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Coronavirus Updates: Feel Like You Don’t Know When Or Where To Get Vaccinated? Most Adults Say The Same
By
Nsikan Akpan
Published Jan 22, 2021
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Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
By
Nsikan Akpan
Published Jan 22, 2021
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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Friday, January 22nd, 2021. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.
New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, museums, and gyms. Citing rising hospitalization rates, Governor Andrew Cuomo suspended indoor dining in NYC starting December 14th. After being shut down for several weeks, NYC public schools partially reopened on December 7th for 3K-5th grade students, with students with special needs returning on December 10th. Certain parts of Staten Island remain under a zoned shutdown.
Get answers to questions you may have with our "Ask An Epidemiologist" series, or learn more about NYC COVID-19 testing options with our explainer. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.
Here's the latest:
- As The Variants Threaten Lives And COVID-19 Vaccines, Here’s What We Can Do To Fight Back
- Can Casinos Save The Big Apple? Don't Bet On It
- More Than 2,000 NYC Students Haven't Connected With School At All This Year, Officials Say
- Some Employers Are Paying People To Get Vaccinated. Can Money Overcome Hesitancy?
New York is expected to run out of all the COVID-19 vaccine that has been delivered to the state by Friday. Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed the dire status of the supply during his regular press briefing on January 22nd.
The shortfall will likely generate more confusion over when and where New Yorkers get vaccinated. New York City ended the week by temporarily closing 15 vaccination hubs, days after 23,000 appointments were canceled due to a shipment delay.
On Friday’s episode of The Brian Lehrer Show, Mayor Bill de Blasio questioned the state’s decision to hold up 65,000 shots, describing it as an “artificial reserve.” These doses are being held so people who’ve received their first shot can get their second on time.
If you’re feeling nervous about when you or a loved one might receive a vaccine, you’re not alone. A nationwide survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that nearly six in 10 adults feel the same way.
New York Shortfall
Only 28,000 doses remain out of the 1.3 million collected from the federal government since the nation’s vaccination campaign began on December 14. At first, the feds were delivering more doses than New York dolled out during a single week, allowing more time for regulators to sketch out where vaccines needed to land.
For the past three weeks, the regular allotment has been cut in half relative to original shipments. Now the state doesn’t have enough doses to cover the 80,000 people who are getting shots every day.
“We’re now going week to week,” Cuomo said meaning the state can only send out doses to its 1,200 providers as the federal deliveries, which will slow down distribution. To prevent cancellations, the governor says that providers should not schedule an appointment unless they’re sure an allocation is on the way.
Confusion reigns but spirits are high
The Kaiser Foundation Family is conducting a rolling survey of public attitudes and experiences with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Their latest edition, released January 22nd, found that Black and Hispanic adults were less likely to have enough information about where to get the vaccine. Nearly 70% of people in these groups felt uninformed versus 50% of white respondents.
A majority of adults—two-thirds—voiced overall confidence in the government efforts to distribute the vaccine, though again, minority groups were less likely to do so. A separate analysis by KFF, released Thursday, warned that large racial disparities are emerging among the 17 states that report the race and ethnicity of vaccine recipients.
In many of these states, Black and Hispanics are receiving a smaller share of vaccine, despite making up a larger portion of cases and deaths. New York has not publicly released its racial and ethnic data for its vaccine rollout.
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COVID-19
covid-19 updates
coronavirus
Nsikan Akpan
Nsikan is the former editor of the health and science desk at WNYC/Gothamist. Nsikan was previously at National Geographic where he worked as a science editor, overseeing its COVID-19 coverage in addition to other topics in science, health and technology. Before National Geographic, he worked for more than four years at PBS NewsHour, where he co-created an award-winning video series named ScienceScope. He shared a 2020 Emmy for the PBS NewsHour series “Stopping a Killer Pandemic” and in 2019 received a George Foster Peabody Award for the PBS NewsHour series “The Plastic Problem.” Nsikan has also worked for NPR, Science News Magazine, Science Magazine, KUSP Central Coast Public Radio, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and as a writer at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. He holds a doctorate in pathobiology from Columbia University and is an alum of the science communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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