NY Vaccine Update: More Eligible, How To Make A Reservation

NEW YORK — Expanded coronavirus vaccine eligibility kicked off Monday in New York, leaving many with questions about who can get the vaccine and how to make a reservation.

According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Yorkers within priority group 1b can begin scheduling appointments with providers, including pharmacies, local health departments and hospitals, to receive the vaccine.

Those now eligible to receive the vaccine include:

• Those who are 75 and older
• First responders
• Public safety officers
• Teachers and other school staff
• In-person college instructors
• Child care workers
• Public-facing grocery store workers
• Transit workers
• People living and working in homeless shelters

Vaccines are given through appointments only. Eligibility and a list of providers where appointments can be scheduled can be found through New York's "Am I Eligible" website. New Yorkers can also call the state's vaccination hotline at 1-833-NYS-4VAX (1-833-697-4829).

More than 4 million people are eligible for the vaccine in the 1b group, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, while about 300,000 doses of the vaccine are delivered to New York per week. The wait for an appointment can be as long as 14 weeks ahead, Cuomo said.

"After 10 long months, the expansion of eligibility for additional New Yorkers to begin making their COVID-19 vaccination plan is a light at the end of the tunnel," Cuomo said. "The vaccine is the weapon that will end the war, and as we continue to prioritize healthcare workers as hospital capacity necessitates, New York is proud to have reached this milestone and we strongly encourage all who are newly eligible to schedule their free vaccination appointment as soon as possible."

This is a detailed breakdown of who is now eligible for the vaccine:

First responders and support staff

• Fire service
• State fire service, including firefighters and investigators (professional and volunteer)
• Local fire service, including firefighters and investigators (professional and volunteer)
• Police and investigators
• State police, including troopers
• State park police, New York State Department of Environmental Protection police, forest rangers
• SUNY police
• Sheriffs' offices
• County police departments and police districts
• City, town and village police departments
• Transit or other public authority police departments
• State field investigators, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, State Commission of Correction, Justice Center, Department of Financial Service, Inspector General, Department of Tax and Finance, Office of Children and Family Services and State Liquor Authority

Public safety communications

• Emergency communication and public safety answering point personnel, including dispatchers and technicians

Other sworn and civilian Personnel

• Court officers
• Other police or peace officers
• Support of civilian staff of any of the above services, agencies or facilities

Corrections

• State Department of Corrections and community supervision personnel, including correction and parole officers
• Local correctional facilities, including correction officers
• Local probation departments, including probation officers
• State juvenile detention and rehabilitation facilities
• Local juvenile detention and rehabilitation facilities

Prekindergarten through grade 12 schools

• School or school district faculty or staff (includes all teachers, substitute teachers, student teachers, school administrators, paraprofessional staff and support staff including bus drivers)
• Contractors working in a school or school district (including contracted bus drivers)
• In-person college instructors
• Employees or support staff of licensed, registered, approved or legally exempt child care setting

Public-facing grocery store workers

Public transit

• Airline and airport employees
• Passenger railroad employees
• Subway and mass transit employees (MTA, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North, NYC Transit, upstate transit)
• Ferry employees
• Port Authority employees
• Public bus employees

Homeless shelters

• Individuals living in a homeless shelter where sleeping, bathing or eating accommodations must be shared with individuals and families who are not part of the same household
• Individuals working (paid or unpaid) in a homeless shelter where sleeping, bathing or eating accommodations must be shared by individuals and families who are not part of the same household, in a position where there is potential for interaction with shelter residents

Before Monday, 2.1 million New Yorkers in priority group 1a were and still are eligible to receive the vaccine. That group includes patient-facing health care and other critical hospital workers, seniors living in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, and people with disabilities living in congregate settings.

The New York State Department of Health is setting up 20 mass vaccination sites throughout the state over the next several weeks to support all categories of eligibility. Three sites will open Wednesday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Westchester County Convention Center and New York State Fairgrounds.