Phase 2 could start in January
Cuomo: Inoculations for general public might begin by late next month
The state plans to start vaccinating the first members of the general public against the coronavirus by late January, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday.
Vaccinations started Monday, kicking off what Cuomo called “phase one,” with front-line health care workers and congregate facility residents and staff receiving shots. The first dose administered went to a Queens intensive care unit nurse named Sandra Lindsay, who is believed to be the first person in the United States who was inoculated against COVID -19 outside of clinical trials, Cuomo said.
Phase two will be for essential workers and members of the general public with pre-existing health conditions who are most at risk for severe cases of COVID -19, Cuomo said. That phase is ex
pected to begin by late January, Cuomo said, and the vaccinations will be doled out by medical professionals from hubs located around the state. The Capital Region’s hub will be Albany Medical Center Hospital.
“In New York state, no person will have to pay a penny for vaccination.” Cuomo added. “We want people to be vaccinated. It shouldn’t be about wealth. No one will pay a penny.”
The state has received about 87,000 Pfizer vaccine doses so far, Cuomo said, and it will receive an additional 80,000 in the coming days. If the Moderna vaccine, which also performed well in clinical trials, receives emergency use authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration, New York expects to receive 346,000 doses of that vaccine.
The state on Wednesday reported the highest COVID -19 positivity rate — 6.21 percent — since the spring. There were nearly 161,000 tests reported Tuesday, with nearly 10,000 returned as positive and 95 new deaths.
Albany County saw 205 more coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 8,315 since the pandemic began, County Executive Dan Mccoy said.
Mccoy urged residents to follow public health guidelines, including wearing a mask.
“The masks help. It’s not the cure-all, but they do help,” he said.
Albany County hospitalizations also rose, with 15 new cases bringing the county’s total to 96. Fifteen people were in intensive care.
Hospitals should shift to “crisis management mode,” Cuomo said, working with other hospitals in their networks to manage the number of available beds. He reiterated comments from Monday that if the infection rate continues to climb, the state will enter into a full lockdown — although he added that could be averted if New Yorkers alter their behavior and the current rate of infection slows.
The governor also spoke about the estimated $15 billion budget shortfall facing the state. Leaders of both parties in Washington appear close to striking a deal for a new round of COVID -19 relief, national media outlets have reported, but the deal may not include state and local aid that could be used to help meet New York’s shortfall.
Mccoy urged residents to call their federal representatives as congressional leaders try to work out the latest stimulus package. The lack of state and local aid to cover budget shortfalls is a blow to local elected officials who have been lobbying for financial help to deal with revenue losses during the pandemic.
Under a previous version of the bill, Albany County would have received roughly $9 million, Mccoy said. “If we don’t get bailed out, things are going to continue to deteriorate,” Mccoy said.
The county recently borrowed $40 million to help offset tax revenue shortfalls. The note is due in May 2021.
The new stimulus package does include additional assistance for small businesses, something New York State Restaurant president and CEO Melissa Fleischut said could help the state’s flagging restaurants. When the pandemic shutdowns began in March, the state’s restaurant industry laid off or furloughed 80 percent of its staffing, approximately 527,000 people, Fleischut said at Mccoy’s daily briefing.
And while loosened restrictions allowed some to re-open or rearrange their spaces, many are still struggling.
“Restaurants didn’t make it back to 100 percent of their sales or 100 percent of their staff,” she said. “We have a dark winter ahead of us.”
Fleischut added that her group was putting together a series of legislative requests for the state to consider in 2021, including making alcohol to-go a permanent feature and credits to apply toward liquor license renewals for restaurants that weren’t able to use theirs in 2020.
“The restaurant industry is going to have to rebuild, so we’d like to have those additional sales for even longer as we try to build back,” she said.
Cuomo said he hopes that President-elect Joe Biden, after taking office next month, will shepherd an additional bill through Congress that includes aid for governments by February or March. He said he wants to wait to pass a tax increase — a step that Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie recently said could come before year’s end — until it can be done as part of a fuller conversation about the upcoming budget and its projected deficit.
If the state needs to handle the $15 billion deficit without the federal government’s bailout: “I can tell you the cuts to education are going to cause schools to lay off teachers all across the state,” Cuomo said, adding there also could be layoffs at hospitals.
Without federal help, Cuomo said, the state will need to make cuts to “almost every service” and would have to significantly raise taxes. He suggested that legalization of marijuana could help raise revenues.
The deficit would be the highest on record in New York. “It is going to be devastating,” Cuomo said.