Thousands of coronavirus vaccine doses are going unused in New York City because of state government regulations.
Every worker in the city’s 11 public hospitals who wanted a vaccine has received one, leaving thousands of doses left over.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is seeking to use the remaining vaccines to inoculate police officers and firefighters. When New York City tried to do that earlier this week, the state wouldn’t allow it, saying that first responders would be inoculated in the next phase of vaccination.
“The city had a plan to vaccinate 10,000 police and fire personnel by Sunday, and the state said you can’t do that,” de Blasio said Thursday. “I have a huge number of folks over 75 who are ready right now, correctional officers, firefighters, but the state won’t allow it.”
New York is still in the first phase of its vaccination plan, during which only healthcare workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities can be vaccinated. Until all the people in those groups are vaccinated, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that he doesn’t want to provide vaccines to other people.
It is the latest flare-up in a feud between de Blasio and Cuomo.
