Are You Part of New York's Priority Population for COVID Vaccine?

I believe that most Capital Region residents are hopeful that a COVID-19 vaccine will put us on the road toward life as we knew it. Or at least something better than the way it is today. Starting Monday the vaccine will be available to millions of New Yorkers but will they actually get the shots?

According to the latest UPDATE from Governor Cuomo, the total number of New Yorkers who have received the first COVID-19 vaccine dose to date is 479,142. That seems like a lot but not when you consider that New York receives approximately 300,000 doses of vaccine a week.

This Monday however, the state will make COVID-19 vaccines available to anyone 75 years of age and older, firefighters, police, public transit workers and teachers will be among the latest made eligible. This equates to the vaccine being available to over 3 million more residents.

If you do the math, which I'm not the best at so this could be flawed, we have received approximately 1.5 million doses, 480,000 New Yorkers have received them and 5 million will be on the eligible list come Monday. That leaves us about 4 million doses shy.

If you are among the priority population, you are encouraged to make an appointment, as they will be required. You can do that HERE as soon as the site goes live on Monday January 11th. You will also find distribution locations once the site is activated and those destinations will include doctors' offices, certain health centers and health departments to name a few.

At the current pace it will take well into Spring to vaccinate Monday's list of eligible residents. The CDC recommends that you continue to wear a mask, even if you are fortunate enough to have been vaccinated.