NY expands vaccine eligibility to 50-plus tomorrow
Cuomo: NYers age 50 and older to qualify for vaccine appointments
Tresool Singh-Conway, of East Meadow, gets a COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site at St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope School in Westbury on March 13. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
The state said residents in the newly qualified age group of anyone 50 and older can start booking vaccine appointments at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
"Tomorrow, and I want to highlight this, vaccines will be available for people 50 years old and above," Cuomo said Monday during a gathering with Black community leaders at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, where he also announced the opening of another pop-up vaccination site.
People in this expanded age category should "make an appointment and get the vaccine," he said.
More than 7.7 million people in the state had received at least one dose of vaccine as of late Monday morning, with 13.4% of state residents having completed inoculation. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses, while the Johnson & Johnson shot is a one-dose vaccine.
On Long Island, the state said 601,877 people have gotten at least one dose and more than 326,000 have completed their vaccination.
Looking for a vaccine appointment? Check our resources guide.
The chart below shows the cumulative percentage of people vaccinated on Long Island in recent days.
This chart shows the percentages of Long Islanders who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and those who have been fully vaccinated.
Search a map of new cases and view charts showing the latest local trends in vaccinations, testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
These free websites are helping LIers land a vaccine appointment
Greg Billig, of Washington Heights, created a website for vaccine appointments after becoming frustrated trying to help his parents register. Credit: Howard Simmons
Some Long Islanders are using free websites created by tech-savvy volunteers to help book a highly-sought date and time for a vaccine. Huntington resident Mark Wilson made his appointment on gregbillig.com/vaccine, which gave him a real-time alert via a text message of vacant appointments at his site of choice, he said.
Other websites include turbovax.info and nycvaccinelist.com. The websites generally function through algorithms to narrow a search and help users avoid scouring governmental internet pages.
Meanwhile, others are using less tech-intensive methods to help Long Islanders get an appointment — like Jericho High School sophomores Abby Garten, 15, Madison Grady, 15, and Emma Gross, 16. Through their initiative, dubbed "Project Vaccine Angels," the friends are collecting names and phone numbers of people seeking appointments, scour websites for available appointments and make the registrations themselves.
The pandemic's uneven economic toll
The pandemic hit Long Island’s economy causing devastation for some, and leaving others unscathed.
The impact varied widely by sector — and some segments of the economy actually gained jobs, state figures show. The hardest-hit major sector, tourism, saw jobs plummet year-over-year by 27%. The retail industry mirrored the overall 8.9% annual decline in jobs. However, employment plunged by nearly 29% at clothing shops even as jobs jumped by 7% at home and garden stores. The overall number of health care jobs fell by 5.3%, but hospitals saw a 1.1% gain in employment.
People who work in the service sector, including retail, hospitality and low-wage health care employees, "have been hurt the worst," said John A. Rizzo, chief economist for the Long Island Association business group and a Stony Brook University professor. "Those jobs are disproportionately low income ... [and] women and minorities have been disproportionately hurt."
By contrast, many white-collar professionals who can work remotely "are doing just fine," Rizzo said.
Here is a sector-by-sector look at the pandemic's impact.
AstraZeneca: U.S. data shows vaccine effective for all adults
A vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in England. Credit: AP/Alberto Pezzali
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease, including in older adults, in final-stage U.S. testing, the company announced Monday.
AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding no increased risk of rare blood clots identified in Europe. The question now is whether the findings will help rebuild public confidence in the vaccine around the world, as the company seeks to win clearance in the United States
In a statement, AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine was 79% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and was 100% effective in stopping severe disease and hospitalization, though it has not yet published full data, so it's unclear if there were enough severe cases to make that finding significant.
AstraZeneca will apply for authorization for use of the vaccine in the United States from the Food and Drug Administration in the first half of April, Ruud Dobber, a company executive vice president, told reporters Monday.
As COVID gained strength, so did her efforts to help
Social worker Marit Molin is honored as the Suffolk County Woman of the Year outside Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming's office in Sag Harbor on Tuesday. Credit: Barry Sloan
When the pandemic began upending lives in March, Marit Molin set out to make life a little easier for hundreds of struggling residents on the East End.
The licensed social worker and community advocate has since helped deliver more than 5,000 meals on the South Fork through her nonprofit organization, Hamptons Community Outreach. The group’s offerings to the underserved also include no-cost therapy, free tutoring for schoolchildren, a diaper drive and a social media campaign.
