NEW YORK (WKBW) — During a media briefing on Friday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that those who are in the COVID-19 vaccination groups 1A and 1B can begin making reservations to get the vaccine on Monday.
Group 1A which consists of healthcare workers makes up about 2.1 million people in New York State.
Here is a breakdown of who is eligible to get a vaccine under Group 1A
- High-risk hospital workers (emergency room workers, ICU staff and Pulmonary Department staff)
- Residents and staff at nursing homes and other congregate care facilities
- Federally Qualified Health Center employees
- EMS workers
- Coroners, medical examiners and certain funeral workers
- Staff and residents at OPWDD, OMH and OASAS facilities
- Urgent Care providers
- Individuals administering COVID-19 vaccines, including local health department staff
- All Outpatient/Ambulatory front-line, high-risk health care workers of any age who provide direct in-person patient care
- All staff who are in direct contact with patients (i.e., intake staff)
- All front-line, high-risk public health workers who have direct contact with patients, including those conducting COVID-19 tests, handling COVID-19 specimens and COVID-19 vaccinations
- Doctors who work in private medical practices and their staff
- Doctors who work in hospital-affiliated medical practices and their staff
- Doctors who work in public health clinics and their staff
- Registered Nurses
- Specialty medical practices of all types
- Dentists and Orthodontists and their staff
- Psychiatrists and Psychologists and their staff
- Physical Therapists and their staff
- Optometrists and their staff
- Pharmacists and Pharmacy Aides
- Home care workers
- Hospice workers
- Staff of nursing homes/skilled nursing facilities who did not receive COVID vaccination through the Pharmacy
- Partnership for Long-Term Care Program
In Western New York there are 143,000 people who fall under Group 1A and of that 143,000 just over 33,500 people have been vaccinated which is about 23 percent of those eligible.
According to Gov. Cuomo, in order to reach herd immunity, 70 to 90 percent of people need to be vaccinated.
Group 1B consists of the following 3.2 million New Yorkers
- People age 75+: 1.4 million
- Teachers: 870,000
- First responders (police, firefighters, EMTs): 207,000
- Public safety workers: 100,000
- Public transit workers: 100,000
The governor says the state will set up a website where you can sign up to get vaccinated at your pharmacy or at a local hospital.
Gov. Cuomo says no specific group within Group 1B will be prioritized over another, and that groups 1A and 1B will be vaccinated over the next 14 weeks (by April 16th).
