Surrounded by Black community leaders in Harlem, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo got the vaccination shot for COVID-19 Wednesday, months after he started urging New Yorkers to take it to curtail spread of the coronavirus.
Cuomo said he chose the historically Black neighborhood in Manhattan to send the message to the Black and Hispanic communities that have been hard-hit by the pandemic that they should overcome any hesitancy and get the vaccine. Cuomo last week became eligible for a shot after he dropped the threshold statewide from 65 to 60 years of age.
“Today I am going to take the vaccine,” Cuomo announced to claps from pastors, politicians and community leaders gathered at the Mount Neboh Baptist Church.
He said he opted to receive the one-dose shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the latest option in the country’s vaccine arsenal, “because I want to make the point, ‘Take whatever vaccine you can take … Don’t try to pick one over the other.’”
His turn to get the shot came as Cuomo has become the target of investigations and calls to resign over sexual harassment allegations and his administration’s handling of information about nursing home deaths from the virus.
He has continued to hold livestreamed events regarding the virus response, though the updates recently have been closed to the press. Speakers at the 80-minute event praised Cuomo’s leadership.
Rev. Johnnie Melvin Green, Jr., the senior pastor at the Mount Neboh church, was among community leaders who also praised Cuomo’s push for vaccinations in underserved communities.
The effort to open pop-up sites to give more Blacks and Latinos a chance to be vaccinated “could be considered an act of social justice,” he said.
Green directly addressed people who might be skeptical about getting the shots: “The vaccine is safe. It’s safe enough for the governor. It’s safe enough for me … it’s safe enough for Dr. [Anthony] Fauci,” the infectious disease expert. “It’s safe enough for all of us.”
Green’s church will serve as a temporary “pop-up” vaccination site Thursday and Friday, he said.
“We are making sure that communities of color who are most affected by COVID-19 have access to the vaccine that will finally keep us safe,” he said. “This church … has lost too many of our members” to the virus. “This community has lost too many of our brothers and sisters. It hits us hard, fast, and is still a threat to us. With the vaccine we can finally protect ourselves and each other.”
Cuomo got his shot while being cheered and playfully taunted by participants in the church event, which included a birthday cake celebration for Hazel Dukes, head of the NAACP in New York.
He said the state and federal governments still need to get millions of shots into people’s arms in what he called “probably the largest governmental undertaking that modern government has done.”
He noted that Black people have died of COVID-19 at twice the rate of whites, and that Hispanics have died at 1.5 times the rate of whites. He said this was due partly to inherent injustices in health care systems and society in general and that “now we have to correct for that … The communities that suffered most should be first on the vaccine line.”
About 5 million shots have been administered in New York State so far, Cuomo said, indicating to skeptics that “nobody is asking you to go first.”
Besides himself, his mother has taken the vaccine, he said, and his three daughters — in their 20s — will do as well when they become eligible, he said.
Appointments open at new LI sites
Cuomo’s office announced that residents could start making appointments Wednesday morning for shots at ten new state-run vaccination sites including three on Long Island.
The sites will start operating under state control on Friday, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Officials expect to administer at least 1,000 shots a day at each site.
The locations on Long Island are the Suffolk County Community College campus in Brentwood, the Stony Brook University campus in Southampton, and SUNY Old Westbury.
The Suffolk County government has already been operating a vaccination site at the Brentwood campus.
“We have a wide network of COVID vaccination sites and the state is moving full steam ahead opening even more,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“New York needs to be ready for the next increase in supply, and these sites located throughout the state will help bring residents and their families peace of mind and get us a step closer to defeating the COVID-19 pandemic and restoring a sense of normalcy. This has been an incredibly difficult year and we have more work to do, but the state is making progress vaccinating New Yorkers and reopening our economy.”
GETTING COVID-19 VACCINES IN NY
Who qualifies for COVID-19 shots?
The State of New York has expended its eligibility list for vaccines against COVID-19 several times, expanding the groups of people included in the phases. This is a summary of the eligible groups. The following are the qualifying categories, as revised on March 9.
Group in Phase 1A
The state said about 2.1 million state residents belong in this group, including:
- Health care workers at hospitals who interact with patients.
- Residents and staff at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
- Dentists, psychologists and others deemed health care workers with direct contact with patients.
- Employees of Federally Qualified Health Centers.
- EMT volunteers and staff.
- Coroners, medical examiners, some funeral workers.
- Staff and residents of state facilities for people with developmental disabilities, mental health care and addiction services.
- Employees at urgent care centers.
- Individuals administering COVID-19 vaccines, including local health department staff.
- Staff at ambulatory centers.
- Home care and hospice workers.
- Residents and staff at other congregate care facilities.
Group in Phase 1B
The state estimated about 3.2 million residents belong in this group, including:
- People 75 years of age and older.
- Teachers and education workers, including in-person college instructors, substitute teachers, student teachers, school administrators, paraprofessional staff, support staff, contractors in schools and bus drivers.
- First responders, including police; firefighters; state police; sheriff’s offices; county, town and village police departments, and other law enforcement offices.
- Public safety workers, including dispatchers and technicians.
- Public transit workers, including airport, railroad, subway, bus, ferry and Port Authority employees.
- Corrections officers.
- Other sworn and civilian personnel, such as court and peace officers.
- Grocery store workers dealing with the public.
- Individuals living in homeless shelters.
Following federal recommendations:
Added at the discretion of local governments:
- Taxi drivers.
- Restaurant workers.
- Residents of facilities for developmentally disabled people.
- Hotel workers who interact with the public.
Beginning March 10, 2021:
- State residents age 60 and older (the age threshold had been 65 and older).
Beginning March 17, 2021:
- “Public-facing” government and public employees.
- Workers for not-for-profit organizations who provide “public-facing” services.
- Building service workers who are “public-facing” employees.
SOURCE: New York State, Northwell Health.
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