Editor’s Comment: This story and headline were updated after an Assistant Senator Schumer clarified remarks he made during an event in Syracuse on Tuesday.
SYRACUSE, NY – Within a month, the federal government will intensify the distribution of vaccines in central New York in an effort to get more people vaccinated and restrictions on those eligible, according to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer.
“The federal government is taking over vaccines because if the state and communities did, they would not have enough information,” Schumer said Tuesday in Syracuse. “The federal government will set up centers throughout Central New York within a month that will remove all of these requirements, and people may just be able to ingest the vaccines.”
A Schumer assistant said afterwards that it is not yet certain that new vaccination centers will be opened, but that the federal money will supplement resources and vaccine supply at the existing sites run by the state and the country. Quality constraints will not be eliminated, but a greater supply means that the acceleration of who can get it will accelerate.
Schumer said money to supplement local vaccine sites was included in the $ 1.9 billion Covid relief bill recently passed by the Senate. The bill includes $ 4 billion for the acquisition and testing of Covid-19 vaccines.
“When it comes to the state, they have too many requirements,” he said. ” Oh, you’ll be 65 in three months? Forget it. Go home. ‘ That kind of thing. ”
Vaccinations are currently limited to people who meet certain criteria. This could include age requirements, existing conditions or the nature of someone’s job. Teachers and nurses can get the vaccine, regardless of their age or health status.
Schumer’s said he hopes that by June, enough people will be vaccinated so that some parts of normal life can return.
Schumer’s comments come on the same day that Governor Andrew Cuomo extended the admission to the vaccine to include people 60 years and older and some more “essential” public workers.