As the vaccination campaign continues across the country, Senate majority leader Charles Schumer announced that New York will have its “overload” of vaccine doses in weeks.
According to Schumer, 1.65 million doses of vaccines will arrive in New York every week by the end of April, an increase of 33% of what the state is currently receiving.
At a press conference outside Ryan Health on the Upper West Side, Schumer, who joined White House COVID Vaccine Coordinator Jeff Zients, said the overfeeding effort would be reinforced by “a massive expansion of government-funded vaccine sites federal government that will use the existing New York Community Health Centers (CHCs) – like Ryan Health here – to help put them on the guns. “
At a COVID press conference at the White House later in the day, Zients outlined the federal strategy to increase vaccinations: more vaccine supplies, more vaccinators in the field, more vaccination centers in places like the CHCs.
Schumer noted that about $ 500 million in direct federal aid is earmarked for expanding vaccination sites in New York, such as the Ryan Health Center. He said: “One of the biggest problems with vaccinating people is access. Especially in our needy and disadvantaged communities. We have heard countless stories of people who had to travel a lot to get a vaccine, impairing our ability to recover. The pandemic and returning to the ‘normal’. With this announcement of more vaccines and the opening of venues, New York is positioned to receive more shots, especially in areas where COVID was hit the hardest. “
The senator’s office noted that one in nine New Yorkers has a community health center for care, and of these, 89% are low-income and 71% are black.
This week, 80% of New York’s adults became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and, as of Friday, 24.6% of New York State residents received at least one dose of the vaccine and 12.7% have been completely vaccinated. Below is the vaccine delivery chart (data is March 14, the last time it was updated):
CVS, which had just vaccinated adults over 60 and teachers, has just opened appointments to also include people over 16 with underlying diseases:
President Biden says that all adults must be eligible for the vaccine by May 1.
Qualified New Yorkers will be able to schedule appointments at state vaccination sites using the ‘I’m eligible’ website or by calling the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829), or using the New York City Vaccination Portal or by calling the city’s COVID-19 vaccination hotline in 1-877-VAX-4NYC (1-877-VAX-4692).