New York State has been administering COVID-19 vaccines to people in Phase 1a and 1b—which includes frontline healthcare workers; essential workers like police officers, firefighters, transit workers, and teachers; and people over 65—since December 14th. Finally, on January 15th, the state released some data about vaccine administration by region.
Based on numbers shared on Friday, New York City notably lagged behind all nine other regions in vaccine administration:
However, out of all the regions, New York City does have the third highest number of doses per capita:
New York City has nearly 400,000 vaccine doses, the most in the state, followed by Long Island (just over 100,000) and Mid-Hudson region (about 78,000).
On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo's office released new vaccine stats—but did not include the raw numbers. Most regions have increased their vaccine administration by 4%, except for New York City, which increased by 11%. The Governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vaccine administration data as of January 16, 2021
Through the fourth week of the vaccination program, New York State has received a total of 844,250 doses (not including the doses for the federal long-term care program), according to data by the state Health Department. The data for the fifth week, which started January 12th, will be released on Sunday.
Overall, New York State has administered 83% of its supply from the federal government. (NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the city would run out of vaccines soon.)
The governor's office adds, "[D]ue to the federal government's limited allocation, appointments have filled up quickly. New Yorkers are being urged to call your local health department, pharmacy, doctor or hospital for additional information and to schedule appointments.
To determine eligibility and schedule an appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site, visit the 'Am I Eligible' website."
Here's more information on how to get a vaccine in New York; the process in getting a vaccine appointment has been rocky for many people, especially seniors who are not as computer literate and may not have access to making online appointments. You can also call 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (the state's hotline, open from 7 a.m. - 10 a.m.) or 1-877-VAX-4NYC (this is the city's hotline, open 8 a.m. - 9 p.m., but will be 24 hours in the future).
New York State still does not have a vaccine dashboard available to the public that would share information about the ages, race/ethnicity, and gender of those vaccinated or daily/weekly numbers of vaccinations. Other states, like Florida, Massachusetts, and Vermont, are sharing this information with their residents.
