The New York State Department of Health has released a draft Covid-19 Vaccination Administration Program, serving as an initial framework for ensuring the safe and effective distribution of a Covid-19 vaccine in New York.
Considering the great unknowns at this point in the vaccine development process, the draft New York State Covid-19 Vaccination Administration Program is designed to be flexible and account for multiple variables and scenarios regarding availability, the timeline for approval, delineation of federal and state responsibilities, funding, supply chain needs, and allocation requirements.
This plan prioritizes vaccination recipients following the proposed prioritization matrix to ensure those most at risk and essential workers are priority recipients, with particular attention paid to those living in communities with the highest Covid-19 prevalence:
|
High Covid-19 Prevalence in Geographic Area |
Low Covid-19 Prevalence in Geographic Area |
|
|
High-risk populations/essential healthcare workers |
Priority 1 |
Priority 2 |
|
Lower risk populations/other essential workers |
Priority 3 |
Priority 4 |
|
General population |
Priority 5 |
Priority 6 |
Each phase has proposed additional prioritization phases to be used based on vaccine availability and vaccination rates:
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Phase 1 |
Healthcare workers Long-term care facility workers who regularly interact with residents Most at-risk long-term care facility patients |
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Phase 2 |
First responders Teachers/school staff, childcare providers Public health workers Other essential frontline workers that regularly interact with the public (pharmacists, grocery store workers, transit employees, etc.) or maintain critical infrastructure Other long-term care facility patients and those living in other congregate settings Individuals in the general population deemed particularly high risk due to comorbidities and health conditions |
|
Phase 3 |
Individuals over 65 High-risk individuals under 65 |
|
Phase 4 |
All other essential workers |
|
Phase 5 |
Healthy adults and children |
The plan can not be finalized until the federal government clearly delineates the roles and responsibilities between the federal and state governments, outlines how the vaccine will be funded or reimbursed, and provide other key details, such as timing, allocation, quantities, prioritization, distribution, administration, and monitoring post-administration.
(We discuss a bit about the logistics of providing the vaccine with Trucking Association of New York President Kendra Hems here).
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