Governor Cuomo is changing course and allowing people within the "1-B" category to get the coronavirus vaccine starting Monday. This will be done under a distribution program involving pharmacies, doctor's offices, and union-based programs.
Within this distribution system, everyone over the age of 75, transit workers, educators, police officers and firefighters will all be eligible to receive the vaccine.
Local leaders had been asking Governor Cuomo for permission to expand beyond the "1-A" category, which includes medical workers and nursing homes. The governor added that vaccinations at nursing homes will likely be done by the end of next week.
Cuomo argues the supply coming from the federal government is the biggest obstacle to overcome, with around 300-thousand-doses arriving each week. The governor says going with that mathematical equation, it will be 47-weeks until around 70-percent of the state's population is vaccinated, and that's considered the low-end threshold for herd immunity.