New York to begin vaccinating people over 75 and essential workers

New York, Jan 8 (EFE) .- The New York authorities announced this Friday that they will begin to vaccinate those over 75 years of age and some essential workers against covid-19, after numerous criticisms for the slowness with which available doses are being administered.
The governor of the state, Andrew Cuomo, said in a press conference that from next Monday vaccinations will be allowed for citizens of the so-called group 1B, which in addition to those over 75 years includes employees of the education sector, public transport and police and firefighters, among others.
Until now, New York has limited vaccines to front-line toilets and nursing home residents and workers, but the inoculation campaign is going much slower than anticipated.
Cuomo finally agreed to expand the groups that can receive the vaccine after harsh criticism, which held the state’s strict guidelines responsible for the fact that a large part of the available doses were not used.
According to data from this Friday, about two-thirds of the vaccines available in New York City are unused, which had led the Mayor of the Big Apple, Bill de Blasio, to publicly ask the governor to change his mind.
The issue opened the umpteenth political fight between the two Democratic leaders, with De Blasio assuring that Cuomo’s stiffness would cost elderly lives that could be saved with a more flexible approach.
“If we cannot vaccinate the people who are in the most danger, we are going to lose lives that we did not need to lose,” the councilor insisted at a press conference this Friday before the governor’s announcement, in which he assured that his Administration is prepared to put more vaccines but the state does not allow it.
According to local media responsible for different hospitals and clinics, the very strict guidelines imposed by the state on who should receive the vaccine first – even within the first priority group – have made the process move slowly and with great caution to avoid mistakes, which can be punished with significant fines.
Group 1A – the one that is currently being vaccinated – has about 2.1 million people in New York state, while Group 1B – the one that can be vaccinated as of Monday – has 3.2 million.
Cuomo warned this Friday that, at the rate at which the state is receiving vaccines from federal authorities, it will take at least 14 weeks to inoculate both groups.

–