ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that local governments can now add restaurant workers, taxi drivers and developmentally disabled facilities to the 1b vaccine eligibility list, only if they are able to do so.
The announcement was made during a briefing Tuesday.
According to a spokesperson with the New York State Department of Health, those with disabilities have been eligible to get the vaccine since week one but only if they live in a congregate setting.
"You have to be living in a group home. You cannot get this vaccine if you live with your family, if your live independently, it is not available to you and these people have comorbidities, they are very much medically at risk," said Emily Mondschein, executive director at Gigi's Playhouse.
She says that's exactly part of the problem. Mondschein says people who have down syndrome are more likely to die if they get the virus.
Just last month, several organizations in Western New York wrote a letter to Gov. Cuomo urging him to add those with disabilities who are 16 and older to the eligibility list.
One of them includes Oishei Children's Hospital, where the chief medical officer Stephen Turkovich says the risk of complications has nothing to do with where the disabled live.
"There's still more conversations to be had with the governor and his team because we do want to make sure this is opened up to all individuals regardless of where they're living with intellectual and developmental disabilities," Turkovich said.
Gov. Cuomo says local governments can also give vaccines to taxi drivers and restaurants if they're able to.
The State Restaurant Association say they're pleased with the decision but now comes the challenge of which local governments will allow restaurant workers to get vaccinated.
"Hopefully we can convince them that restaurant workers should be included in 1B if there's enough vaccine to go around, we would certainly love to see that." said Melissa Fleischut, president/CEO of the NYS Restaurant Association.
She says the vaccine would help restaurant workers stay safe and hopefully get rid of capacity restrictions and the 10 p.m. curfew.
2 On Your Side reached out to different county health departments to find out if they are going to be able to provide vaccines to the additional groups but have not heard back yet.
Meanwhile, the governor says the federal government is providing more vaccines to the state: 20% more, up from 16%.
"We're in a footrace to vaccinate the entire eligible population while continuing to keep the infection rate low," Governor Cuomo said. "We're moving heaven and earth to administer as many doses as possible, but on a global level we are experiencing high demand and scarce amounts of the vaccine.
"We have much more distribution in place than we have supply, and as soon as we have more doses from the federal government we can get those shots in the arms of New Yorkers as quickly and fairly, while continuing to make sure the communities hardest hit have access to and trust in the vaccine. In the meantime, I urge New Yorkers to be smart and take measures we know work to keep the infection rate low - wear a mask, wash your hands and socially distance."
Cuomo reiterated that unless they are given a directive by the feds, they cannot redistribute second-dose vaccines for first-dose use.
“I have local governments saying to me that I should do this, but I can’t do it unless the federal government says I can,” Cuomo said on Monday.
Cuomo also says the federal government is providing 10 percent more state vaccine allotment to pharmacies. That is about 30,000 more in New York State for pharmacies to dole out to the 65+ age group.
Approximately 7.1 million New York State residents are currently eligible to receive the vaccine in phase 1a and 1b. Of the nearly 2.3 million vaccines received by the state, 1,735,445 have been administered.