coronavirus new york city

Week worth of vaccine shipments delayed in New York due to weather

Coronavirus update for NY

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Friday, February 19, 2021

Vaccine shipments delayed in NY due to weather

Jim Dolan reports vaccine distribution has been delayed in New York due to the winter storm impacting the area.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Another dose of winter weather did not help vaccination efforts across the New York area.

Gov. Cuomo said New York was informed by the federal government that nearly all COVID-19 vaccine doses allocated for week 10 -- scheduled to be delivered between Feb. 12 and Feb. 21 -- are delayed due to the winter storms impacting the country.

Cuomo said every dose that should have shipped on Monday was held back and only a limited number of Pfizer vaccines left shipping facilities on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"This delay will undoubtedly pose a logistical challenge for New York - but as we have shown over the last 350-plus days, we are New York Tough, and we are up to the challenge," Cuomo said. "The Department of Health is working closely with all providers, including local health departments, hospitals, pharmacies, and FQHCs to minimize the impact on their operations and reduce the number of appointments that must be rescheduled. The vaccine is the weapon that will win the war against COVID, and we will continue to work with our federal partners to expedite the delayed shipments and will keep New Yorkers updated over the coming days."

Two sites, Empire Outlets in Staten Island and Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, did not open Thursday because of the snow across the country and the low supply of vaccines.

The storm didn't stop vaccinations at the Jacob Javitz Center, but it did at Citi Field and some other locations in the state.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said that although they had hoped to receive the next shipment of vaccines on Saturday, it now appears they are arriving on Sunday.

So far, New York state has administered 3.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

New York City has updated its vaccine scheduler in 10 different languages. You can visit nyc.gov/vax4nyc to make an appointment in New York City.

For homebound seniors, NYC will use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to deliver the single dose to seniors in their homes and at vaccine clinics at retirement communities. The city will vaccinate 25,000 home health aides within the coming month.

Jim Dolan reports Mount Sinai Hospital announced Tuesday night that they were canceling some appointments to give out first doses of the vaccine because they were suddenly getting fewer doses from the city than promised.