New York State residents over the age of 30 will be eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine starting Tuesday, and everyone over the age of 16 can be inoculated starting April 6, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday. .
Eligibility for the vaccine had been limited to the population over 50, people under certain job categories, and those with pre-existing illnesses that put them at risk of severe symptoms if they contracted the coronavirus. Previously, 12.2 million of the nearly 15 million New Yorkers age 16 and older were eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as of last week.
People over the age of 30 can start registering for an appointment starting Tuesday morning at 8:00 AM.
“Today we take a monumental step forward in the fight to defeat COVID,” the Democratic governor said in a press release, adding that the new calendar was “well ahead of the May 1 deadline imposed by the House. White”.
The announcement comes as New York continues to face one of the highest levels of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in the country. Infectious disease experts note that the rise in potentially most contagious virus variants and the reduction in restrictions implemented by COVID-19 could be fueling the spread of the virus in New York and New Jersey, in particular.
About three in 10 New Yorkers have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, in line with the national average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And 15.2% of the 19 million New Yorkers have already received both doses, the 39th lowest level in the nation, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.
For weeks, city and county officials have asked the governor to relax eligibility restrictions and who can administer vaccines to help speed up inoculations. The governor has said low dose supplies held back vaccine distribution early in the New York campaign, but has relaxed restrictions on eligibility in recent weeks as supply has increased.
New York received an average of about 790,000 first doses weekly in March from the federal government, according to state data, up from the average of 350,000 weekly doses in February.
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