Those efforts are the reasons Molin, 43, of Water Mill, has been named the 2021 Suffolk County Woman of Distinction.
"People tell us about the beauty of the Hamptons, the beaches, the landscape, the farmlands," said Molin, who lives with her husband and two children. "What really makes this place so special is the people. Time and time again, I’ve seen the people of the East End step up and support their less-fortunate neighbors."
More to know
A coronavirus variant first detected among Brazilian travelers in Japan has been detected for the first time in New York, in a Brooklyn resident, Cuomo's office said Saturday.
The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, proposed legislation endorsed by President Joe Biden on Friday, aims to address the spike in attacks on Asian Americans since the start of the pandemic.
New York State's tax filing deadline will move from April 15 to May 17, State Budget Director Robert Mujica Jr. said Friday.
The first three months of the U.S. vaccination rollout has suggested that faster is not necessarily better for some states.
A Roslyn man is accused of hosting an illegal bottle club in a Manhattan apartment building, according to the NYC mayor’s office, which said sheriff’s deputies found more than 123 people inside Friday night "consuming alcohol, smoking marijuana, and not wearing masks."
News for you
Influencer Gail Gonzalez shows two looks she considers beyond pandemic-wear, but still in the comfort zone, in Valley Stream on March 14. Credit: Corey Sipkin
You can keep your 'pandemic clothes' around. It appears people are slowly evolving their work-from-home attire as they step out in public more. But Long Island style experts say elevating the comfy clothes many have been wearing at home will be the new go-to fashion statement. As one calls it: "loungewear 2.0." And retailers have caught on.
Socially distant Easter activities. The word is the Easter Bunny will make appearances across Long Island this year. From scavenger hunts to petting zoos, here are some local spots offering safe, family-friendly ways to celebrate the holiday.
What to know about larger gatherings. State officials have announced reopening dates and expanded capacity limits for stadiums, concert venues and other larger gatherings like weddings. What are the guidelines and latest protocols? Catch up with this FAQ.
The Oscars will be like a 'movie set.' Although considerably scaled down from a normal year, producers have said they're committed to holding an in-person event at Los Angeles’ Union Station for nominees, presenters and limited guests. They plan to treat the April 25 event like an active movie set.
Plus, this week on Newsday Live: Is it safe to travel yet? With changing state guidelines, spring break and warmer weather, experts will discuss what trends they're seeing and what to expect. Register here for the Wednesday event.
Sign up for text messages to get the most important coronavirus news and information.
Commentary
Credit: Getty Images/Images By Tang Ming Tung
My shot of hope. Melissa Connolly, vice president for university relations at Hofstra University, writes for Newsday Opinion: In November, I got an invitation to join the Johnson & Johnson Ensemble trial at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in New Jersey. Forty thousand people around the world, half getting the vaccine, the other half sugar water or whatever they put in the vials.
I’d have to drive almost two hours for each appointment, and my dread of needles and instinctive distrust of anyone in authority asking invasive personal questions resurfaced. While I sat waiting for my shot just a week later, poked and prodded, questioned and queasy, my blood pressure high, I was flooded with doubts. What if I had a reaction? Some unexpected health condition?
But what I felt in the days after I drove away from New Brunswick can only be described as elation. I was more energetic, clearer. My allergies even seemed to subside. I joked that this must be either the placebo effect or vitamin B12 they put in the shot. I felt so good, but inside, I was certain that I had gotten the vaccine and it was working its magic. I had been shot with hope.
As the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines came out, and we all debated efficacy rates and eligibility categories, I was serene, even as people asked me: When will you know? What was important was that those most vulnerable were taken care of. I’d know soon enough. It wasn’t until my February follow-up, when I was told the sponsor expected to unblind the study (to inform participants whether we got the vaccine or the placebo) in early March, that the seeds of impatience sprouted. I imagined holding that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention card proving I’d gotten the vaccine. A friend extended an invitation to her place in Florida, and I could feel the sun on my skin. Freedom.
On the last Saturday in February, when the FDA announced that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been approved for emergency use, I checked my email. Soon I was checking two, three times a day. Irritation set in. Then, 10 days later, New York State announced that workers like me were eligible. My university colleagues were getting appointments at Aqueduct Racetrack and upstate in Utica.
I called and demanded to be unblinded. Continue reading.
Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
