Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that starting tomorrow, all New Yorkers over the age of 30 will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The expansion will continue on April 6th, when anyone in the state over the age of 16 will be allowed to receive the vaccine.
"Today we take a monumental step forward in the fight to beat COVID," Cuomo said Tuesday in an emailed statement, noting that the state is well ahead of the May 1st deadline set by the White House. But New York was also one of the last states in the country to announce a plan for universal eligibility. As of early Monday, Arkansas and Wyoming were the only other holdouts, according to policy tracking conducted by The New York Times.
"As we continue to expand eligibility, New York will double down on making the vaccine accessible for every community to ensure equity, particularly for communities of color who are too often left behind," Cuomo stated. "We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but until we get there it is more important than ever for each and every New Yorker to wear a mask, socially distance and follow all safety guidelines."
Last week, the state expanded vaccine eligibility to all New Yorkers over the age of 50. At that announcement, Cuomo addressed the disparity in vaccine distribution thus far, with white people receiving about 77% of available vaccines up to that point.
According to the latest statewide data, more than nine million doses have been administered in New York so far, with over 1.3 million given in the last week alone. Altogether, 30% of New York residents have received at least one vaccine dose, while about 16.8% have received both doses. In NYC alone, over 2.1 million people have received at least one dose, and 1.1 million have received both.
The New York State Health Department tells Gothamist that there are approximately 2.1 million New Yorkers age 30-49 who were not previously eligible for vaccines who will gain access on Tuesday; altogether, approximately 14.2 million New Yorkers will be eligible for vaccines tomorrow. That number will increase to 15.9 million on April 6th when people over 16 are added.
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The CDC also announced today that a real-world study confirmed that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines—the ones produced by Moderna and Pfizer—reduce the risk of coronavirus infection by 90 percent two or more weeks after vaccination. The result means inoculating about 80 percent of a population with these vaccines should be enough to establish and maintain herd immunity.
Amidst rises in COVID cases in multiple parts of the country, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky went off-script at a press conference at the White House earlier today, reflecting on "the recurring feeling I have of impending doom." She made a direct plea to people to get vaccinated and hold back before they start going back to their regular lives and activities.
"Right now, I'm scared," she said. "I so badly want to be done, I know you all so badly want to be done. We are almost there, but not quite yet. So I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can, so all of those people we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends."
You can check your vaccine eligibility and make an appointment at a state vaccine site here. To book a dose at a city-run site you can go here, or check TurboVax for a constantly-refreshed list of new availabilities.
Editor's note: This story was updated with data provided by the New York State Department of Health.
