NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Nearly a quarter of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday as he announced more declines in the state’s coronavirus-related hospitalizations and positivity rate.
The share of New Yorkers who have received at least one dose is 36.9%, while 23.9% of residents—more than one in five—have completed their vaccine series.
Cuomo said more than 11.5 million doses have been administered in the state, including 282,305 doses since Friday and 1.4 million over the past week.
“We are now close to having one out of every four New Yorkers fully vaccinated,” Cuomo said in a statement Saturday. “The way to celebrate our progress is to double down on our safety guidelines and continue getting shots into people’s arms, so we can build on this progress.”
The new milestone comes a day after Cuomo announced that the state will receive just 34,900 Johnson & Johnson shots for week 18 of vaccinations—a drop of 88% week-over-week—following a mishap at a Baltimore plant that ruined millions of J&J doses.
“While no appointments should have to be canceled, we will not be able to get as many shots into New Yorkers’ arms as we would like,” Cuomo said Friday. “We hope the production issues are resolved as soon as possible, and that production ramps up quickly so we can expand the number of New Yorkers who are vaccinated.”
Cuomo also announced positive news Saturday on the state’s COVID-related hospitalizations and positivity rate.
He said the number of statewide hospitalizations had dropped to 4,241 patients, the lowest number since Dec. 3. It was a decline of 110 patients in hospitals from the prior day.
The number of patients in intensive care declined to 882, while the number of intubated patients fell to 585.
The state’s single-day positivity rate fell to 2.79%—the lowest rate in a month, Cuomo said. The state’s seven-day positivity rate was 3.31%.
The state reported another 7,283 cases and 57 deaths on Saturday.
There were 3,295 new cases in New York City, according to the state.
The city’s seven-day positivity rate fell to 3.69%—the lowest rate since Dec. 2, state data shows.