Finally, we’re talking about a vaccine. During New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily press conference on December 9, which no longer includes members of the press (they phoned in), he discussed the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan, which will include a number of initial doses meted out to each region, including the Capital Region.
“[The vaccine] is the weapon that will win the war,” said Cuomo, “if people take it, if we get it produced, if we get it delivered, distributed and actually in people’s arms.”
Because Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be approved tomorrow (December 10) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Cuomo said that New York’s vaccine panel would quickly convene to review and approve it. The state is expecting to obtain 170,000 initial doses (of about 6 million nationwide) as soon as this coming weekend, with further allocations in the coming weeks. (Half will be shipped immediately, the other half held in advance of people receiving the second dose; each person has to take two doses of the vaccine.)
Of course, there’s a priority list for who gets vaccinated first. This includes those “highest risk” individuals, including nursing home residents, nursing home staffers and hospital workers such as emergency room workers, ICU staffers and pulmonary department staffers. Following those high-risk populations, other healthcare workers and first responders will then be vaccinated, and finally, “essential” workers and the general population, starting with those who are at the highest risk in those specific areas.
The breakdown of allocations for the state is as such:
The Capital Region (7,850 initial doses)
Mohawk Valley (4,200)
North Country (3,700)
Finger Lakes (11,150)
Western New York (14,500)
Southern Tier (4,500)
Central New York (6,400)
Mid-Hudson (19,200)
Long Island (26,500)
New York City (72,000)