New York lags behind Florida in its efforts to administer the coronavirus vaccine, according to federal data, despite government Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio boasting the Empire State’s best-in-country plan.
According to the online tracker of the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Sunshine State has so far administered vaccines at 823 per 100,000 inhabitants.
New York administered vaccines to 723 per 100,000 residents, a rate of about 14 percent in Florida, the tracker shows.
The tracker’s data is up to date on December 30 due to overdue reporting during the holidays.
The figures cast doubt on de Blasio’s bold claim that 1 million New Yorkers would be vaccinated in January, although the state has so far administered less than a third of the doses he has.
De Blasio, who was asked earlier this week about the delay in launching the vaccine to the NYPD, acknowledged that the city could move faster if it were not for strict state restrictions on who could receive the shot.
“This is something we do on the basis of state guidelines, and we are constantly in touch with the state about it,” he said in part during a news conference Tuesday. “If we get the authorization, we can move very quickly.”
Among the cases that highlight the inequality are those of Nathan Burkan Jr. and Greg Heinrich.
Burkan Jr., an 89-year-old Manhattanite who suffered from congestive heart failure and stroke, told The Post that he could not get the vaccine, even though he had an advanced risk for the disease.
‘My wife and I are natural [who is 83] would like to get the vaccine now, ”he said.
But his daughter-in-law’s father, Heinrich, simply drove to his local library in Clermont, Florida, to get the vaccine recently – without even getting out of his car.
“I rolled down the car window and fired my shot,” Heinrich, 72, told The Post about his experience getting through the driveway. “I do not have to get out of the car.”
Although the wait was long – about three hours – he just had to relax in his car until a nurse gave him the jerk, then he was on his way.
‘Was it worth the wait? Absolutely! He said. “It was painless.”
Heinrich said it was wrong for New York to delay the distribution of vaccines at the expense of those most at risk, such as Burkan Jr.
“If elderly people like me can get the vaccine in Florida, why can they not get it in New York?” he asked. “People 65 and older are much more vulnerable than younger people.”