Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday rejected the idea of expanding the list of eligibility for coronavirus vaccines to include restaurant workers, saying it was a “cheap and insincere” suggestion when state firing reserves are already tight.
The governor rejected the notion a few days after announcing that the city’s restaurants and bars could resume operations inside at a capacity of 25% from Valentine’s Day.
“I put the theory into practice [making] eligible, immunocompromised restaurant workers [people] eligible people with diabetes, [people with] obesity, people with asthma eligible, “he said during an Albany press conference.
“It’s very easy to say politically, ‘I think this should be eligible, I think this should be eligible, I think everyone should be eligible.’ The realistic situation is that you don’t have enough supply for any of these people.” .
Currently eligible for the vaccine include health workers, people 65 and older, school employees, lifeguards, and grocery workers.
Even with this limited group, New York has recently faced a severe shortage of vaccines due to problems with the federal supply chain, which has led to the postponement of appointments and the closure of places.
Cuomo challenged those calling for the list to be expanded to choose a group to be removed from the equation.
“It simply came to our notice then. Who do you want to remove? Teachers, police, [firefighters], [people who are] 65 more? Who do you want to delete? ” he asked.
“It’s a cheap and insincere discussion. Yes, I would like the restaurant workers to be eligible. But what does eligibility mean when you don’t have enough? “
Vaccination efforts hit another issue earlier this week, when snow forced appointments to be postponed to both municipal locations and the states of the five municipalities on Monday and Tuesday.
Appointments at city-managed sites are automatically rescheduled, mostly for next week, at the same locations, though not necessarily at the same time and day of the week, according to the city’s Health Department.
However, those who are unable to make their assigned slots automatically can apply for alternative accommodations, even later this week, if availability allows, according to the agency.
Anyone with scheduled appointments at the Javits Center or the Racetrack Aqueduct (state-run sites in the Big Apple) will receive an email or text message to reschedule their appointment at a comparable time of day, they said. state officials.
Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s assistant, said Sunday that “anyone” whose appointment had to be rescheduled due to the snow could receive a new appointment this week.
As with the city system, anyone who is unable to make the rescheduled state appointment can receive accommodation for an alternate day and time.