COVID-19 vaccines are still only available to nursing home residents and front line hospital workers in New York State.  Even in that limited sphere, the roll-out is uneven and slow.

About 300,000 vaccine doses have been administered in hospitals and nursing homes.  But in New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation facilities, only 12,000 of the 23,000 eligible employees have been vaccinated and the hospitals have received 38,000 doses, according to State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker.  In contrast, 99 percent of New York Presbyterian Weil Cornell hospital employees have received the vaccine.  Northwell, the largest hospital system in the state, had administered 62 percent of the vaccines that they received as of January 4.

“There needs to be a sense of urgency” by city officials to get hospital workers vaccinated, Zucker said at a January 4, 2021 news conference.

Healthcare workers in hospitals are first in line for the vaccine along with nursing home residents.  The nursing home vaccinations also lag, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.

He blamed the federal government system of vaccinating only a third of the patients and staff at a time at any one facility.  The state partnered with a federal government program that contracted with national pharmacy chains and local pharmacies to administer the vaccines.  But Cuomo said, “Of about 611 nursing home facilities statewide, about 288 of them have completed the first dose for residents.”

New York plans to speed things up.  Cuomo said.”We’ll be sending additional personnel into nursing homes to do the vaccines.  Some nursing homes can actually do the injections themselves.  If they can, we’re going to go to them and let them do it themselves to further expedite it.”

Frontline workers including police, firefighters, EMTs, medical professionals, bus drivers and subway workers, and older people with medical issues, are next in line after the state and city get the first wave of vaccines competed.

Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to get the city’s vaccinations moving more quickly.  He promised a “24-7 effort to get the next wave of people vaccinated.”  Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene Dr. Dave Choski said the city is also connecting with small community providers in priority neighborhoods to connect them to available appointments at 16 community health centers and 15 urgent care sites.  These are all in addition to the hospital sites that have already begun vaccine operations.  

At these new sites, Choski said, “We’ll be ready to welcome newly eligible individuals, such as unaffiliated health care providers who don’t have employer-based access to vaccines. These include not just nurses and doctors, but also phlebotomists, dentists, physical therapists, coroners, funeral workers, and staff at specialty clinics like dialysis centers.”  If you are one of those unaffiliated providers, you can find out how to get vaccinated by visiting nyc.gov/covidvaccine. 

No word on when the rest of us will get our shot.