Gov. Cuomo Expands Vaccination Categories

As many healthcare facilities throughout the nation are dealing with the lack of COVID-19 vaccines, New York is moving forward and expanding vaccine categories.

Healthcare workers and the elderly were in the first group of individuals who qualified for the vaccination, now New York is moving forward to expand category 1B.

Officials are expecting additional doses this week so Governor Cuomo is allowing the 1B group to include taxi drivers, restaurant employees, and people with developmental disabilities.

According to News 10, people working in the restaurant industry have been vital throughout the entire pandemic. Dominick Purnomo, who is the Director of the New York State Restaurant Association, feels that vaccinating restaurant employees is essential. He said, “Restaurants are the only place where you’re going to be unmasked. It seems like 1B or even 1A is where we should have been originally slated. I’m happy to see that restaurant worker, and food service workers that have been on the front lines since the beginning have the ability to get vaccinated.“

Not all government officials agree with the expansion. Rensselaer County Executive Steven McLaughlin says the expansion is ridiculous. He said, “We did assume all along that eventually, the vaccine production is going to get bigger and bigger, and we will get more vaccines, so that’s welcome news. As far as 1B being expanded, quite honestly, that’s ridiculous. Mr. McLaughlin went on to say that he doesn’t have enough shots for people in the 1A category and for those who are already listed in group 1B such as police officers and teachers.

Does this make you more confident in taking the COVID-19 vaccine? Just like everything else dealing with COVID-19, there are conflicting views on how we should distribute the shots. Hopefully, this pandemic will be behind us soon and we can move forward with our everyday lives.