High-risk healthcare workers and nursing home residents and workers will be first in line for the coronavirus vaccine, city health officials reported Friday.
The Covid-19 vaccination effort will be the largest in the City’s history.
Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi detailed the city plan during a meeting of the City Council Health Committee. The first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive the week of December 14, with initial deliveries to hospitals that have the capacity to store in ultra-cold refrigerators.
Then it will be emergency services personnel and other essential workers, and vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with underlying conditions, who will receive the vaccine.
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High-risk healthcare workers are expected to be vaccinated in the first few weeks.
High-risk healthcare workers are those who care for or treat patients with Covid-19. This includes cleaning workers and the like who work in those areas where there are Covid patients.
Under a partnership with the Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), major pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS will distribute the vaccine to nursing homes, a process that will be coordinated with the city and state. Chokshi said.
After that, sometime early next year, the city will prioritize essential workers who interact with the public and cannot physically distance themselves, followed by people who are at high risk either by age or by age. underlying conditions.
The City Health Department will also operate sites exclusively for the vaccination of EMS (emergency) workers.
Chokshi said he doesn’t expect widespread distribution of the vaccine until mid-2021.
The hearing also described planned efforts to reach minority communities that are generally wary of medical interventions. A survey commissioned by the Department of Health in October found that white New Yorkers were more willing to receive the vaccine than black New Yorkers.
Overall, 53% of New Yorkers said they would be willing to get the vaccine, compared with 20% who said no and 27% who were unsure.
I urge all New Yorkers to remain vigilant and continue to use the prevention tools everyone has on hand: stay home if you are sick or exposed to someone with COVID-19, practice hand hygiene, cover your face, and keep your distance. physics of others, ”Chokshi said.
“These simple strategies, in combination with testing and contact tracing allow us to control the transmission of COVID-19 in our communities, flatten the curve and protect ourselves and our loved ones,” added the official.
Chokshi posted a message on social networks in which he brings to account a video of Governor Cuomo in which he shows how small meetings are a site of easy transmission of the coronavirus.
