New Yorkers Aged 60+ Along With Public Facing Essential Workers Now Eligible For COVID-19 Vaccine

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced that New Yorkers aged 60 and over as well as additional public facing essential workers will be added to the list of those eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccine.

Speaking during the press conference, held this morning at the NY State Fair in Syracuse, NY, the Governor stated that Government Employees, Nonprofit Workers, and Essential Building Service Workers Are Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine Beginning March 17. Eligibility for those 60 and over would begin on March 10.

Also, pharmacies will now be allowed to vaccinate those 60-plus New Yorkers along with teachers.

Under the new guidance, the following workers will now be eligible: public works employees, social service and child service caseworkers, government inspectors, sanitation workers, DMV workers, County Clerks, building service workers and election workers.

“New York is marching forward expanding access to the COVID-19 vaccine, addressing underserved communities and getting shots in arms as we turn the tide in the fight against this virus,” Governor Cuomo said. “Supply is steadily increasing and we’re opening new vaccination sites and expanding eligibility to match it. New Yorkers over 60 years old and those who serve their fellow New Yorkers in the public sector are more vulnerable to COVID-19, and we’re addressing that vulnerability by providing access to the vaccine. The fight against the COVID beast continues on all fronts, and we’re pushing the infection rate down while getting our vaccinations up.”

In response to today’s announcement, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio issued the following statement:

“For weeks, New York City has called for less bureaucracy and more freedom to vaccinate.”

“Finally, the State has agreed to loosen restrictions on vaccination providers. They’ve also heeded our call to expand eligibility to New Yorkers over the age of 60 and the hardworking government employees, including building service workers and nonprofit workers, who keep our city running. This is all great news.”

“But to get our vaccination effort running at maximum speed, there’s still so much more that we need.”

“We need more supply to vaccinate as many New Yorkers as possible. New York City hasn’t had a single week where we had enough supplies to hit our current capacity of half a million vaccines administered per week.”

“We also need more local control. That means being able to tell our sites and providers the number of doses they’ll get each week, every week, so they can plan ahead to conduct outreach and schedule appointments.”

“There’s not a moment to waste. Let’s cut through more red tape to get shots in the arms of as many New Yorkers as possible.”

The following is a video of the Governor’s words wherein the above is concerned. Following is the transcript of his words – which were both provided by the Governor’s Office.

Governor Cuomo:

“I’m very pleased to say today that our first level was 65-years-old-plus because Covid affects older people more. So, our initial threshold was essential workers, nursing home, 65-plus. We’re going to drop the 65-year-old-plus to 60-year-old plus, and that’s going to start tomorrow. So, now 60-year-old-plus are going to be available. They can start making appointments tomorrow. They can make them at the mass vaccination sites and they can make them in pharmacies. But that will start 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. 60-plus, that means people as old as I am now will be eligible for the vaccine.

Second, all sites starting March 17, next Wednesday. All sites, county sites, FQHC sites, mass vaccination sites. We have thousands of distribution sites. All sites to simplify the situation can vaccinate anyone who is eligible, alright. So, whether you’re going to county-run site, city-run site, what they call an FQHC, every site can vaccinate anyone who is eligible, with one exception. Pharmacies still will only be doing sixty plus and teachers. Sixty plus and teachers, why? Because the pharmacies, it’s not as easy for them to identify different types of workers, etcetera. They can identify age, because age you can identify by just a driver’s license. And president Biden rightfully so has made teachers a priority. So, pharmacies will do sixty plus and teachers. We want to get those schools open. Every other site will be doing every other person who is eligible.

Also, on March 17, next Wednesday, the public facing public employees will also be eligible. Not for profit, public facing emergency employees and employees who are providing necessary services like the YWCA, they will also be available. Essential public workers will also be available. Public facing building workers will also be available. These are the people who are the everyday heroes who are out there doing their job. There putting themselves in a possible position of exposure. They are essential for us to continue operating. They’re going to become eligible on March 17. Let’s give them a round of applause.”