Vaccinations For People With Underlying Conditions Outlined

LONG ISLAND, NY — With New York State's coronavirus positivity rate continuing to decline to 4.28 percent Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo provided additional information about the vaccination process for those with comorbidities, or underlying conditions.

The coronavirus vaccine will open to people with comorbidities starting Feb. 15, Cuomo announced Friday, but appointments can be made on Feb. 14.

Local health departments will be able to determine how, where, and when to schedule the appointments.

According to Cuomo, there are two ways people with comorbidities can get vaccinated starting Feb. 15. — at state-run sites, and through local health departments; for example, country-run sites.

But although the eligibility pool has been expanded, it is unclear whether local governments and health departments will have enough of the vaccine to go around with supply so scarce.

A post by the Suffolk County Department of Health said information on vaccinating the population with underlying conditions in Suffolk County is forthcoming.

"Until adequate supplies of COVID vaccine can be provided on a regular basis by the federal government through New York State, Suffolk County will be operating vaccine points of distribution events" for 1b essential workers," the post said. "As more vaccine doses become available, under guidance from New York State, Suffolk County will extend distribution to the broader population in a phased approach."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the expanded eligibility issue and if the county has enough vaccinations to serve those who have underlying conditions.

About 75 percent of hospital workers statewide have been vaccinated after having been eligible for two months and must be vaccinated this week; that allocation will then be opened up to those with underlying conditions next week, Cuomo said.

The state's definition of comorbidities will be based on a list provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cuomo said.

In order to be vaccinated, those with underlying conditions must provide validation, including either a doctor's note, or medical information to prove the comorbidity, or signed certification. Local governments can decide what validation to accept, Cuomo said. The state will audit the local systems, he said.

When asked what would happen to those who would lie about having an underlying condition, Cuomo said, "This is a precious resource. There will be fraud."

But, he added, New Yorkers realize the need to vaccinate those with underlying conditions as 94 percent of the deaths from Covid so far have been witnessed in people with comorbidities.

The state will orchestrate a call with county executives to explain the comorbidity process, Cuomo said.

The bottom line, he said, is that supply remains the most critical concern. Although the Biden has increased supply by 10 percent, "I need more," Cuomo said, a refrain he said has been echoed nationwide.

Johnson & Johnson has filed for emergency use authorization, something that could be a "game changer," Cuomo said. That vaccination entails a single dosage and does not require storage in such cold temperatures.

A decision will need to be made, too, he said, about second dosages that are not used in nursing homes because some individuals, for whatever reasons, do not return for those shots. "We want to use every dose," he said.

There are 15 million New Yorkers who need the vaccination and at 300,000 dosages a week, it will take about a year to vaccinate everyone without an increase in supply, Cuomo said.

Currently, 7.1 individuals are eligible before adding in the new group of those with underlying condition, which equals about 4 million, Cuomo said. About 15 million people in total in the state are eligible for the vaccine and more than two million vaccine doses have been administered, he added. Federal officials said last week they will increase vaccine shipments to states by 5 percent.

With both local governments and pharmacies getting additional dosages, Cuomo also announced last week that the local governments will have the flexibility, depending on their unique circumstances, to add 1B priorities to expand vaccine eligibility to restaurant workers, taxi drivers, and members of developmentally disabled communities.

Cuomo also announced that the state would be looking to target vaccinations by high priority zip codes and locations and embracing the micro-cluster strategy to roll out the plan, which aims to bring down positivity rates in those areas.

A trial will take place in the Bronx, using Yankee Stadium as a mass vaccination site, Cuomo said.

Indoor dining opens sooner in New York City

With positivity rates trending downward, Cuomo announced Monday that indoor dining would resume at 25 percent capacity on Friday, two days earlier than the Feb. 14 date originally announced.

New pop-up arts program

A NY PopsUp program will kick off on Feb. 20, with the first performance taking place at the Javits Center as a tribute to front-line healthcare heroes.

The program, which will feature 300 performances over 100 days statewide, features an A-list slate of artists and could pave the way for the reopening of performance venues in New York, including, eventually, Broadway, which could open with testing and reduced capacity at performances, Cuomo said.

"That's where we are headed," he said. The Buffalo Bills playoff game, with 7,000 people filling the stadium, all of whom were tested and showed no evidence of Covid spread, served as a model for other venues, he said.

"Reopening with testing is going to be key," Cuomo said. The governor also announced last week that wedding receptions could begin again at a capacity of 150 with pre-testing.