New York COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Making Steady Progress, Cuomo Says

Registered Nurse Rita Alba wearing a mask and yellow gown gives a masked senior citizen the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site at the Bronx River Community Center. — Mary Altaffer/AP/Shutterstock

Sophia Chang

Published Apr 17, 2021

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

The official worldwide death toll of COVID-19 has surpassed 3 million people, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center Saturday. That includes more than 566,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, followed by more than 368,000 deaths in Brazil and 211,000 deaths in Mexico.

Meanwhile, New York state has administered 1.5 million vaccine doses in the past week, with 249,255 doses given in the past 24 hours -- more than 40% of the state’s residents have received at least one dose, said Governor Andrew Cuomo Saturday. There have been 3,734,991 first doses given out in New York City to date, with 2,483,628 people now fully vaccinated.

In New York state, the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 reached its lowest level Friday in five months, Cuomo said. There were 3,834 hospitalized patients, the lowest since November 30th, 2020. Of those patients, 866 were in intensive care units. Of those in ICUs, 535 people were intubated. The statewide positivity rate was 2.78%, Cuomo said.

There were 58 people who died from COVID-19 in the state Friday, including six people in the Bronx, ten people in Brooklyn, six people in Manhattan, nine people in Queens and four people on Staten Island.

"COVID-19 has been a long and extremely difficult time in the lives of New Yorkers, and although I know COVID fatigue is setting in and people are desperate to return to normal, we're still dealing with a pandemic and we still need to practice the behaviors that keep ourselves and others safe," Cuomo said in a statement. "New York continues to make progress on vaccinations, and we're expanding eligibility and opening more pop-up sites across the state to get more shots in arms."