Despite expressing doubt about a vaccine developed during the Trump administration, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to disperse thousands of doses of the coronavirus vaccine to nursing homes.
Cuomo, who, earlier this year, said he doubted the Food and Drug Administration would be able to approve a safe coronavirus vaccine, revealed that 80,000 doses of the new Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine would go to the elderly in nursing homes. To date, the state has received over 87,000 vaccine doses, 4,000 of which have already been administered.
“Pending approval, we could get another 346,000 Moderna cases next week,” Cuomo said of the Moderna vaccine, which was deemed safe and effective by the FDA this week.
Cuomo also vowed that New Yorkers would not have to “pay a penny” for the vaccine. “We want people to get vaccinated. It shouldn’t be about wealth. No one will pay a penny,” he said.
Earlier in the pandemic, Cuomo was scrutinized for botching plans to stop the spread of the virus among the elderly in nursing homes, which resulted in thousands of deaths. According to the nonprofit group Long Term Care Community Coalition, there were 7,147 reported COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and adult care facilities as of Dec. 7.
Cuomo defended his earlier policies as being in accordance with guidance from federal health recommendations.
There are over 16,900,000 reported cases of the coronavirus in the United States, resulting in over 306,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
