Covid-19 Vaccine Is ‘The Weapon That Is Going to Win the War,’ Cuomo Says

Posted onAuthorPam RobinsonLeave a comment

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday that the Covid-19 vaccine  “is the weapon that’s going to win the war,” he said. “Not tomorrow. This is not a short tunnel. We just have to get there with as little loss of life as possible.”

He demonstrated how batches of vaccines would be packaged for shipping and explained how they would be distributed, saying the process is complicated but necessary as very low temperatures have to be maintained to protect the vaccine.

He also encouraged people to accept the vaccine when it becomes available, noting that about 75 percent of the public would have to be vaccinated to help and demonstrated the complexity of the packaging and shipping needed for the vaccine to be effective. “People are going to have to accept this vaccine,” he said.

“The distribution is going to happen in next couple of weeks,” he said. “I believe
there’s a great advantage to the state that acts aggressively. We need people to start to focus on it. I want New Yorkers to start think about it seriously.”
 
“This is the weapon that’s going to win the war,” he said. “Not tomorrow. This is not a short tunnel. We just have to get there with as little loss of life as possible.”
 

In addition, he said that the state Covid-19 positivity rate hit 4.8 percent, and that 61 more New Yorkers had died of the virus.

Suffolk County’s number of new positive results hit 1,111, and three new more deaths were recorded.

In addition, he issued an executive order to expand eligibility for the  COVID Rent Relief Program and reopening its application window. The program appropriated up to $100 million from the federal CARES Act to provide subsidies for tenants who lost income due to the pandemic.  As much as $40 million is expected to be paid to approximately 15,000 New York households. The order will expand the program’s eligibility so more rent relief can be provided.

Of the 674,093 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

6,258

120

Allegany

1,095

26

Broome

5,657

106

Cattaraugus

1,252

53

Cayuga

983

53

Chautauqua

1,692

61

Chemung

3,212

72

Chenango

665

13

Clinton

495

7

Columbia

1,061

17

Cortland

1,116

25

Delaware

393

8

Dutchess

7,635

123

Erie

27,110

592

Essex

302

6

Franklin

283

7

Fulton

544

17

Genesee

1,158

44

Greene

734

14

Hamilton

56

7

Herkimer

789

34

Jefferson

653

42

Lewis

430

26

Livingston

789

25

Madison

1,043

51

Monroe

17,127

539

Montgomery

534

12

Nassau

62,745

757

Niagara

4,296

154

NYC

321,053

3,307

Oneida

5,477

211

Onondaga

11,657

376

Ontario

1,447

57

Orange

17,496

213

Orleans

652

7

Oswego

1,799

57

Otsego

674

14

Putnam

3,038

65

Rensselaer

1,891

54

Rockland

22,221

173

Saratoga

2,488

75

Schenectady

2,699

84

Schoharie

217

5

Schuyler

326

3

Seneca

347

24

St. Lawrence

981

68

Steuben

1,898

33

Suffolk

63,758

1,111

Sullivan

2,238

18

Tioga

1,193

22

Tompkins

1,209

55

Ulster

3,606

107

Warren

614

11

Washington

464

3

Wayne

1,243

37

Westchester

52,418

628

Wyoming

605

21

Yates

277

5

 

  

Deaths by County of Residence

County

New Deaths

Albany

3

Allegany

1

Broome

3

Cattaraugus

1

Cayuga

1

Chemung

2

Erie

10

Genesee

2

Kings

3

Livingston

1

Manhattan

1

Monroe

2

Montgomery

1

Nassau

2

Niagara

1

Oneida

2

Onondaga

4

Orange

2

Orleans

1

Queens

3

Richmond

4

Rockland

1

Suffolk

3

Wayne

2

Westchester

5

 

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