LI Hospital Among Slowest To Administer Coronavirus Vaccine

LONG ISLAND, NY — Hospitals that do not quickly administer their allocations of the coronavirus vaccine could be fined up to $100,000, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

Since the vaccine was rolled out, hospitals statewide have used up 46 percent of their allotment, Cuomo said. NewYork Presbyterian Healthcare System and Oswego Hospital have used 99 percent of their allotments.

Others, however, including Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island, have been slower. The medical center has administered just 19 percent of its allotment, the third-lowest total, according to Cuomo.

"We want those vaccines in people's arms," Cuomo said. "We need them to administer the vaccines faster."

There are 194 hospitals in the state. The vaccine has been shipped out over the last three weeks. New York State Commissioner of Health Howard Zucker said about 10 percent of nursing home residents and 15 percent of staff have refused to be vaccinated.

The New York State Department of Health said if hospitals don't administer their allocation of the vaccine by the end of the week, they can be fined up to $100,000 and prevented from receiving more vaccine shipments.

"We will use other hospitals who can administer it better," Cuomo said.

"This is a very serious public health issue," he said. "This is a matter of life and death so yes, I'm impatient."

Cuomo said he plans to propose a law criminalizing fraud involving vaccinations.

Cuomo reported another 170 coronavirus deaths Monday. The statewide positive test rate was 8.34 percent. Long Island's positivity rate was 9.31 percent Monday.

The governor said defeating the pandemic is among his top priorities in 2021.

"We want to put a harpoon in the beast," he said.