Special COVID testing privilege extended to pharma executive with close ties to Cuomo: report
A pharmaceutical company executive with close ties to Gov. Cuomo jumped the line for access to coronavirus tests early in the pandemic, it was reported Thursday.
George Yancopoulos, president of Regeneron, requested and received tests for him and his family last year after a member of his household became infected with COVID-19, The New York Times reported.
Yancopoulos and his family were tested at home just as the virus began to ravage the city and state, which had become the epicenter of the pandemic.
Within days or weeks of the at-home tests for Yancopoulos, Cuomo announced that Regeneron would create 500,000 kits for testing samples and provide them free of charge to New York State.
The company, which eventually became a critical partner in the pandemic fight, said Yancopoulos was not involved in the kit donations.
News of the Yancopoulos family tests comes days after reports that Cuomo’s relatives — including his mother, Matilda Cuomo, and brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo — got preferential treatment while the general public waited for the tests.
The privilege was extended to at least one of his sisters, as well as other influential people, according to the Times.
Chris Cuomo waged a very public battle against the virus, broadcasting in quarantine from his Long Island basement.
Regeneron called Yancopoulos “an essential worker” who was leading a research team, and did not want to risk exposing them to the virus, according to the Times.
A Cuomo spokesman warned against “insincere, hypocritical efforts to rewrite the past.”
Cuomo is already under fire for allegations of sexual harassment and charges that his administration underreported the number of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes.
