NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that New York state’s mass vaccination sites will increase capacity for people with comorbidities and underlying conditions as the state expands eligibility to those residents next week.
People with comorbidities and underlying conditions can begin scheduling vaccination appointments on Sunday morning, including by using the Am I Eligible website.
Cuomo said the Am I Eligible site will be updated for people with comorbidities and underlying conditions at 8 a.m. on Sunday. New appointments will be released on a rolling basis over the upcoming weeks.
Starting next week, local health departments will also receive vaccine allocations for these individuals, Cuomo said. People can use a doctor’s letter, medical information evidencing comorbidities or a signed certification to show they are eligible.
Cuomo announced last week that the state would expand eligibility to residents with certain comorbidities on Monday, Feb. 15.
New Yorkers with the following comorbidities and underlying conditions will be eligible for vaccines, according to the state:
• Cancer (current or in remission, including 9/11-related cancers)
• Chronic kidney disease
• Pulmonary Disease, including but not limited to, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate-to-severe), pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and 9/11 related pulmonary diseases
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities including Down Syndrome
• Heart conditions, including but not limited to heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies, or hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) including but not limited to solid organ transplant or from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, use of other immune weakening medicines, or other causes
• Severe Obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2), Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
• Pregnancy
• Sickle cell disease or Thalassemia
• Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus
• Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
• Neurologic conditions including but not limited to Alzheimer's Disease or dementia
• Liver disease
“The numbers show that we're moving in the right direction, and to maintain this trajectory we must win the footrace between vaccinating New Yorkers as quickly and fairly as possible and keeping the infection rate down,” the governor said in a statement Saturday. “We have the infrastructure in place to get shots in arms as quickly as possible - we just need the supply to do it - and with a new leader in Washington we're finally beginning to get more supply.”
Cuomo said that as of 11 a.m. Saturday, New York's health care distribution sites had received 2,129,135 first doses and already administered 90%, or 1,923,259, first dose vaccinations and 83% of first and second doses.
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