New York State Government Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference on September 8, 2020 in New York.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing a law to make it a crime to sell or administer coronavirus vaccines to people trying to advance.
“This vaccine can be like gold to some people,” Cuomo told a news conference Monday. ‘If there is fraud in the distribution – you let people come in front of other people, or friends or family, or they sell the vaccine – you will lose your license, but I believe it must be criminal and I’m going to propose a law for it. ‘
Cuomo said suppliers could lose their license if they fraudulently administer vaccines, though the law would add criminal fines if approved by the legislature. To date, health care workers and people living in nursing homes and care facilities are eligible for Covid-19 vaccines.
New York has already begun administering Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, although the rollout was slower than planned. Cuomo pushed the state hospitals to administer the vaccine faster. He said hospitals face fines of up to $ 100,000 if they do not administer their coronavirus vaccine grants by the end of this week.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the state has received more than 774,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses, but only 237,000 have been administered since Saturday.
Hospitals that have received Covid-19 vaccines over the past three weeks have, on average, used only about 46% of the doses, according to a slide presented by Cuomo during the information session. While some hospitals administered almost all of their doses, others, according to the governor, used as little as 15%.
“This is a management issue of the hospitals. They need to move the vaccine, and they need to move the vaccine faster,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo said the New York Department of Health sent a letter to all hospitals on Sunday saying that if they did not use their vaccines by this week, they would be fined up to $ 100,000 and that they would not continue. will not receive. awards.
In future, state hospitals must use their doses within a week of receiving them. Suppliers who fall seriously behind could be issued further sanctions, he said.
“You have the award, we want it in people’s arms as soon as possible,” Cuomo said. “We will use other hospitals that can administer it better.”
This is an evolving story. Come back later for updates.