Cuomo Expands Vaccination Network, Widens Eligibility Criteria to Accelerate Rollout
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has expanded the vaccine administration network and widened eligibility criteria to accelerate the statewide pace of inoculations against the CCP virus following a slow rollout and reports that narrow guidelines have led to some vaccine doses being discarded.
Cuomo made the announcement at a Jan. 9 press briefing, in which he said that, starting Jan. 11, the criteria would be broadened to include 3.2 million more New Yorkers, including additional categories of essential workers and people aged 75 and older.
“Over the past week, we have seen hospitals increase their vaccination rates, and I thank them for their efforts, but it’s still not enough, so we’re going to accelerate the distribution,” Cuomo said in a statement.
U.S. vaccine strategy needs to hit reset : Ex-FDA director slams Operation Warp Speed as 27,000 COVID patients die in first 10 days of 2021 and daily death toll tops 3K while states THROW OUT unused shots
Former FDA director Dr Scott Gottlieb said he believes the country s current strategy for administering coronavirus vaccines is not working and urging public health officials to hit the reset button
Gottlieb says that in order for Americans to receive the jab faster all the doses of the vaccine should be released at the same time and not held back for people to receive a second dose weeks later
Across New York state, medical providers in recent weeks had the same story: They had been forced to throw out precious vaccine doses because of difficulties finding patients who matched precisely with the state’s strict vaccination guidelines and the steep penalties they would face had they made a mistake.