Jan 13, 2021
- Today, the Jacob K. Javits Center, Westchester County Center and New York State Fair Expo Center opened at 8 a.m. to begin administering vaccines to eligible New Yorkers. These are the first three state-run sites to open. A site at Jones Beach will open tomorrow, January 14th, and a site at SUNY Albany will open on Friday, January 15th. Vaccinations are by appointment only and New Yorkers can determine eligibility and find a provider to receive their first dose through the State's "Am I Eligible" app or call the New York State Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829). And New Yorkers will be able to schedule an appointment to receive the required second dose on site after receiving their first dose. New Yorkers should not attempt to book their second appointment online.
We will aggressively act to get New Yorkers vaccinated quickly and efficiently, but lack of supply from the federal government is an enormous issue. Until the federal government provides us with more supply of vaccines, I again ask that New Yorkers be patient.
Here's what else you need to know tonight:
1. Tomorrow, I will give my fourth and final 2021 State of the State Address. This year's State of the State outlines proposals to defeat COVID and to build a New York that is stronger than ever before. We will Reimagine, Rebuild, and Renew our great state. I hope you will join me tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. ET. to watch the final part of my address live at governor.ny.gov.
2. Total hospitalizations rose to 8,929. Of the 196,868 tests reported yesterday, 14,577, or 7.40 percent, were positive. There were 1,501 patients in ICU yesterday, up 9 from the previous day. Of them, 924 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 165 New Yorkers to the virus.
3. The deadline to sign up for a health plan starting on February 1 through the NY State of Health is this Friday. New Yorkers have until Friday, January 15th, to renew or enroll in a health plan that begins on February 1. Visit their website or call 855-355-5777 to enroll.
4. Three additional cases of the UK variant have been identified in New York. This brings the total to 15 cases in New York. In addition to the new cases, there are four cases in Saratoga County and two other cases in Warren County that have all been identified as part of the Saratoga cluster; two cases in Suffolk County; two cases from Nassau County; and one from Queens. The final case was identified in Manhattan and is not connected to either the Saratoga cluster or the Long Island cluster.
5. As of 3:00pm today, New York has administered 732,066 vaccine doses. Of those, 624,280 doses have been administered in distribution sites including hospitals and 107,786 have been administered in Long Term Care facilities. This represents an increase of 67,000 in the last 24 hours.
6. The U.S. announced that a negative COVID test will be required for all international travelers. The new rule goes into effect on January 26th. This decision comes after I and other governors urged the federal government to implement the policy and New York reached an agreement with major airlines to require testing for New York-bound passengers from the UK.
Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": Landing on August 6th, 2012, NASA's rover Curiosity celebrated its 3,000th day on Mars yesterday. Since its landing, the robot has captured dozens of high-resolution images beamed back down to Earth to help us better understand the climate of our neighboring planet and continue the search for life beyond Earth.
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