NY to set up drive-thru vaccine sites at Javits Center, SUNY and CUNY campuses: Cuomo
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York state will set up drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination sites at the Javits Center, as well as on SUNY and CUNY campuses, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
In addition to distributing vaccines at nursing homes, hospitals, pharmacies, urgent care clinics and other healthcare facilities, officials will use "large, state sites" for distribution, Cuomo said at a news briefing.
"Javits Center, we're going to use SUNY, CUNY, where you'll have drive-thru vaccine operations," he said. "Again, we need the supply to do that, but we are already setting those up."
The state will also be setting up pop-up vaccination sites at churches and community centers, he said.
"We're going to make sure that the social injustice and the healthcare disparities that we've seen are not replicated," he explained.
The distribution system the state has in place will be able to deliver millions of doses to New Yorkers, but the federal government must increase the state's supply, Cuomo said.
At his briefing, the governor also called on the federal government to enforce mandatory COVID-19 testing for travelers flying in from other countries.
New York state confirmed its first case of the new, more highly-contagious strain of COVID-19 from the United Kingdom on Monday, in Saratoga County.
"The U.K. strain is highly problematic, and it could be a game changer," Cuomo said. "Why do we not have mandatory testing of everyone flying into this country? I mean, why not? Not a travel ban, just mandatory testing."
Anyone who was exposed to the Saratoga County case, which has been linked to N. Fox Jewelers on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, should contact the state's health department, Cuomo said.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of. This is a virus," he said. "It travels, but we have to know. Containment is vitally important here."
New York state on Tuesday reported 149 new COVID-19-related fatalities, Cuomo said at his briefing.
Of the 152,402 COVID-19 test results that came back in the state on Monday, 12,666, or 8.31 percent, were positive, he said.
As of Monday, hospitals across the state were treating 8,590 COVID-19 patients, 1,392 of whom were in intensive care and 851 of whom were on ventilators.
