New York Post

Finally, a NYS jab-apalooza

30+ get OK now, 16+ next week

- By BERNADETTE HOGAN and NATALIE MUSUMECI Additional reporting by Mark Moore and Nolan Hicks bhogan@nypost.com,

New Yorkers age 30 and over are now eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine — and everyone 16 years and older will be able to receive a shot next week, Gov. Cuomo announced Monday.

Those 30 and older can book and receive shots starting Tuesday, while the shots will become open to all on April 6.

The vaccine had previously been open to those age 50 and above — as well as people with underlying medical conditions and certain jobs.

“Today we take a monumental step forward in the fight to beat COVID,” the governor said in a statement. “As we continue to expand eligibilit­y, New York will double down on making the vaccine accessible for every community to ensure equity, particular­ly for communitie­s of color who are too often left behind.”

Earlier this month, President Biden announced that he would direct all states to make all adults eligible for the shot by May 1 — and most other states have already either opened eligibilit­y to all or set an upcoming date to do so.

On Monday, Biden said that “at least 90 percent of all adults in this country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19.”

He added that his administra­tion is working on an initiative to make sure a vaccinatio­n site is within five miles of 90 percent of all Americans by April 19.

But with coronaviru­s cases ticking up in much of the US, Biden also said he thought states should pause their reopenings.

To date, more than 9 million vaccine doses have been administer­ed at sites across New York, according to state data.

And Mayor de Blasio announced Monday that the city had administer­ed a record 478,000 vaccines last week.

“We’re ready to do more, we just need the [vaccine] supply. It’s all about supply, supply, supply,” de Blasio said at a press briefing.

“We are proving every day we got the capacity, we got the demand.”

Since coronaviru­s vaccinatio­n efforts began in mid-December, the city has administer­ed a total of 3,840,976 doses.

The mayor said the Big Apple will hit the 4 million shot mark this week.

The mayor has often been critical of Cuomo’s moves in the pandemic, but a spokesman said they are on the same page about expanding vaccine eligibilit­y.

“Mayor de Blasio has been calling for the freedom to vaccinate more New Yorkers for months and months, so this is welcome news,”

Bill Neidhardt told The Post.

“New York City gave over 475,000 doses last week and as long as supply continues to grow, we are ready to vaccinate more folks and doubledown on our efforts to reach seniors and our hardest hit neighborho­ods.”

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