COVID-19: VACCINE UPDATE

BULLET POINTS:

• 911,000 Vaccines Will Be Distributed to Providers By End of Week
• Total of 3,762 Vaccination Sites Currently Enrolled as Part of Statewide Network of Administration Sites 
• 636 Sites Statewide Currently Vaccinating Eligible New Yorkers
• Essential Worker Groups - Police, Fire, Education and Transit Workers - Encouraged to Begin Developing Vaccination Plans for Workforce Vaccination When General Public Becomes Eligible to Receive Vaccine 
• Governor Renews Call for Federal Government to Mandate COVID-19 Testing for All International Travelers Entering the U.S.

DETAILS:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo updated New Yorkers on the state's COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts on Tuesday.  

By the end of this week, the state will have distributed approximately 911,000 first doses of the vaccine to providers for administration to eligible New Yorkers.

Additionally, the Governor announced that to date, 3,762 providers have applied and been approved by the state to serve as vaccination sites. Currently, 636 locations are now activated and are able to begin vaccinating eligible New Yorkers. To prepare for the next phase of eligibility, the Governor is encouraging essential worker groups such as police departments, fire departments, educators, and public transit organizations to begin developing plans to vaccinate their workforce. Plans will ease the burden on hospitals and other vaccination locations when the general public becomes eligible to receive a vaccine.

In addition, the Governor renewed his call on the federal government to test all travelers from outside the United States. Despite the fact that the highly transmissible UK strain has been identified in 33 countries, as well as here in the state of New York, the federal government has yet to learn from mistakes made in the spring and mandate testing for international travelers entering the country.

"The vaccine is the weapon that will win this war and we must move quickly and efficiently to get New Yorkers vaccinated as soon they become eligible," Governor Cuomo said. "All health care workers can now receive the vaccine and the state is working around the clock to ensure resources are in place as more and more members of the general public become eligible to receive it. While these efforts are underway, the UK strain of the virus remains highly problematic - it is here and it could complicate matters further, as it is much more transmissible. Despite all of this, the federal government continues its refusal to test all international travelers entering the country. Government is supposed to be competent, government leaders are supposed to be competent. We already saw this situation play out in the spring - have we learned nothing?" 

New York is working around the clock to distribute vaccines to eligible groups as fairly and expeditiously as possible. Work is also under way to prepare for widespread vaccination of the general public once allowable under state guidelines. As part of this work, New York has worked with the public and private sectors across the state to develop a 'retail network' of vaccination provider sites. Similar to operations for the annual distribution of the influenza vaccine and ongoing COVID-19 testing, these sites will help ensure access to the vaccine through multiple locations in each of the state's 10 regions. The network includes pharmacies, federally-qualified health centers, local health departments, private urgent care clinics, private doctor networks, and other sites capable of vaccinations. More sites continue to be added to the network every day.

A breakdown of the different types of retail vaccination sites is as follows:

A regional breakdown of sites is as follows:

A regional breakdown of activated sites is as follows:

In an effort to take pre-emptive steps to ensure this network of sites does not become immediately overwhelmed once the vaccine is available to the general public, the Governor is also encouraging essential worker groups such as police departments, fire departments, educators, and public transit organizations to begin developing plans for their workforce if possible. The more groups of essential workers able to receive vaccines through internal distribution plans, the more availability there will be for those New Yorkers seeking the vaccine through the 'retail network.'To further bolster these plans, New York is continuing to move forward on a number of special efforts to ensure resources are in place to facilitate widespread vaccination, especially in underserved communities. Pop-up vaccination centers will be established to facilitate public vaccinations. The state is also identifying public facilities and convention centers to also be used as vaccination centers. This includes the Javits Center, as well as SUNY and CUNY facilities. The state is also actively recruiting retired nurses, doctors and pharmacists to support vaccine administrations. 

A main focus of these efforts is ensuring vaccine access in underserved communities and health care deserts. The state has already begun building Community Vaccination Kits and working with public housing officials, churches, and community centers to support these efforts and deploy kits to the appropriate locations. Each kit includes step-by-step instructions for how to set up a site, and critical supplies and equipment such as: 

• Office Supplies
• Workstation Equipment
• Communications Equipment
• Cleaning Supplies
• Lighting Equipment
• PPE
• Crowd/Traffic Control Equipment
• Vials
• Syringes
• Room Dividers
• Privacy Curtains

Additionally, Governor Cuomo announced that NYC's Javits Center, SUNY/CUNY campuses, and other large New York sites will become drive-thru vaccination locations.

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR  

"I take full responsibility," Mayor Bill de Blasio said of New York City's slow COVID-19 vaccine rollout.  

The mayor's comments came one day after Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized the vaccine distribution at NYC Health + Hospitals amid statistics showed they had only given out 31% of the vaccines they had been given. The state average is 46%, while NY Presbyterian had administered 99% of its allotted vaccines.
 
CHECK THE LIST of who is eligible for a vaccine in New York State

Governor Cuomo's aide Rich Azzopardi responded to the mayor's comments on Twitter.
 

Mayor de Blasio estimated that 30% of city health care workers are turning down the opportunity to get vaccinated. He said that is one reason why the city needs the flexibility to vaccinate other groups.

"We are going to move with every conceivable speed, capacity, and flexibility, but we need help from the state government. We need help from the federal government," de Blasio said. He showed the letter he sent to Vice President Mike Pence and officials with Operation Warp Speed on Monday."It's understandable that after all the pain of 2020, a lot of people are worried and in general folks have been through so much. We've got to understand the we've got to win trust for the vaccine, but the best way is to do it of course is by example. The governor saying fines may be the best way to compel hospitals to ramp up their vaccinations. Additionally, he wants to use pharmacies and eventually college campuses for vaccinating the general public."

De Blasio's requested the following to the federal government through a letter to Vice President Pence: 

- Support increased speed of vaccine manufacturing to increase overall supply by pre-purchasing additional doses.

- Allocate additional vaccine doses to New York City and other commuter jurisdictions who are vaccinating more than their residents.

- Provide greater advance notice of dose allocation quantity and delivery schedule for planning purposes.

- Accelerate the dissemination of vaccine through coordinated pharmacy distribution.

- Incentivize and support providers through technical assistance and financial support.

- FDA approval to pre-fill syringes with vaccine.

For information on how to get vaccinated in NYC, visit nyc.gov/covidvaccine.