New York State expects to run out of its supply of coronavirus vaccines before the end of Friday, but more doses will begin to arrive in the coming days, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced at a news conference.
“We will — by the end of today fully — utilize all of the dosages that have been delivered,” Mr. Cuomo said Friday.
Ninety-seven percent of New York State’s vaccine inventory, accumulated over the past five weeks, has been administered, the governor noted, and a total of 28,000 first doses were left in inventory Friday morning. Mr. Cuomo added that the state inoculates roughly 80,000 people per day, meaning the full supply could be exhausted as soon as midday Friday.
Mr. Cuomo urged vaccine providers to only schedule appointments based on the number of doses they know they will receive.
“Some providers think if they schedule appointments ahead of time, people will feel more comfortable — not if you cancel those appointments,” Mr. Cuomo said. “So don’t schedule any appointment unless you know you have an approved state allocation coming, and appointments will be honored. “
Some parts of the state — including New York City, Monroe County and Erie County — have had to delay vaccination appointments scheduled for this week because of supply issues.
Mr. Cuomo also expressed concern over the new virus variants. So far, New York State has found 25 confirmed cases of the more contagious variant prevalent in Britain, but no cases of the variants found in South Africa or Brazil, he said.
New York State should receive 250,400 vaccine doses for use next week, with some arriving Friday. If supply allowed, New York State could inoculate 700,000 people each week, Mr. Cuomo said.
His hands are tied when it comes to vaccine supply. Federal health officials and corporate executives agree that it will be impossible to increase supply before April because of the lack of manufacturing capacity. And the current vaccination effort, which had little central direction under the Trump administration, has so far sown confusion and frustration. Some areas are complaining they are running out of doses, while others have unused vials sitting on shelves.
According to a senior administration official, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are on track to deliver up to 18 million doses a week. Together, they have pledged to deliver 200 million doses by the end of March.
A third vaccine maker, Johnson & Johnson, is due to report the results of its clinical trial shortly. If approved, that vaccine would also help shore up production. If all of that supply were used, the nation could average well over two million shots a day.
In April and afterward, the outlook brightens. Pfizer and Moderna have each committed to supply another 100 million doses by the end of July; the companies may be able to provide even more. A week ago, Pfizer and BioNTech, its German partner, increased their global production target for the year to two billion doses from 1.3 billion doses.
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