For-Hire Vehicle and Taxi drivers, restaurant workers, and workers at facilities serving the developmentally-disabled are now eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines in New York City. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is allowing local governments to choose whether to include them in their 1B Phase, during a briefing on Feb. 2. An NYC government website confirmed that TLC-licensed drivers can now get the vaccine. A full list of people eligible to receive the vaccine can be found here.
A new website was recently developed that “crawls” various locations to see if they have supplies and appointments available, simplifying a process that has been widely criticized as difficult and confusing. Visit NYC Vaccine List to help find locations with available vaccine doses and appointments.
New York expanded vaccine eligibility beyond health-care workers in Jan. to include public workers, teachers, and people 65 and older. In late Jan., Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to reopen New York City’s indoor dining on Feb. 14 to 25% capacity, raising questions about whether restaurant workers should then be included in eligibility lists. He has also been asked to make those with health conditions eligible to receive the vaccine.
Facing supply shortages in New York, Cuomo has pushed back against requests to open up vaccines to even more groups of people. “Without a significant increase in the supply, it’s all just posturing,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo said the state has administered about 2 million vaccine doses for about 7 million eligible residents. Expanding eligibility to the immuno-compromised would add another 4 million in a state that’s getting about 300,000 doses a week from the federal government, Cuomo said.
Cuomo said the Biden administration told governors in early Feb. that the state’s vaccine allocation will rise by another 5% in the coming month, on top of a previous boost of about 16%. The federal government also told governors during a recent call that they would give an additional 10% of the states’ allocation to pharmacies, which will result in another 30,000 doses for those in New York, Cuomo said.
Source: Crain’s New York Business
