New Yorkers 30 years of age and older will be able to get their vaccine for COVID-19 starting Tuesday and all state residents 16 and older will become eligible for the shots on April 6, the state announced Monday afternoon.
The new eligibility expansion brings in Gen X and even many Millennials closer to returning to social activities after a difficult years of shutdowns and restricted gatherings to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called it “a monumental step forward in the fight to beat COVID” in a statement issued by his office.
“As we continue to expand eligibility, New York will double down on making the vaccine accessible for every community to ensure equity, particularly for communities of color who are too often left behind. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but until we get there it is more important than ever for each and every New Yorker to wear a mask, socially distance and follow all safety guidelines,” he added.
The state had recently expanded eligibility by age, setting the threshold to qualify for the shots at 50 years of age until this move. Previously, the state had prioritized medical workers, nursing home residents, various groups of essential workers and people with health conditions that made them more vulnerable to severe illness.
In other developments, roughly 130,000 of New York City’s more than 300,000 municipal workers have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccination, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday, promoting a concerted effort to get government workers vaccinated.
“This is just the folks we know about for sure,” de Blasio said. “We know many more have received a vaccination that still hasn’t been reported yet.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses for full efficacy against COVID-19, while the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is done in one shot.
The focus on vaccinating municipal workers comes as de Blasio is ending remote work for about 80,000 office personnel who had been working from home since last March.
Those workers are to start returning to the office — albeit on staggered schedules, with physical distancing and mandatory masking — on May 3.
With Matthew Chayes
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