.@NYGovCuomo : "If the UK spread catches on in NY, hospitalization rate goes up, hospital staff gets sick - then we have a real problem. Then we're at shutdown again."

The problem with capacity now is staff shortage, he says. "We have beds, we have equipment." Primarily nurses.

Cuomo: Very worried about UK strain. Still just 1 case confirmed in NY, but believe we have more. Notes spread in UK only took about 3 weeks.

Says this concern + staff shortages at hospitals is why such a push for faster vaccination of health-care workers.
Cuomo: "We have seen a dramatic increase" in performance of vaccinations.

Were doing 10k per day for first several wks

On Monday, went to 30k

Tuesday, a little over 30k

Wednesday, went to 50k

And today going to be in excess of 50k

"That's 5 times the rate they were doing."
Cuomo: Refusal rate varies. Drs taking vaccine at much higher rate. Anecdotal, but would expect to see numbers around 80% for drs. "And drs know best."

Nurses, there's a variation. Would expect to see that 70-80%. 70 is the minimum threshold for viability of vaccination program.
Cuomo: 2M health-care workers in state. Only have 900k doses for the 2M.

"Any hospital that hits their refusal rate, fine, tell me, we'll reallocate it - bc overall we don't have enough dosages for half the population of health-care workers."
Cuomo: After 1a we'll go to 1b - frontline essential workers & aged 75+.

1b is over 3M people.

We're getting 300K doses per week.

"The supply is our issue."
Cuomo: 1b distribution mechanism different - going to use thousands of points of distribution across the state - pharmacies, drs offices, FQHCs, community groups.

Firefighters, police, teachers, transit workers in 1b. Many have health workers - aim is for them to self-administer
(Self-administer, meaning for eg having firefighters' EMS workers administer the shots. Not actually giving themselves their own vaccines.)
Cuomo: When priority 1b vaccinations start, no local govt can prioritize any group over another, ie police over teachers over those age 75+. "That just will not be allowed, period." Everyone in the priority group gets access.
Cuomo: 75+ group in NY is 1.3M people. Distribution mechanism will be pharmacies, dr networks, local health dept operations, community groups - public housing, churches, etc.
Cuomo: "If by the end of next week we did nursing home residents and staff, that would be a great accomplishment. Then health-care workers so we have hospitals working. Then 1b is going to be very large, but distribution network will be large." But supply so far behind dist.

More from Government

Long thread: Because I couldn’t find anything comprehensive, I’m just going to post everything I’ve seen in the news/Twitter about Trump’s activities related to the Jan 6th insurrection. I think the timing & context of his actions/inactions will matter a lot for a senate trial.

12/12: The earlier DC protest over the electoral college vote during clearly inspired Jan 6th. On Dec 12th, he tweeted: “Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal. Didn’t know about this, but I’ll be seeing them! #MAGA.”


12/19: Trump announces the Jan. 6th event by tweeting, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” Immediately, insurrectionists begin to discuss the “Wild Protest.” Just 2 days later, this UK political analyst predicts the violence


12/26-27: Trump announces his participation on Twitter. On Dec. 29, the FBI sends out a nationwide bulletin warning legislatures about attacks https://t.co/Lgl4yk5aO1


1/1: Trump tweets the time of his protest. Then he retweets “The calvary is coming” on Jan. 6!” Sounds like a war? About this time, the FBI begins visiting right wing extremists to tell them not to go--does the FBI tell the president? https://t.co/3OxnB2AHdr
🔷 Rev. Raphael Warnock has become the first Democrat to win a Georgia Senate race in 20 years

The politician spoke to voters via MSNBC this morning

https://t.co/T9oJN2fjmo


Warnock is a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where civil rights leader Martin Luther King once preached.

He will become Georgia's first Black senator


This blue victory gives the Democrats the chance to regain control of the Senate for at least the first two years of the Biden presidency


"With Biden proposing to reverse President Donald Trump's tax cut, increase the minimum wage, and strengthen oversight on various industries, some might argue that his agenda is not particularly market-friendly," says Vasu Menon, investment strategy director at OCBC Bank

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