New Yorkers 30 and over can get COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday
New York state residents over 30 will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations starting Tuesday, and everyone over 16 will be eligible starting April 6, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.
A judge's ruling later in the day widened the eligible pool even further, with a decision saying the state immediately had to offer vaccinations to its entire population of incarcerated people.
Vaccine eligibility had previously been restricted to people over 50, people in certain job categories and those with health conditions that put them at risk for serious illness if they were to become infected with the coronavirus. Previously, 12.2 million out of over 15 million New Yorkers over the age of 16 were eligible for COVID-19 vaccination as of last week.
People over the age of 30 can begin booking appointments at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.
"Today we take a monumental step forward in the fight to beat COVID," the Democratic governor said in a news release, adding that the new timetable was "well ahead of the May 1 deadline set by the White House."
In the legal ruling, State Supreme Court Justice Alison Tuitt in the Bronx addressed how all incarcerated New Yorkers were not included in the earlier categories of those eligible, even as those in other group settings were.
Last year, Gov. Cuomo often spoke about how people living in congregate settings, including nursing homes and jails, were uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19. His proposed vaccination plan released last fall cited CDC guidance that said people who are incarcerated or detained in correctional facilities are at risk from the virus.
But he has declined to expand eligibility to all incarcerated people this year, even as he's allowed all correction officers to get vaccines.
Tuitt said the state's decision to exclude incarcerated people from being eligible to get the vaccine "was unquestionably arbitrary and capricious."
She called it "an unfair and unjust decision" that "was not based in law or fact and was an abuse of discretion."
An email seeking comment was sent to the governor's office.
Cuomo's new rule comes as New York continues to face among the highest levels of new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in the nation. Infectious disease experts say the rise of potentially more contagious variants and eased COVID-19 restrictions could be fueling the virus's spread in New York and New Jersey, in particular.
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Carlos Molina, left, and others wait to be vaccinated after booking appointments at a mobile vaccination van parked in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. As part of New York City's ongoing efforts to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine, NYC Test & Trace Corps added mobile vaccination to its community vaccine clinic program on Monday, launching a clinic-on-wheels with community partner Mixteca, which largely serves the Spanish-speaking and indigenous Latin American population living in Brooklyn. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) -
A man reenters a mobile vaccination van to retrieve belongings he left there after getting a one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccination in the van which was parked on a busy street in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. The NYC Test & Trace Corps added mobile vaccination to its community vaccine clinic program Monday, launching this clinic-on-wheels with Mixteca, a community organization serving Spanish-speaking New Yorkers along with indigenous Latin American populations. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) -
Elizabeth Reyes, center, helps husband Max, second from right, register for a COVID-19 vaccination with Mixteca volunteer and first responder Areli Prado, right, as the Reyes' children Irvin, 5, and Ivan, 10 months, stand nearby during a visit to a mobile vaccination van in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. Reyes also booked an appointment for her mother. The family is especially vigilant after Reye's father died of coronavirus about a year ago. NYC Test & Trace Corps added mobile vaccination to its community vaccine clinic program Monday, launching a clinic-on-wheels with Mixteca, a community-based organization serving New York City's Spanish and indigenous-speaking Latin American community. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) -
A health care worker stands at the door of a mobile vaccination van parked on a street corner in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. As part of New York City's ongoing efforts to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine citywide, NYC Test & Trace Corps added mobile vaccination to its community vaccine clinic program on Monday, launching this clinic-on-wheels with partner Mixteca, a community organization serving the Spanish-speaking and indigenous population in Brooklyn. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) -
Mixteca community organizer Nicole Rojas, left, speaks to Isais Martinez after Rojas received a COVID-19 vaccination at a mobile vaccination van parked on a street in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. New York City Test & Trace Corps added a mobile vaccination to its community vaccine clinic program Monday as part of the city's efforts to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine, launching a clinic-on-wheels with Mixteca, a community organization serving Spanish-speaking and indigenous populations in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) -
A man exits a mobile vaccination van after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine administered by NYC Test & Trace Corps in partnership with Mixteca, a community organization serving primarily Spanish-speaking and indigenous Latin American populations in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. According to a spokesperson, the program has fully vaccinated nearly 15,000 New York City residents to date with its emphasis on reaching as many neighborhoods as possible in the city. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) -
Isaias Martinez holds a sign saying in Spanish, "Today I was vaccinated for my health," as Mixteca community organizer Nicole Rojas, right, takes a cell phone photo of Martinez to promote the program on social media in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. Mixteca, a community organization serving the city's Spanish-speaking and indigenous Latin American people, partnered with NYC Test & Trace Corps to bring the mobile clinic to the neighborhood as part of their plan to serve as many city neighborhoods as possible. As the program develops, more vans will be added, a spokesperson said. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) -
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, along with his daughter Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, arrives at an event at the new Settlement Community Center in the Bronx borough of New York, Friday, March 26, 2021. (Carlo Allegri/Pool Photo via AP) -
Maria Meneses, left, speaks with Mixteca community organizer Nicole Rojas while waiting to get a COVID-19 vaccination in a mobile vaccination van parked on a street in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Monday, March 29, 2021, in New York. As part of New York City's ongoing efforts to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine citywide, NYC Test & Trace Corps added mobile vaccination to its community vaccine clinic program Monday, launching a clinic-on-wheels with community partner Mixteca, a community organization serving the Spanish-speaking and indigenous Latin American population in the area. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Nearly three out of 10 New Yorkers have received at least a first dose of the vaccine, in line with the national average, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
And 15.2% of 19 million New Yorkers are fully vaccinated—the 39th lowest level in the nation, according to The Associated Press's analysis of federal data.
Local and county officials for weeks have urged the governor to ease restrictions on eligibility and who can administer vaccines to help speed up vaccinations. The governor has said low vaccine supplies held up vaccine distribution early on in New York's rollout, but he has eased eligibility restrictions in recent weeks as supply has increased.
New York received an average of roughly 790,000 first doses each week in March from the federal government, according to the state's data, up from an average of 350,000 in February.
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