Coronavirus Vaccines Now Open To New Yorkers Over 65
NEW YORK — New Yorkers who are over the age of 65 will now be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday, after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention altered its guidance on vaccine prioritization to recommend inoculating those groups.
The change is effective immediately, state officials said. New York has updated its website to start accepting vaccine appointments from those who are newly eligible.
The expanded criteria will open up vaccinations to at least 1.8 million more New York State residents, Cuomo said.
Immunocompromised individuals are also slated to become eligible to get vaccinated under the new federal guidelines, but state officials are still working with the CDC to determine who qualifies as part of that group, according to Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to the governor.
"The immunocompromised number we don't even have yet, because it depends on how you define it," Cuomo said.
Under the new guidance announced Tuesday, an estimated 7 million state residents now qualify to get vaccinated.
NEW: New Yorkers age 65+ are now eligible for the COVID vaccine — effective immediately.
Check your eligibility and find vaccination locations near you.
I urge patience as unfortunately there are far more eligible NYers than there is vaccine supply from the federal gov.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 12, 2021
The Trump administration is expected to announce new recommendations Tuesday that states expand vaccine eligibility to include everyone aged 65 and up, as well as those who have a pre-existing condition that puts them at greater risk of suffering a serious case of COVID-19, Axios reported.
Despite the anticipated change in vaccination guidance, Cuomo said health care workers should remain the priority for vaccinations.
"Hospitals have to continue to prioritize hospital workers because our number one risk is still collapse of the hospital system," Cuomo said.
It is unclear how many more vaccine doses the federal government will send New York in light of the expanded eligibility criteria, state officials said. New York State has been getting 300,000 doses a week.
"Now we have 7 million people eligible, and we still have a drip, drip, drip from the faucet of federal dosage availability at 300,000," Cuomo said.
At the current rate of supply, Cuomo said, vaccinating all eligible state residents would take six months.
This article previously reported that New York had opened vaccines to all immunocompromised individuals, but state officials are still working with the CDC on how to define that category before offering vaccine appointments.
This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch
