81 ineffective vaccine shots given at Jones Beach
State: Some vaccines given at Jones Beach on Feb. 15 were ineffective
Some of the vaccines disseminated at the Jones Beach vaccination site on Feb. 15 were not kept at the proper temperature, the state Health Department said. Above: the Jones Beach site on Jan. 31. Credit: James Carbone
Jill Montag, a state health department spokeswoman, said "there was no health risk" from receiving ineffective shots, "an extremely small number of individuals [were] impacted," and those appointments are to be rescheduled.
She said the ineffective shots constituted 81 of the 1,379 doses administered that day.
"New Yorkers’ health and safety is our top priority, and due to this vaccine’s very specific temperature sensitivity, we have a process in place to identify if any temperature excursions occur," she wrote in an email. "This process worked, allowing us to quickly pinpoint this issue, identify the extremely small number of individuals impacted, and immediately begin taking action."
She did not explain what caused the shots to be at the wrong temperature, or how the error was discovered. Nor did the state name the lot numbers of the affected vaccines.
The two vaccines approved in the United States — by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — require extra cold storage.
Search a map of new cases and view charts showing the latest local trends in vaccinations, testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
Experts: COVID-19 is shaping the evolution of nursing homes
Nursing homes of the near future may look less like hospital complexes and more like small, cozy homes with eight or 10 residents, which will include sanitized "safe rooms" for family visits and employ robotics and indoor drones to serve residents, according to experts nationwide.
They said the staggering death toll from COVID-19 in nursing homes is forcing a revision of a system that, by its design and traditional practice, is ill-prepared and ill-suited to deal with such threats. The pandemic, which took more than 100,000 lives nationwide in nursing homes and more than 15,000 in New York State homes, is yielding lessons from the tragedy, experts said.
"COVID has amplified what was already a terrible problem and it’s really made it much more obvious," said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at The Urban Institute in Washington.
For the homeless, the cold during a pandemic is double trouble
A temporary homeless site is seen in Huntington Station in 2015. Credit: Daniel Brennan
A frigid winter — this past week brought the season’s fifth major storm so far — can prove especially punishing for a homeless person living outside.
Greta Guarton, executive director of the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless — a nonprofit that oversees the Island region’s homelessness strategy — said when the temperature or the windchill dips to 32 degrees or below, outreach workers fan out across Long Island where the homeless tend to congregate: the woods, in alleys, at train stations, shopping centers near dumpsters, said
The goal is to coax homeless people to go stay at a shelter. Some say yes, according to Guarton, and accept a van ride — this year, socially distant and masked — to one of the Island’s 200 or so homeless shelters. But, for various reasons, some say no — they don’t want to give up a shopping cart full of possessions, they recoil at real or perceived shelter conditions.
And this year, there’s also the fear of COVID-19.
College students at a loss for work hours during pandemic
Johanna Metz needs work hours to pay expenses while attending SUNY Old Westbury. Credit: Morgan Campbell
When the pandemic hit, Johanna Metz lost hours at her retail job and spent a month on unemployment before finding full-time work at a brand-name outlet store in Riverhead. She needed the work hours to pay expenses while attending SUNY Old Westbury.
Now, the 21-year-old junior psychology major from Mastic faces cuts in her work schedule again, as the pandemic has been particularly hard on the retail and restaurant sectors favored by college students to help make ends meet.
"I’ll only be working 15 hours a week, which is terrible," Metz said. "It’s just getting slower and slower — because of COVID, people don’t want to come out. They have to cut everyone’s hours."
With the arrival of spring semester bills, universities and community colleges said they are seeing an even greater need for financial assistance.
More to know
The South African COVID-19 variant was found in a Nassau County resident, the first confirmed case in someone living in New York, Cuomo said Sunday.
Court officials said Friday that plans were underway for jury trials to restart next month on Long Island and across most of the state because of the drop in the virus infection rate.
The U.S. is getting close to 500,000 deaths from COVID-19.
House Democrats plan to push President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief and stimulus package through the next steps needed to pass it without Republican support this week.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday that schools can safely reopen without getting all teachers vaccinated first as a prerequisite.
News for you
Fans will be able to return to New York sporting venues at a 10% capacity beginning on Feb. 23. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
The return of the fans. As of Tuesday, fans will be allowed to return to arenas and venues for sporting events in New York. Attendance is limited to 10% of capacity for those venues that seat more than 10,000 people. Here's what we know so far about how each team is handling tickets, testing and other protocols. In New Jersey starting next week, venues with a seating of 5,000 or more will be allowed to let fans in at 10% of capacity at indoor events and 15% at outdoor events, according to the governor.
Coming up on Newsday Live. I’m Vaccinated, Now What? Tune in on Wednesday for a virtual discussion about the vaccine, its side effects, immunity, transmission of the disease and more. Submit your questions and register here.
Virtual hiring event. Estee Lauder Companies is looking to fill dozens of positions through a virtual hiring event Tuesday. The event is hosted by Suffolk County’s One-Stop Employment Center. Advanced registration is required.
Plus: Long Islanders love their downtowns — and with visiting them less often during the pandemic, they're eager to return, a nextLI survey found. Read more.
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Commentary
The last monthly LIRR commuter ticket of reader Paula Ganzi McGloin. Credit: Paula Ganzi McGloin
Cheated out of my last LIRR ride by the pandemic. Reader Paula Ganzi McGloin writes in an essay for Newsday Opinion: Early last year, I’d flip through the pages of my monthly pocket calendar to grin at the pink Post-it on April’s page: Cancel June LIRR. I’d be retiring in May, moving to Delaware and no longer needing a monthly ticket. I anticipated missing family, friends and a lot of things about Long Island — but the Long Island Rail Road was not one of them.
Then COVID-19 hit, life changed, and I worked remotely until May 29. I realize how lucky I am to be healthy and retired amid a pandemic. But a part of me feels cheated, not knowing that my March 12, 2020, eastbound ride was my last commute.
Since 1990, I’d been listening to unintelligible updates from my morning spot on the Bellmore platform and squeezing through throngs in Penn Station during the evening rush. I anticipated my final commute with great enthusiasm.
Often the commute was pleasant, watching Nassau County scenes slide by, reading my book, dozing. Over the years, I observed morning train buddies animatedly dishing about TV and movies, kids and spouses (like a traveling hair salon) and listened to the slap and crack of cards shuffled and dealt by the same four men in the same five-seater, playing pinochle atop a flattened FedEx box on the 6:05 to Wantagh. Keep 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.
