ALBANY — Walk-ins will be welcome at all state-run mass COVID vaccination sites before the end of the week, Gov. Cuomo announced on Tuesday.
Beginning Thursday, all state sites will accept on the spot appointments and vaccine centers run by local health departments also will have the option of opening up to walk-ins if they choose.
“All the obstacles are removed. All the barriers are removed,” Cuomo said during an event in upstate Johnson City, near Binghampton. “Just show up and roll up your sleeves and the mass vaccination sites have the capacity to handle it.”
The change comes as demand for the doses slows, the governor said, noting that the state was administering about 175,000 vaccine doses every 24 hours statewide in prior weeks. That number has now slowed to about 115,000 vaccine doses administered in a 24 hour period.
“You don’t have to call you don’t have to make an appointment, all New Yorkers 16-plus, just come in to a mass vaccination site on Thursday, and you are eligible for a vaccine,” he added.
Cuomo said that, so far, over 14 million New Yorkers have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 45% of the state’s population.
The governor, facing allegations of sexual harassment, an impeachment investigation, and several other probes, has focused his energy on vaccination efforts in recent weeks.
Initially, limited supply from the federal government meant long waits, frustrating online experiences trying to book scare appointments and uncertainty as to when New Yorkers could expect to be inoculated.
As availability increased, eligibility expanded and officials have turned to encouraging all New Yorkers to get immunized.
City-run sites began allowing walk-ins last Friday.
Cuomo also announced on Friday that the state-run mass vaccination site at the Javits Center in Manhattan has administered 500,000 shots since opening on Jan. 13.
“We are working with our health care professionals and volunteers around the clock to get as many shots in arms as possible, as quickly as possible, and our vaccination rate continues to trend in the right direction,” Cuomo said. “The success of this site and the other sites across the state are proof that our efforts are working and getting us closer to defeating COVID once and for all and restoring a sense of normalcy.”
Source (Ny Daily news)