NEW YORK (WKBW) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday that New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions can begin scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments on Sunday.
Adults of any age with the following medical conditions are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine
- Cancer (current or in remission including 9/11 related cancers)
- Cerebrovascular disease
- Chronic kidney disease
- Heart conditions, including but not limited to heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathyies, or hypertension
- Immunocompromised state including but not limited to solid organ transplant or from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, use of other immune weakening medicines, or other causes
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities including Down Syndrome
- Liver disease
- Neurologic conditions including but not limited to Alzheimer's Disease and dementia
- Pregnancy
- Pulmonary Disease, including but not limited to COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and 9/11 related pulmonary diseases
- Severe Obesity
- Sickle cell disease or Thalassemia
- Type 1 or 2 diabetes
"Our vaccine supply is going up, the positivity rate is going down and we're getting one step closer to winning the war against COVID each day," Governor Cuomo said. "The numbers show that we're moving in the right direction, and to maintain this trajectory we must win the footrace between vaccinating New Yorkers as quickly and fairly as possible and keeping the infection rate down. We have the infrastructure in place to get shots in arms as quickly as possible - we just need the supply to do it - and with a new leader in Washington we're finally beginning to get more supply, allowing us to open vaccination appointments up to New Yorkers with comorbidities starting next week. We can almost see the light at the end of this dark tunnel, and it is critical that all New Yorkers continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing and act responsibly so that we can defeat this beast once and for all."
You can make appointments through the Am I Eligible website, beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday.
On Saturday, The Erie County Health Department released its plan for scheduling vaccination times for people with comorbidities.
An ECDOH news release about the vaccines read:
"After consulting with local infectious disease and medical experts, ECDOH decided to distribute next week’s NYS-directed vaccine allocation to hospitals for people with comorbid conditions. As of this media release, ECDOH has not been notified of the vaccine allotment for this population for the week of February 14. Hospitals will evaluate inpatients during their hospital stay and vaccinate those who are most at-risk due to one or more comorbidities. Hospitals will also identify outpatients with significant comorbidities, such as those accessing specialty clinics, and offer them COVID-19 vaccine."
A spokesperson for Kaleida Health released this statement about Erie County's plan:
“We are working with the Erie County Department of Health, our partner hospitals in the community, as well as our physician leadership to ensure that there is consistency on vaccination for those with comorbidities when it begins next week. That said, there are still a lot of unknowns at this time such as exact information on quantities that we may receive or what the precise timeline of delivery will be. What we do know, however, is that this will be an extremely limited resource and that demand will quickly exceed supply. So this is expected to be a very long and evolving process.”
