Here’s How a COVID-19 Vaccine Might be Distributed to New Yorkers

Though it’s still unclear how the federal government will distribute vaccinations, the state’s draft plan would prioritize health care workers and other residents at highest risk.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a draft plan Sunday for how a potential COVID-19 vaccine would be distributed in New York, one that would prioritize certain populations and geographic areas at the highest risk.

Depending on the progress of ongoing clinical trials, vaccine distribution could begin as early as February, or possibly later in 2021, experts have estimated. Once scientists clear the first barrier toward widespread vaccination, distribution to the public will be challenging, as City Limits previously reported. Expected challenges include the logistics of transporting and storing vaccines to ensuring equitable distribution, especially if supplies are initially limited.

Though it’s still unclear how the federal government will distribute vaccinations, New York’s draft plan says that any localities or entities within the state will have to go by the state’s guidance and protocols. Despite the many other unknowns, such as when the vaccine might first become available and how many doses New York will get, the statewide plan lays out some key details on how the state would prioritize who gets vaccinated first. 

New York proposes giving high-risk populations and essential healthcare workers in geographic areas with high COVID-19 prevalence first priority, then second priority for high-risk populations and essential healthcare workers in areas with a low prevalence of COVID-19. Lower risk populations and other essential workers would be third priority in high COVID areas, and fourth in low COVID geographic areas. Finally, the rest of the general population would fall under priority five or six, depending on COVID prevalence in their region.

	High COVID-19 Prevalence in Geographic Area	Low COVID-19 Prevalence in Geographic Area
High Risk Populations/ Essential Healthcare Workers	Priority 1	Priority 2
Lower Risk Populations/ Other Essential Workers	Priority 3	Priority 4
General Population	Priority 5	Priority 6

The draft plan also includes additional criteria that the state can use to vaccinate the population in phases, prioritizing workers who regularly interact with the public, especially older and/or sicker people as well as individuals at higher risk for serious illness due to COVID.

Phase 1	Healthcare workers in patient care settings  Long-term care facility workers who regularly interact with residents Most at-risk long-term care facility patients
Phase 2	First responders (fire, police, national guard) Teachers/school staff, childcare providers Public Health workers Other essential frontline workers that regularly interact with public (pharmacists, grocery store workers, transit employees, etc.) or maintain critical infrastructure Other long-term care facility patients and those living in other congregate settings Individuals in general population deemed particularly high risk due to comorbidities and health conditions
Phase 3	Individuals over 65 Individuals under 65 with high-risk
Phase 4	All other essential workers
Phase 5	Healthy adults and children

Still, Cuomo acknowledged there are several major unanswered questions that could change how a vaccination plan would be executed. 

“We are coming up with a plan on many presumptions. We don’t know how many doses we’re going to get. We don’t know what vaccine we’re going to get. We don’t know when we’re going to get it,” he said in a press statement Sunday. He emphasized that a vaccination program will be a massive and complex undertaking, and that New York will work “in concert with the federal government.”

“States cannot do this on their own. Period,” he said. “This is a larger operational undertaking than anything we have done under COVID to date.”

Other variables that could impact the actual administration of a statewide COVID-19 vaccination program include how federal funding might be allocated. CDC Director Robert Redfield estimated last month that state governments would need $5.5 to $6 billion from Congress to pull off the vaccination effort. So far, New York has received $7.8 million to be used for COVID-19 vaccination purposes.

Last week, the National Governors Association (NGA), chaired by Cuomo, released a letter to President Trump asking for a meeting to discuss how a vaccination program would be conducted and what are the respective roles of the federal and state governments. 

“To date, the federal government has not clearly delineated the roles and responsibilities between the federal and state government, outlined how the vaccine will be funded or reimbursed, and provided other key details that will be required before New York can finalize plans for a vaccine program,” Cuomo said.

Nicole Javorsky is a Report for America corps member.