Feb 25, 2021
- As of today, more than 2.5 million New Yorkers have received a first vaccine dose—about 12.8 percent of the state's population. This is a promising step in our vaccination efforts. We're doing everything we can to further build our vaccination distribution network and to ensure the vaccine is being administered equitably, but one of our biggest obstacles to getting every single New Yorker vaccinated remains a lack of supply. The number of doses we receive from the federal government has been increasing each week and in turn, we've been able to expand eligibility to even more New Yorkers. Now with the news of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the prospect of even greater vaccine supply is on the horizon. As vaccine appointments remain scarce at the moment, I urge New Yorkers to be patient and continue to exercise caution about the virus.
Here's what else you need to know tonight:
1. COVID hospitalizations dropped to 5,703. Of the 278,942 tests reported yesterday, 8,746, or 3.34 percent, were positive. There were 1,124 patients in ICU yesterday, down 30 from the previous day. Of them, 774 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 89 New Yorkers to the virus.
2. As of 11am today, 91 percent of first doses allocated to the state have been administered. This represents 2,562,274 first doses administered of the 2,812,900 first dose allocations received from the federal government. So far, 3,985,558 total doses have been administered out of the 4,530,640 total doses received. See data by region and county on the State's Vaccine Tracker: ny.gov/vaccinetracker.
3. Twelve community-based pop-up vaccination sites will come online this week. The sites will be set up at community centers, public housing complexes and cultural centers and will vaccinate more than 3,700 New Yorkers. Since January 15, more than 100 community-based pop-up sites administered over 46,000 first doses to eligible New Yorkers. These sites are a key component to New York's effort to fair and equitable vaccine distribution and we will continue to work with our local partners to help the communities hit hardest by the pandemic.
4. New York State is encouraging eligible New Yorkers to train to become vaccinators. If you are a licensed practical nurse, a dentist, an EMT, a medical nursing student with at least a year of clinical experience, and more—then you may be eligible to take training to become a vaccinator and help New York administer COVID vaccines over the coming months. See how you can get involved.
Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": Celebrating 40 years, a Long Island non-profit organization continues to help kids see a brighter future despite the pandemic. The North Shore Youth Council in Rocky Point, NY, helps children and teenagers develop life skills to help them grow into responsible, successful adults through summer camps, mentoring, recreation and more. When the virus hit, they continued to offer support with virtual programming, including free tele-therapy, virtual talent shows, and more. They have since restarted much of their in-person programming. "Families, children especially, have been in desperate need of stability, socialization, and mental health support, so it was important that we found every way possible to continue to be that system in place," said Robert Woods, NSYC's Executive Director. To learn more about NSYC's programs and services, visit www.nsyc.com.
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