move in the same direction,” Carbone said. “Bigger government and more government is always never the answer when it comes to solving our most challenging issues.”
HAPPENING NOW: Monroe County Legislator President Joe Carbone and other republican legislators are calling on Governor Cuomo to transfer COVID-19 vaccine distribution responsibilities to counties. @news10nbc pic.twitter.com/zZnmrk3ino
— Raven Tiara Brown (@WHEC_RBrown) January 26, 2021
The governor has continued to call out the federal government for its handling of vaccine distribution, as the state received roughly 50,000 fewer doses each of the last two weeks. Last week, Cuomo called on Pfizer to sell its doses directly to the state, though, Pfizer’s CEO says the company would need federal approval, first.
Carbone says it would be up to the Monroe County Health Department to develop an actual plan.
In a statement to News10NBC, Jack Sterne, the Administration Spokesperson for Governor Cuomo said:
“The Trump administration’s incompetence is the singular cause of the chaotic vaccine rollout — but we didn’t hear these legislators speaking up when the feds under Trump lied that more doses were on the way and then cut our allocation while telling us to make more New Yorkers eligible. These craven politicians need to stop playing politics when lives are at stake, and rather than attack the people who are actually getting shots in arms, they should have used their voices to call for federal fixes while their party was still in the White House. Despite these federal failures, New York has administered over 1.5 million shots in a matter of weeks, while establishing an extensive network of 3,000 distribution sites that could inject 100,000 New Yorkers a day if we had the supply. County governments are an important part of our network, vaccinating essential workers, and if the federal government provides the doses, we will increase everyone’s supply — but these politicians should be asking how they can help, rather than grandstanding and taking cheap shots from the cheap seats.”
News10NBC has also reached out to Dr. Michael Mendoza, and county executive Adam Bello for a response, we’re waiting to hear back.
You can track New York’s vaccine progress with the state’s new tool.
Stay tuned for Raven Brown’s report on this story, coming on News10NBC at 5:00.
