What to Know
- Vaccine appointments have started opening up for New Yorkers in underserved zip codes; 6 NYS-FEMA run sites will open over the next two weeks
- Delays in weekly shipments have significantly drained vaccine supplies, for New York City especially, which leaders on Saturday said had lowered to fewer than 1,000 doses
- Hospitalizations are continuing to decline and the rate of New Yorkers testing positive for COVID-19 has fallen to the lowest mark since before Thanksgiving, state officials said Saturday
New York announced a slew of vaccination sites set to open in the coming days and weeks while the nation continues to wait on delayed vaccine shipments halted by crippling snowstorms.
Appointment times opened Saturday at 8 a.m. for dozens of zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens targeted to so far underserved communities. Initial openings are reserved for residents in communities of low vaccination rates before expanding out to neighboring areas.
The sites at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn and York College in Queens are scheduled to open Wednesday, Feb. 24.
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Eligible New Yorkers can book available appointments online or by calling the state's hotline at 1-833-697-4829.
New sites will also open in Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers and Albany -- the first available appointments time for those sites open Wednesday at 8 a.m. They're each slated to open on March 3.
News
The six new sites set to open over the coming days are run by New York State and FEMA. Each location will specifically target specific zip codes for one week before opening to residents of the site's county or borough. City sites are expected to vaccinate 3,000 New Yorkers per day, the other four sites can provide 1,000 doses daily.
"We know that communities of color suffered the most and from day one we've made the fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine a priority," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.
Delays in weekly shipments have significantly drained vaccine supplies, for New York City especially, which leaders on Saturday said had lowered to fewer than 1,000 doses. Open city-run sites are primarily administering second doses, they said.
"Other sites are operating if the supply is there. The supply issues have limited our ability to post new appointments," Patrick Gallahue, press secretary for the city's health department, said Saturday. "The Mayor has spoken to this through the week and said, 'as many as 30-35,000 appointments or more might not be scheduled, because we don't have vaccine.'"
Nearly all of the doses that had been due to arrive in New York state last weekend have been delayed, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said late Thursday. The five boroughs administered more than 55,000 doses in one day last week, a single-day record -- and de Blasio has said has the capacity to do a half-million vaccinations a week. It doesn't have the supply.
Hospitalizations are continuing to decline and the rate of New Yorkers testing positive for COVID-19 has fallen to the lowest mark since before Thanksgiving, state officials said Saturday.
Cuomo said the state’s seven-day rolling average positivity rate has fallen 43 straight days, hitting 3.5% on Friday. The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus, meanwhile, fell below 6,000 for the first time since Dec. 14.
The state said 97 New Yorkers died of the coronavirus on Friday, bringing the state’s official death total to 37,776.
Cuomo asked New Yorkers to remain patient with the vaccinations, as the state’s distribution network and population of eligible recipients — 10 million — continues to far exceed supply coming from the federal government. The state now has the resources to vaccinate up to 100,000 New Yorkers every day, he said, but not nearly enough vaccines to do so.
