On the day that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was said to be highly effective on children as young as 12, New York continued to vaccinate more people.
There were 192,853 doses administered across New York State over the most recent 24 hour period, according to a news release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, which said that about 30% of New Yorkers have now gotten at least one dose, and about 18% are fully vaccinated.
There are 734,142 people on Long Island with at least one dose, 21,504 in the previous 24 hours, the news release said, adding that there were 408,142 with a completed vaccine series, and 13,115 over the previous 24 hours.
Despite the vaccination news, the Long Island region continues to have one of the state’s highest infection rates. The seven-day average as of Tuesday is 4.38%, second only to the mid-Hudson region, which has 4.75%, the release said. The lowest rate is the Southern Tier, with 0.76%. New York City has 4.26%.
The finding with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine came in a clinical trial concluding high effectiveness — no infections among those who got the shots, with even stronger antibody responses in kids than adults.
Mount Sinai South Nassau and the Town of Hempstead on Wednesday launched a mobile vaccination unit to deliver shots to eligible residents in the Town of Hempstead. The mobile unit aims to eliminate barriers to vaccination, including transportation, mobility, language or health, and bring one-dose vaccines directly to some hard-hit communities.
Also Wednesday, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced that she would ask a regional coalition of business and nonprofit representatives to give advice for how to dole out $397 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion economic federal stimulus legislation passed earlier in March. The coalition, formed in March 2020, will make recommendations to Curran, according to Curran spokeswoman Justine DiGiglio.
