New York Facing Vaccine Shortages
Trump Administration Inflated Amout of Doses in Federal Stockpile
FILE – In this Jan. 16, 2021, file photo, a sign saying that a COVID-19 vaccine is not yet available hangs at Walgreens in Glenview, Ill. Smaller-than-expected vaccine deliveries from the federal government have caused frustration and confusion and limited states’ ability to attack the outbreak that has killed over 400,000 Americans.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
January 31, 2021
With many people hurrying to schedule their appointments to be vaccinated, vaccine shortages are occurring sooner than expected.
“New York is expected to run out in about three days,” Governor Cuomo said in a January 20 press conference.
The vaccine supply was supposed to have increased in America every single week leading the federal government has made eligibility way too large, which has led to the vaccine shortage. In order to qualify for the vaccine, one must be either a health care worker, age 65 or over, a first responder, teacher, public transit worker, grocery store worker or a public safety worker. In nearby New York City, that pool of potential recipients of the vaccine became enormous. This shortage has led to people being denied the vaccine even if they scheduled an appointment already.
“At least 23,000 appointments have had to have been rescheduled,” NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
The state supply is not meeting demands due to the fact that the outgoing Trump administration was not accurate in reporting the amount of vaccine in the federal stockpile. All over the country, other states are facing the same crisis, and their governors are being quite vocal about the perceived deception.
“Last night I received disturbing news, confirmed to me directly by General (Gustave) Perna of Operation Warp Speed: states will not be receiving increased shipments of vaccines from the national stockpile next week, because there is no federal reserve of doses,” Oregon Governor Kate Brown said on Twitter.
Brown called this “deception on a national scale.”
In New York City, 303,671 doses have been administered, 40,000 of which were actually second doses, according to De Blasio. These numbers are much lower than what they were scheduled to be. In fact the state has only completed 38% of vaccinations, due to major delays. Currently, many New York hospitals only have about 61% of hospital workers vaccinated.
Many people have spoken up saying that they don’t feel comfortable going to a hospital and possibly getting vaccinated if the hospital’s own workers have not been vaccinated. Governor Cuomo has estimated that it may take at least half a year just to vaccinate people currently eligible.