Continued Expansion of Vaccine Eligibility

Under the NYS Department of Health’s most recent eligibility guidance, beginning January 4th, the following New Yorkers are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine:

  • All Outpatient/Ambulatory front-line, high-risk health care workers of any age who provide direct in-person patient care
  • All staff who are in direct contact with patients (i.e., intake staff)
  • All front-line, high-risk public health workers who have direct contact with patients, including those conducting COVID-19 tests, handling COVID-19 specimens and COVID-19 vaccinations
  • This includes, but is not limited to,
    • Doctors who work in private medical practices and their staff
    • Doctors who work in hospital-affiliated medical practices and their staff
    • Doctors who work in public health clinics and their staff
    • Registered Nurses
    • Specialty medical practices of all types
    • Dentists and Orthodontists and their staff
    • Psychiatrists and Psychologists and their staff
    • Physical Therapists and their staff
    • Optometrists and their staff
    • Pharmacists and Pharmacy Aides
    • Home care workers
    • Hospice workers
  • Staff of nursing homes/skilled nursing facilities who did not receive COVID vaccination through the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program

The full Phase 1A vaccine eligibility list can be found online here.

 

New Efforts to Expedite Vaccine Delivery and Administration

To prepare for the next phase of vaccine eligibility, the Governor is encouraging essential worker groups such as police departments, fire departments, educators, and public transit organizations to begin developing plans to vaccinate their workforce. Plans will ease the burden on hospitals and other vaccination locations when the general public becomes eligible to receive a vaccine.

 

Additionally, as part of New York State’s effort to further expedite the delivery and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, a number of efforts are now underway, including:

 

  • New ‘Am I Eligible?’ App

New York State has launched a new ‘Am I Eligible?’ app to help New Yorkers determine their vaccine eligibility, connect them with administration centers, and schedule appointments. To access the app, as well as find the latest information concerning the vaccine and its administration, visit: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/.

 

  • Planning for Vaccination of General Public

The State is establishing pop-up vaccination centers to facilitate public vaccinations, similar to the State-run mobile testing centers which were established last spring. The State also is identifying public facilities and convention centers to be used as vaccination centers, and is recruiting retired nurses, doctors and pharmacists to support vaccine administrations. This will ensure vaccine access is provided in underserved communities and health care deserts. The State is building Community Vaccination Kits to support these efforts and will work with public housing officials, churches and community centers to identify the most appropriate locations for kit deployments.

 

New York State COVID-19 Numbers

The statewide positivity rate yesterday was 8.31% with 8,590 hospitalizations, an increase of 339 people over the previous day. There were 149 COVID-19 deaths in New York State yesterday.