N.Y. to allow federal distribution of COVID vaccine at nursing homes: Cuomo
ALBANY — New York is getting a little help from the feds.
The Empire State is joining an initiative that will allow the federal government to take over the task of vaccinating nursing home residents and staff once doses of a COVID vaccine arrive in the state, Gov. Cuomo announced Friday.
“We are going to opt-in to that program,” the governor said during an afternoon call with reporters.
Earlier in the week, the governor said that nursing homes will be the state’s top priority once a federally-approved vaccine becomes available and the state is expecting 170,000 doses from drug giant Pfizer within two weeks.
The federal initiative will see medical and drug companies contracted to distribute inoculations at elder care facilities in states that choose to accept the help, Cuomo said.
The governor has spent the past several weeks criticizing the Trump administration’s efforts to speed up the vaccination approval process and has said he fears the distribution program will be underfunded, making it hard to reach poor and minority communities.
He has also voiced concern about a vaccine distribution requirement he says could be used to find and deport undocumented immigrants.
Despite his criticisms, Cuomo said the state and the feds are on the same page when it comes to prioritizing certain populations.
“Nursing homes and high-risk health care workers, they are up at the top of the list of prioritized people to get the vaccine,” he said.
New York should additionally have enough vaccines in the next two weeks to immunize roughly 76,000 health care workers who are considered “high risk” for contracting coronavirus, the governor said.
“If the federal government delivers as they said they will,” he added.
The good news comes a day after Cuomo showed off a cold storage box that will be used to transport vaccines across the state and COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.
There are currently 4,222 people being treated for the virus in New York hospitals and the state is focusing more on capacity and bed availability with infections soaring in several areas.
On Thursday, 5.4% of tests reported to the state came back positive and another sixty people died of coronavirus.
Cuomo cautioned that while the vaccine becoming available for the state’s most vulnerable is a good sign, the general public must remain vigilant about safety measures and being mindful about gatherings for the foreseeable future.
“Yes, the vaccine is here. But you’re not going to get it in December, January, February or March, or even early April, unless you’re in one of the high-risk areas,” he said.
