Vaccines available to all over 60 at New York walk-in sites

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Wednesday announced that all residents in the state over the age of 60 can walk into mass coronavirus vaccination sites to get a shot without making an appointment. 

The governor made the announcement during a virtual press briefing from the city of Yonkers, adding that there are “no excuses now” for individuals in that age group, who are more likely to see to severe complications from COVID-19, not to get vaccinated. 

Cuomo said that beginning Friday, New York residents over 60 “can just walk into any of the mass vaccination sites across the state” and “they will give you the vaccine.”

“You don’t have to go onto the internet, you don’t have to make a phone call, you don’t have to do anything,” he added.

“So, for people over 60 years old — I’m one of them — really no excuses,” added the 63-year-old governor, who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine last month. 

“A robust vaccination program is vitally important to the public health, and we’re working 24/7 to get shots in arms, protect New Yorkers and move the state forward,” he said. 

The state’s previous policy had required everyone eligible for the vaccine, which as of Monday now includes all U.S. adults 18 and older, to search online for available vaccine appointment slots. 

Cuomo’s office on Wednesday also announced that nearly 43 percent of New Yorkers have now received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with 29 percent fully vaccinated. 

Vaccination Update:

42.6% of New Yorkers have received at least one vaccine dose and 29.2% have completed their vaccine series.

-169,746 total doses were administered over the past 24 hours
-13,752,715 total doses administered to date

Details: https://t.co/S1OmTSRTWp pic.twitter.com/QGCnLjFFwq

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 21, 2021

Thus far, a total of roughly 13.8 million doses have been administered across the Empire State, with nearly 170,000 administered within the past 24 hours, officials said Wednesday. 

Nationally, more than 51 percent of the U.S. adult population has received at least one dose, and nearly 34 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The new walk-in policy across New York state follows New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) decision to allow city residents aged 50 and older to walk into city vaccination sites without appointments starting last Friday. 

“Our priority for the next few months is clear: we need to vaccinate as many New Yorkers as possible,” de Blasio said in a statement at the time. “By making it easier for New Yorkers 50 and older to get vaccinated, we are on our way to fully vaccinating five million New Yorkers by June.”