The first Coronavirus vaccines are here New York State

The first Coronavirus vaccines are here. New York State is receiving our first delivery of 170,000 Covid shots this week and the first New Yorkers have already begun to be vaccinated. New York will receive around 346,000 shots of the Moderna-developed vaccine end of  next week. Additional vaccine shots will follow later this month.

Two vaccines have been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. The first, developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, was approved unanimously by New York State’s independent Coronavirus Clinical Advisory Task Force on Dec. 10th and formally authorized by the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11th, 2020. The second, developed by Moderna, was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and approved unanimously by the Clinical Advisory Task Force on Dec. 18th, 2020.

The first New Yorkers to receive the vaccine will be high-risk hospital healthcare workers (emergency room workers, Intensive care unit staff and Pulmonary Department staff), nursing home residents, nursing home staff, followed by all long-term and congregate care residents and staff, Emergency Medical Services Workers, other healthcare workers, coroners and medical examiners. Staff at every hospital will have access to the first covid vaccine allocation.

While the vaccination process is underway In our region, all New Yorkers should wear safety masks, practice social distancing and avoid small and large gatherings during the coming Christmas holidays and  New year celebrations.