Health officials react to new COVID variant in New York
Unmute
(WBNG) New York State health officials have confirmed a case of the United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 in Saratoga County. Local health experts expect to see more cases in the coming weeks. Once we knew it was in other parts of the world, and then of course, here in the United States, it was only a matter of time before it was found here in New York, said Broome County Health Department Director Rebecca Kaufman.
While little is known about the differences in this strain, there is one notable change in the virus.
New York State Team
Dozens of COVID-19 vaccine clinics run by county officials are opening up across New York state as part of the dire push to expand access to shots following a slow rollout inside hospitals and nursing homes last month.
So far, 46 local health departments have received doses of COVID-19 vaccines and plan to begin inoculating health care workers and other groups on the pandemic front lines in coming days and weeks, according to the governor s office and county officials.
The county health departments are part of 636 sites statewide that have been activated thus far in order to get COVID-19 vaccine shots into arms, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. The other sites include 244 federally qualified health centers, 213 hospital-related locales and 133 urgent care facilities.
(WBNG) - As the state of New York vaccinated its first group of people with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, local health department officials said we can expect the first doses in the Southern Tier sometime this week.
In New York, health care workers and those who reside and work in nursing homes are first in line to get the vaccine.
The Southern Tier will receive around 4,500 doses in phase one of the distribution plan.
Broome County Health Department Director Rebecca Kaufman said with the extra cold storage necessary for the vaccine, they have been working with Binghamton University, businesses, and local hospitals to work out equipment so the state knows what our area s storage capacity is.
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
There s no timetable for when the initial COVID-19 vaccines could be administered in Broome County, but Tuesday marked the first rounds of its distribution in the Southern Tier: Arnot Health employees in Elmira became the region s first to be vaccinated.
The Southern Tier region stands to receive 4,500 of the first 170,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in New York state. Nursing home residents and staff, along with high-risk health care workers, are being prioritized for the initial round of vaccinations.
Broome County Health Department Director Rebecca Kaufman said the county has spent recent months planning for eventual vaccine distribution, particularly addressing the vaccine s cold storage needs and coordinating with United Health Services and Ascension Lourdes Hospital.
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