We have friends in Georgia and family in Colorado who’ve already gotten their first COVID vaccine shots. New York is way behind.

But there’s now some good news for New Yorkers waiting to get the COVID vaccine. Registration for the second wave of vaccinations begins on Monday, January 12.  You are in this group if you are over 75, have an underlying condition, are a police officer, firefighter, teacher or essential public worker. But that is almost a tease. Because there isn’t enough vaccine, it may take 14 weeks to get an appointment for a shot. And you can’t get vaccinated without an appointment. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state plans to have a network of 3,000 pharmacies and healthcare providers, in a couple weeks, to administer the vaccine. “But none of them will have nearly enough vaccine. The supply is the major problem,” he said. 

New York, like other states, gets a proportionate amount of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines from the federal government, based on population. The state receives 300,000 doses a week and for the past month has focused on healthcare workers in hospitals, what it calls the 1a group. 

Now it is expanding to its 1b group. This has 4.2 million people, including 1.4 million over 75. You can see how the number of doses available does not meet the need. 

The governor promised that every region of the state will get a proportionate amount of vaccine based on the size of the population in the target group. That means a lot of us will be waiting our turn.

Cuomo said, “The Biden Administration is working on accelerating the supply.” But he also warned that many of us will be disappointed because we can’t get the vaccine quickly. He insisted that no one will be able to jump the line, including his mother Mathilde. She qualifies, he said, because she is in the 75-plus group.  

The New York State Department of Health website, starting Monday, January 12 , will have information about vaccination sites and how to register. The state wants people to pre-register so that you have a specific appointment. It sounds nicer than waiting in line overnight. But many of us will wait much longer than we would like. 

Monday, January 11 is also the day to start checking pharmacy websites to see if you can register. They should be ready to administer the vaccine by Wednesday, January 13.