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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that as of Wednesday, March 3, one of four new vaccination sites across the state will open at the New York National Guard Recruiting Center in Yonkers.
Cuomo said that the new site will be jointly run by the state and federal government and can provide up to 7,000 shots weekly.
Other mass vaccination sites are being set up in Albany, Buffalo, and Rochester.
“Thank you (Gov. Cuomo) and (President Joe Biden) for bringing the COVID-19 vaccine directly to those most vulnerable to the virus,” Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said. “We’ve long needed a vaccination hub in the City of Yonkers to better serve disproportionately impacted portions of our community.”
The announcement of the new vaccination site comes as the federal government promised additional allocations of COVID-19 vaccines to states, prompting New York to arrange for the mass vaccination sites to be opened up in areas with large proportions of people of color.
“You have a multiplicity of distribution outlets run by federal, state, and local governments,” Cuomo said. “That is now creating confusion. This was a system set up originally by the Trump administration and it does create confusion.
“At one point the situation will reverse, I believe, because at one point we’ll have a significant amount of doses, and then you don’t have an availability problem, you don’t have a supply problem,” he said. “Then the multiplicity of distribution points will actually be a positive, but that’s when you have enough supply. Which experts say could be about the end of June now.”
Cuomo stressed that it was key to vaccinate vulnerable populations in the state that “have been disproportionately affected by COVID.”
“I said to the county executives, it is essential that they do a fair distribution: Fair by geography and race,”. Cuomo said. “It is very important that the distribution be fair. This is a precious resource, everybody wants it, there’s not enough.
“The best you can do is make sure that you are fair,” Cuomo continued. “You’re fair among 1a, 1b, 1c, 65-plus. You’re fair geographically, that it’s not just the urban areas or urban areas don’t get more vaccine vs. rural areas. When you look at the demographics that the vaccine rate is fair. We know we have a vaccine hesitancy problem, especially with the Black community.”
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