Governor Cuomo says a vaccine is months away, develops distribution plan

(WIVB)– Before people get ahead of themselves, Governor Cuomo says a vaccine is still months away, at least for the general public.

Global experts are predicting that the coming weeks may bring the worst of the pandemic.

That’s why the state is now working on a vaccine distribution plan.

Cuomo says when it’s ready, there will be a schedule in place to fairly distribute it while also determining priority groups.

But there’s still the problem that a lot of Americans have expressed distrust in the Food and Drug Administration, even though the federal administration is about to change.

To help with vaccine skepticism, Cuomo says New York will be part of an 8-state panel that will review the FDA without causing a delay.

I will be the first person to put the needle in his arm after the state panel says it’s okay. I would never ask the people of New York to take a vaccine that I didn’t believe and I wouldn’t take myself. That’s the best way I know to build confidence in the vaccine.

Andrew Cuomo, Governor, New York State

Governor Cuomo’s tentative vaccination distribution plan prioritizes people who are deemed to be at “high risk” or are essential healthcare workers. Following them, Cuomo says “lower risk” individuals and other essential workers will be second in line to receive the vaccination. Finally, the general public will be given access to the vaccine in New York State.

The other parts of Cuomo’s winter plan include testing for schools in a way that helps keep schools for grades kindergarten through 8th grade open.

The plan also accounts for adjusting the factors that determine whether a microcluster zone is yellow, orange or red, to include hospital data.

He says the state will now consider hospitalizations and bed capacity in a region to try and prevent any hospitals from running out of resources.

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