■ New York expanded COVID-19 vaccine distribution to people 65 And older.
But doses were already scarce, system reeling
New York state expanded COVID-19 vaccine distribution Tuesday to people 65 and older, increasing access to an already short supply of doses being distributed through an overtaxed system some users have found time-consuming.
The state had already dramatically expanded vaccine eligibility beyond health care workers Monday to include people 75 and older as well as police officers, teachers and other key professions. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the lower age eligibility Tuesday, even as a state vaccine hotline was temporarily not accepting calls because of high call volumes.
People were making inoculation appointments through a state website, which generates a list of nearby potential sites users can contact. Geneva Conway, an 88-year-old Albany resident, said she was still waiting for a vaccination appointment after using the website and making a round of calls to local pharmacies, the county and her doctor. “I was on the phone, all told, for an hour and a half to two hours by the time I’d finished,” Conway said. “I’m 88 years old, fairly computer savvy. Another senior would not have stayed on the phone two hours, and we are the most vulnerable people.”
Cuomo has blamed the short supply on the federal government, which he says is sending the state of more than 19 million people 300,000 doses a week. The Democratic governor said the state’s lower age eligibility follows new federal guidance.
“Now we have 7 million people eligible, and we still have a drip, drip, drip from the faucet of federal dosage availability at 300,000,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing.
Even before the eligibility age was lowered to 65, vaccines were in high demand. Two hundred doses made available in Orange County north of New York City were taken within 10 minutes of a link being provided by County Executive Steve Neuhaus on Monday.
“It’s selling out quicker than your favorite rock concert,” Neuhaus said, adding that some senior citizens are getting “the short end of the stick” under the online system because other groups act faster to snap up reservations. In other developments: ■ California lifted a stay-at-home order in the 13-county Sacramento region on Tuesday as hospital conditions improved, a rare turn of good news as the state pushes through what Gov. Gavin Newsom called “its most intense surge” in the coronavirus. Arizona set a one-day record for daily deaths at 335 and hospitalizations topped 5,000 for the first time. ■ Four Oregon counties are moving back to the extreme risk category after COVID-19 cases there increased. Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday that Baker, Clatsop, Coos and Morrow counties will move from high risk to extreme risk. ■ The Aspen area will close indoor dining at restaurants on Sunday as the county reports the highest incidence rate for the coronavirus in Colorado. ■ Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is calling on the state’s employers to keep workers at home if possible, but the governor says he won’t tighten his current pandemic restrictions on businesses any further. Edwards said Tuesday that he has renewed the same coronavirus rules that have been in place since late November.