Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

Coronavirus Updates: Governors Demand Answers From Trump On Vaccine Rollout

By

Sydney Pereira

Published Oct 18, 2020

Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

A nurse prepares a shot on July 27th, 2020 as a study of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., gets underway in Binghamton, N.Y.

 

Hans Pennink/AP/Shutterstock

By

Sydney Pereira

Published Oct 18, 2020

Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Sunday, October 18th, 2020. 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. Certain parts of Brooklyn and Queens are under a zoned shutdown. A look at preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. 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:

1:46 p.m.: As Governor Andrew Cuomo looks ahead to what he is calling the final phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, he and all of the country's other governors are asking the White House how exactly the rollout of millions of vaccines will work once a vaccine is approved.

The National Governors Association, chaired by Cuomo, is asking the Trump administration for answers to 36 questions on funding, allocation and supplies, safety monitoring, and information transparency regarding a future COVID-19 vaccine.

"Thirty-six questions from the governors sent to the White House, basically, 'How does this work?'" Cuomo said during a press conference in Manhattan on Sunday. "We understand the concept, but how does it work?"

Details—like how uninsured people can access the vaccine, refrigeration of the vaccine, and how it would be prioritized—make the "difference between life and death in a situation like this," Cuomo said.

Though there is currently no vaccine approved in the U.S., Cuomo is looking ahead at what he described as the final phase of the pandemic should a vaccine be ready for distribution as soon as wintertime. Seven months into the global health crisis, this undertaking will be unlike anything done so far during the pandemic, Cuomo contends.

It took seven months for New York State to test 12.9 million people for coronavirus—an operational "nightmare," as Cuomo put it.

To vaccinate everybody in New York State, it would likely require 40 million doses of the vaccine, since there are about 20 million people in the state and each person would likely require two rounds of vaccinations, depending on the vaccine.

Cuomo doesn't have much confidence President Donald Trump will respond soon. Currently, he said, governors have a "draft plan" based on "sketchy information."

"Once we get the questions answered, then we can come up with a real plan," Cuomo said. "[The governors] know how this story works because they've gone through it. It's not going to be that the federal government says, 'Don't worry, we're going to administer it.' The chances of that happening are zero."

"So the governors are saying, before you get to shift the responsibility, we need to have these questions answered," Cuomo said. "They are questions that anyone would ask. A high school student who was posed with this challenge -- design a program to administer vaccines -- would ask the same questions."

Cuomo has also put together a task force to review a vaccine before he recommends it to New Yorkers. Vaccinations in NY would be prioritized based on risk of the coronavirus and whether or not someone is an essential worker.

The governors sent a letter on Thursday requesting a meeting with the White House on the vaccination plan. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, Cuomo also announced ski resorts would be permitted to reopen at a 50% indoor capacity beginning November 6th with social distancing, mask wearing, and restricting ski lifts to members of the same party.

Mountain capacity would be reduced by 25% on "peak" days or if some ski paths are closed, he said.

Though Cuomo was looking ahead at a vaccination plan, the virus remains steadily spreading through the state's "red zones." NY's red zones had a 3.19% positivity rate. Statewide, including the red zones, the positivity rate was 1.08%.

Brooklyn and Queens red zone positivity rates dropped to 4.92% and 1.89%, respectively.

Seven people died from coronavirus in NY on Saturday, bringing the official death toll to 25,644. That number does not include probable coronavirus deaths.

Tagged

vaccines

COVID-19

covid-19 updates

coronavirus

Sydney Pereira

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE news

Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn

Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.

By

Rosemary Misdary

Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

By

Samantha Max

News

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

By

Samantha Max

Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time

By

David Brand

School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year

By

Jessica Gould

NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them

By

Clayton Guse

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .