Cuomo says he expects 170,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine this weekend and will start giving them out to nursing home residents, staff and hospital workers before the general public in February
- Cuomo said he’ll receive the first doses if the vaccine is approved this weekend
- His own panel is then going to review it before dishing them out across the state
- New York City will receive 72,000 from the first batch to give to those most in need
- The vaccines will be stored in 90 facilities across the state where they can be kept cold enough
- Nursing home residents and healthcare workers will go first then essential workers will receive them
- The general public will be able to get the vaccine towards the end of January, start of February, in New York, if there are enough doses
- The NY State legislature is examining a bill that proposes making vaccines mandatory unless the person is medically exempt
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York state may receive 170,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine this weekend and that if approved, he’ll start dishing them out to nursing home residents and healthcare workers.
The vaccine has still not yet been approved by the FDA but that could come as early as tomorrow.
Then, Cuomo’s own panel of experts will review it to ensure it is safe before rolling it out. He will then distribute the doses across the state.
New York City will get 72,000 doses and everywhere else will get amounts that correlate to their local populations.
This is how the vaccine will be distributed among New Yorkers once it is approved and distributed
New York City will receive most of the first doses. Long Island is next and it’ll be sent out across the state in doses relative to the regional population
There will be 90 distribution centers across the state that are cold enough to store the vaccine
First in line will be nursing home residents who are considered high risk.
Then, it will roll out across all healthcare workers and essential workers, before being made available to the general public.
Cuomo says that will likely happen towards the end of January or the start of February – one of the most optimistic timelines so far.
What is unclear though is whether or not there will actually be enough doses of the vaccine available to vaccinate the public by then.
The federal government is still in negotiations with Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies in a mad dash to acquire as many doses as possible.
In New York state, staff from CVS and Walgreens will go into nursing homes to vaccinate the staff and residents there.
The idea is to not put too much strain on the healthcare system, Cuomo said.
A list of where the vaccines are available will be released once they have been distributed, Cuomo said.
Hospitalizations are on the rise across the state but are still more than 10,000 off what they were at the virus peak in April
Long lines form outside of the City MD facilities on Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill Brooklyn NY for COVID-19 testing
It’s unclear how he’s going to ensure that they go to the right places first – if the vaccines will be brought into hospitals for staff, or if staff will have to go to the site to get them.
Vaccinating 75 percent of the country will take until at least next summer, they said.
Pfizer’s vaccine will be reviewed by the FDA Advisory Committee on Thursday then, if approved, will be sent out across the country by the federal government.
It is a week after the UK approved it.
On Tuesday, the first doses were issued there but on Wednesday, fears arose over how safe it was after it emerged that two healthcare workers with allergies went into anaphylactic shock after they received it.
It’s unclear what their allergies are but British health regulators warned anyone who has ‘severe’ food or medical allergies not to get it as a precaution.
Now, British scientists are saying that it is safe.
Of the 20,000 people who received the vaccine in Pfizer’s trial, 137 had an allergic reaction. But 111 people who were given a placebo also had an allergic reaction.