Archive: NYS COVID-19 Resources & Information
1/22/21

In the rapidly changing dynamics of combating the Coronavirus, information is updated constantly. This archive is being provided as an additional resource for those seeking to learn more about how New York State is addressing COVID-19.

LATEST NEWS & INFORMATION - 1/22/21     

From Governor Cuomo's latest Zoom debriefing:

OVERVIEW 

  • Day 328
  • Statewide Positivity rate 5.65%
  • 268,001 tests conducted
  • 165 deaths
  • 8,846 Hospitalizations, down 209
  • 1,546 ICU patients, down 14
  • 992 Intubations, down 19 

REGONAL HOSPITALIZATIONS 

- Finger Lakes: 714 (0.06%)
- Western NY: 430 (0.03%)
- Southern Tier: 240 (0.04%)
- Mid-Hudson: 1,071 (0.05%)
- Central New York: 275 (0.04%)
- Mohawk Valley: 259 (0.05%)
- Capital Region: 536 (0.05%)
- NYC: 3,600 (0.04%)
- Long Island: 1,613 (0.06%)
- North Country: 108 (0.03%) 

POSITIVITY RATE 

- Finger Lakes: 6.07%
- Western NY: 6.02%
- Southern Tier: 3.52%
- Mid-Hudson: 6.91%
- Central New York: 5.56%
- Mohawk Valley: 7.13%
- Capital Region: 6.91%
- NYC: 5.71%
- Long Island: 7.31%
- North Country: 7.04%
- Manhattan: 3.81%
- Bronx: 7.44%
- Queens: 6.42%
- Staten Island: 6.32%
- Brooklyn 

Statewide COVID Hospitalization Rate of Increase 

12/7-12/1 Average Daily Increase +152/day
12/14-12/8 Average Daily Increase +164/day
12/21-12/15  Average Daily Increase +97/day
12/28-12/22  Average Daily Increase +165/day
1/4-12/29  Average Daily Increase +111/day
1/11-1/5  Average Daily Increase +48/day
1/17-1/12  Average Daily Increase +32/day
Past 7 days  Average Daily Increase +5/day 

New Strains 

  • UK, Brazil and South Africa strains are frightening.
  • 3 new UK strain cases in NYS: 2 new cases in Westchester 1 new case in Brooklyn.
  • Statewide total: 25 UK strain cases. 

Vaccine 

  • 97% of allocated first doses administered.
  • 67% of Hospital Workers have been vaccinated.
  • 70% of Nursing Home residents have been vaccinated so far.
  • Overall 1,329,237 doses have been administered including 1,159,869 first doses and 169,368 second doses.
  • 28,246 first doses remain on-hand from Weeks 1-5 delivery.
  • NYS is averaging 80,000 doses a day.
  • Week 6 allocation of doses is 250,400. 

First Dosage Administration by Region 

- Finger Lakes: 94%
- Western NY: 96%
- Southern Tier: 100%
- Mid-Hudson: 84%
- Central New York: 98%
- Mohawk Valley: 77%
- Capital Region: 82%
- NYC: 90%
- Long Island: 97%
- North Country: 99% 

Percent of Hospital Workers Vaccinated by Region

- Finger Lakes: 72%
- Western NY: 62%
- Southern Tier: 69%
- Mid-Hudson: 66%
- Central New York: 82%
- Mohawk Valley: 70%
- Capital Region: 70%
- NYC: 67%
- Long Island: 61%
- North Country: 78% 

Distribution of Doses

- Finger Lakes: 7%
- Western NY: 8%
- Southern Tier: 3%
- Mid-Hudson: 10%
- Central New York: 5%
- Mohawk Valley: 3%
- Capital Region: 6%
- NYC: 43%
- Long Island: 13%
- North Country: 2% 

  • We run out of doses from weeks 1-5 today, NYS is now dependent on week-to-week allocations.
  • Week 6 allocations are arriving to providers and Governor reminded providers to only schedule. appointments that they have allocation for.
  • No more appointment cancellations.
  • NYS currently administering 80,000 doses a day.
  • 250,000 doses a week is not enough, as we have a larger distribution network that ready and able to be doing 100,000+ doses a day. 

FAIR DISTRIBUTION 

  • Doses are being evenly distributed to eligible subgroups, so Healthcare Workers are receiving 21% of available doses in each region, Essential workers receive 27% and 65+ population receives 52%.
  • Providers for each subgroup must follow prioritization.
  • City/County Departments of Health provide doses for essential workers.
  • Hospitals/FQHCs provide doses for Healthcare Workers.
  • Pharmacies and Mass Sites provide doses for 65+ population.
  • If providers don't follow their "prioritization" they are disadvantaging other groups.
  • The federal government caused confusion in distribution because NYS still has not received enough supply to even cover the Nursing Home and 1a categories.
  • President Biden wants to provide 100 million doses over 100 days meaning NYS would receive about 420,000 doses per week.
  • 420,000 doses per week would mean the current eligible population could be vaccinated in 17 weeks.
  • Cuomo is hopeful that the Biden Administration can increase production using the Defense Production Act. 

VACCINE EQUITY 

  • The Covid-19 Social Equity Task Force is focusing on accessibility and acceptance of the vaccine and is working to distribute vaccines in public housing projects.
  • The state has to overcome vaccine skepticism, especially in black and brown communities, by working alongside clergy members and healthcare workers.
  • NYS doctors worked to approve of the vaccine's safety to address distrust concerns in the federal government's vaccine approval process. 

FEDERAL 

  • Cuomo welcomed "common sense and competence" to the federal government and thanked President Biden for including state and local aid of $350 billion in the American Recovery Act.
  • The next obstacle on the federal side is the allocation of the $350 billion and what the distribution formula will be.
  • New York is hoping to see at least $15 billion of the aid and the repeal of SALT.
  • Cuomo supported the actions of the new COVID task force led by Jeff Zients in their potential use of the Defense Production act, and their support of masks wearing and stricter international travel procedures. 

FROM THE Q&A 

On why the Governor opened up vaccine eligibility to the 65+ population when there were not enough vaccine doses for them:

  • It would have added even more chaos to the mix if NYS did not allow the 65+ population to be eligible when the federal government said they were. 

On why there is no demographic break-down of Vaccine Distribution at state-run sites:

  • The state is compiling and analyzing data on demographics and once the information is ready and accurate it will be released. 

On a time-line for vaccine distribution in state prisons:

  • There is a small population of inmates already eligible for the vaccine and the state is working to ensure that they receive their vaccines. 

On how the federal government can increase supply of vaccine doses:

  • The federal government is already working to get more doses to states—they can increase Pfizer and Moderna production, speed up approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and use the Defense Production Act. 

On how NYS is surveilling testing for the UK strain and whether the state is taking vaccine doses from hospitals and other providers to move to state-run testing sites:

  • NYS is conducting 1,000 genome tests a week and is mapping the entire genome to look for any varying strains.
  • No, doses are not being moved to state-run testing sites but the state is working with hospitals that can not distribute their entire allocation to move doses to providers that can distribute the doses.