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New York Will Soon Get 1.65 Million Vaccine Doses A Week In Federal "Supercharge"
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 20, 2021
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 20, 2021
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As the vaccination push continues across the country, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced that New York will get its "supercharge" of vaccine doses in weeks.
According to Schumer, 1.65 million doses of vaccines will arrive in New York each week by the end of April, which is a 33% increase of what the state is currently getting.
At a news conference outside Ryan Health on the Upper West Side, Schumer, who was joined by White House COVID Vaccine Coordinator Jeff Zients, said the supercharge effort will be bolstered by “a massive expansion of federally-funded vaccine sites that will utilize New York’s existing Community Health Centers (CHCs)—like Ryan Health here—to help get them into arms."
At a White House COVID press briefing later in the day, Zients described the federal strategy to increase vaccinations: more vaccine supply, more vaccinators in the field, more vaccination centers at places like CHCs.
Schumer noted that about $500 million in direct federal aid is directed for New York's expansion of vaccine sites, like the Ryan Health Center. He said, "One of the biggest issues with getting people vaccinated has been access. Especially in our underserved and disadvantaged communities. We’ve heard numerous stories of people having to travel way too far to get a vaccine, hampering our ability to recover from the pandemic and return to ‘normal.’ With this announcement of more vaccines and the sites opening up, New York is positioned to get more shots in arms, especially in areas where COVID has hit the hardest."
The senator's office noted that one out of every nine New Yorkers relies on a community health center for health care, and of those, 89% are low income and 71% are people of color.
This week, 80% of New York adults became eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and, as of Friday, 24.6% of New York state residents have had at least one dose of the vaccine, and 12.7% have been completely vaccinated. Below is the vaccine delivery chart (data is from March 14th, the last time it was updated):
CVS, which had just been vaccinating adults over 60 and teachers, just opened up appointments to also include people over 16 with underlying conditions:
President Biden says that all adults should be eligible for the vaccine by May 1.
Eligible New Yorkers will be able to schedule appointments at state vaccination sites by utilizing New York's 'Am I Eligible' website or by calling the state's COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829), or by using the New York City vaccination portal or calling the city's COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline at 1-877-VAX-4NYC (1-877-VAX-4692).
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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