NY frontline healthcare workers priority group for Covid-19 vaccination

New York, Jan 8 : The US state of New York has clarified that frontline healthcare workers should be the priority group, classified as “1A” in its distribution plan for the COVID-19 vaccination, according to an official statement.
“The rules of the Covid vaccine distribution have been clear for many weeks and agreed to by virtually all credible federal and state leaders. The first priority is ‘1A’, healthcare workers who are on the front lines,” Xinhua news agency quoted the state government’s Communications Director Peter Ajemian as saying in the statement issued on Thursday.
“With the increasing hospitalisation rates, the new UK strain spread and hospital staff shortages, keeping hospitals functioning is essential to avoid another shutdown,” he added.
New York City has 917,000 eligible healthcare workers in the ‘1A’ and has only administered 144,000 vaccines.
Many more healthcare workers are anxiously awaiting the vaccine.
The city has received 304,000 dosages beginning in December 2020 through last week and administered less than 50 per cent, according to the statement.