ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Shipments of COVID-19 vaccine to New York from the Federal Government are falling short of what was promised. The average amount of vaccines received is nearly 100k below what the state was supposed to receive, the Governor’s office confirmed Thursday.
New York is receiving on average 210,730 doses, according to the states’ COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker. It’s why Governor Andrew Cuomo asked Pfizer to sell the COVID-19 vaccine directly to the state, according to a spokesperson from the Governor’s office.
To hasten the vaccination of more than 19 million New Yorkers, a goal outlined in Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State, he asked Pfizer to agree to sell N.Y. COVID-19 vaccine, a request that Pfizer said they could not honor without approval from the Feds.
In the first week (Dec. 14-20, 2020), the state received 90,675 doses. In the second week (Dec. 21-27) it received 392,025, the highest number of doses of any week. The state then received 201,500; 160,050; and 209,400 in weeks three (Dec. 28-Jan. 3), four (Jan. 4-10), and five (Jan.11-17).
More than 7 million residents in groups 1a and 1b under the state’s vaccine distribution plan are currently eligible to receive the vaccine. The state has said it will take weeks for all those currently eligible to get vaccinated.
Using the state’s average of 210,730 doses, it would take a little more than 33 weeks to vaccinate all those currently eligible. Not early estimates of 14 weeks by the state using projections of at least 300k weekly doses. The Governor said the state is looking at seven months before groups 1a and 1b are fully vaccinated on Thursday.
State supply of the vaccine is expected to be depleted by Friday, January 22, according to the Governor’s office. The state dashboard said 91% of the total vaccine received (first and second doses) has already been distributed. The percentage of first doses administered is 93%.
“The State administered 96,000 shots in the last 24 hours, and we have the operational capacity to do even more – but we need more doses from the federal government because the real problem continues to be that the demand outpaces supply. We also need providers to continue prioritizing the groups they are responsible for serving in order for the system to remain fair,” Gov. Cuomo said Thursday.
The percentage of vaccine received versus vaccines given is between 77% (the lowest) in the Mohawk Valley and 100% (the highest) in the Southern Tier. The Mohawk Valley was sent 29,850 doses, 22,867 have been given out. In the Southern Tier, 32,180 doses have been given out as of Thursday afternoon.
| Region | Doses received | Doses Administered | % administered |
| Capital Region | 78,550 | 64,305 | 82% |
| Central New York | 59,725 | 58,546 | 98% |
| Finger Lakes | 77,150 | 72,249 | 94% |
| Long Island | 144,750 | 140,502 | 97% |
| Mid-Hudson | 111,925 | 94,191 | 84% |
| Mohawk Valley | 29,850 | 22,867 | 77% |
| New York City | 546,775 | 491,085 | 90% |
| North Country | 25,925 | 25,783 | 99% |
| Southern Tier | 29,400 | 32,180 | 100% |
| Western New York | 86,100 | 82,823 | 96% |
| Statewide | 1,190,150 | 1,084,531 | 91% |
The Capital District has given out on average the second-lowest percentage of available vaccine, 82% or 64,305 of 78,550 doses. Statewide 975,958 of the 1,053,650 first doses received have been administered and 92,904 of the 136,500 second doses have been administered.
