Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday introduced that New Yorkers ages 50 or older who obtained their booster pictures at the very least 4 months in the past, or adults who obtained the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, at the moment are eligible for a second booster dose. New Yorkers who’re at the very least 12 years outdated and are reasonably to severely immunocompromised are additionally eligible.
“Getting vaccinated and staying up-to-date with all really useful doses is the simplest technique to stop extreme sickness and hospitalization, and transfer safely ahead via this pandemic,” Ms. Hochul mentioned.
New Yorkers can schedule an appointment for a free booster shot at one in every of greater than a dozen state-run mass vaccination websites, together with Medgar Evers Faculty in Brooklyn; the Queensbury Aviation Mall-Sears in Queensbury; State Honest Artwork and House Middle in Syracuse; and the College at Buffalo South Campus at Harriman Corridor in Buffalo.
Booster pictures are a dose of an mRNA vaccine — both the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna.
At a information convention on Friday at Metropolis Corridor, the New York Metropolis well being commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, additionally inspired metropolis residents to get booster pictures and to put on masks in public indoor settings, declaring that he was sporting a masks on the information convention. Residents can discover a location to get a free shot and make a vaccination appointment on the New York Metropolis Division of Well being’s web site.
The governor’s announcement comes as well being officers estimate that BA.2 — essentially the most transmissible model of the coronavirus but recognized — accounts for greater than half of recent virus circumstances in the US, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention mentioned this week. The Omicron subvariant accounts for about 70 % of circumstances within the area that features New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico.
Though BA.2 is extra transmissible than BA.1, it has not proven to trigger extra extreme sickness.
Well being consultants fear that BA.2, which has fueled case surges in Europe and Asia, might result in one other wave of the pandemic in New York, and presumably the nation. They imagine that the true variety of circumstances in New York is likely to be larger than the information suggests, as a result of many individuals are testing at residence, with no official reporting of outcomes.
That has well being officers urging New Yorkers to stay vigilant.
“As we’ve got seen with the latest enhance of the Omicron subvariant BA.2, Covid remains to be with us,” Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the state well being commissioner, mentioned within the assertion on Saturday. “These secure and efficient vaccines stay free, together with the second booster.”
