Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday warned opponents not to “hijack” former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s death by claiming COVID-19 vaccines don’t work, while also announcing that New York is gearing up to help vaccinate children 5 to 11 years old as early as next month.
Hochul said that Powell, 84, whose death was announced Monday by his family, had underlying health problems that weakened his immune system and made him especially vulnerable to COVID-19 even though he was fully vaccinated.
She said such “breakthrough” cases resulting in death are rare.
“His story cannot be hijacked by the anti-vaxxers” who claim the vaccines don’t work, Hochul said at a new conference in Albany. “He had unique circumstances, as many older people have.”
Powell was suffering from multiple myeloma, a blood disease which medical experts said made his immune system weak.
“There are other circumstances that clearly went into his unfortunate death, and I don’t want anyone to say that this is a reason not to get vaccinated,” Hochul said.
She added that his death underscored the need for more people to get the shot.
“How did he get sick in the first place? Someone who wasn’t vaccinated gave him the virus,” Hochul said. “If we had more people vaccinated, people even in vulnerable situations wouldn’t have contracted COVID.”
Medical experts on Long Island said Monday that more than 90% of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 or die from it are unvaccinated. They say the virus outbreak and recent surge in case numbers is now becoming a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
The governor also said New York is getting ready for the anticipated approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11, and proposed setting up vaccination programs in schools to supplement pediatricians’ offices.
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