Cuomo gets tough on go-slow NY vaccine rollout: Gov threatens $100K fines if hospitals do NOT use vaccine allocations by the end of the week - as NYC Mayor de Blasio promises 100K shots in seven days

New York hospitals will be fined up to $100,000 and risk not receiving any further shots if they don't use up their allocated COVID-19 vaccine doses by this week, Gov Andrew Cuomo says. 

Cuomo said on Monday that his state has administered almost 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses - or about 46 percent of its allocation - in the last three weeks. 

The latest CDC data, which may lag due to delays in reporting, currently shows that New York state has administered 236,941 of its 774,075 distributed doses.  

In New York City, 110,241 vaccine doses have been administered since vaccinations started three weeks ago, the city's latest vaccine data shows. The city currently has 443,000 vaccine doses available. 

Cuomo on Monday addressed the slow rate of vaccine distribution across the state, saying hospitals would be fined up to $100,000 if they fail to use up their dose allocations by the end of the week. 

Those facilities now also must use up their vaccine allocations within seven days or risk being allowed to receive any future doses. 

'I want needles in arms and I want it done as quickly as possible,' Cuomo said. 'We need to administer the vaccines faster. 

Just over 110,000 vaccine doses have been administered in NYC so far, according to the city's health department data

Cuomo highlighted the three worst performing hospitals in terms of vaccine distribution: Samaritan Hospital (15%), A.O. Fox Hospital (18%) and Nassau University Medical Center (19%)

'I don't want the vaccine in a fridge or a freezer, I want it in somebody's arm. 

'If you're not performing this function, it does raise questions about the operating efficiency of the hospital.' 

The state is currently prioritizing healthcare workers, first responders and nursing home residents in the first phase of the vaccine roll out. As of Monday, all healthcare workers who come into contact with the public can be eligible for the vaccine.  

Cuomo highlighted the three worst performing hospitals in terms of vaccine distribution: Samaritan Hospital (15%), A.O. Fox Hospital (18%) and Nassau University Medical Center (19%).

New York City Health + Hospitals has currently used up 31 percent of its allocated vaccine doses. 

The best performing was the private New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System, which has already used 99 percent of its allocated doses. 

'The hospitals have been given the vaccines for expedited purposes. If you have been given the allocation but you're not using them... you shouldn't have the allocation,' Cuomo said. 

'I'd rather have the faster hospitals administering it. If your hospital doesn't have the capacity, just say that. You will be fined for accepting an allocation that you can't or won't administer.' 

Cuomo said he would be holding the public officials in charge of the state's public hospitals responsible for distributing the vaccine in those facilities.  

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is in charge of NYC's public hospitals, said earlier on Monday that he expects the city to administer 400,000 doses per week by the end of the month with 250 new vaccine sites set to open in that time frame. 

He vowed to have 100,000 doses handed out by the end of this week alone.      

Cuomo on Monday addressed the slow rate of vaccine distribution across the state, saying hospitals would be fined up to $100,000 if they fail to use up their dose allocations by the end of the week

NEW YORK CITY: 110,241 vaccine doses have been administered in NYC so far, according to the city's health department data. The city currently has 443,000 doses available

When asked why the city hasn't been vaccinating 24/7, de Blasio said they had faced logistical issues with refrigeration.

He admitted the city had taken a cautious approach at first but that it was 'now time to sprint'. 

'This is a whatever it takes situation. I want every hand on deck. That means city employees, medical reserves - anyone who can help us get this done,' de Blasio said.  

The vaccine is currently being administered at the state's 194 public and private hospital. Shots are also been handed out in nursing homes via a federal government program that see doses delivered directly to those care facilities. 

De Blasio said on Monday that he expects the city to administer 400,000 doses per week by the end of the month with 250 new vaccine sites set to open in that time frame

Cuomo said the federal nursing home roll out was slower than expected so the state was stepping in to expedite vaccinations for residents. 

He said at least 85 percent of all nursing home residents will be vaccinated this week and the remaining 15 percent will get the shot within the next two weeks. 

It came as hospitalizations across the state surged on Sunday to 8,000 and 170 new deaths were reported. 

NYC Councilman Mark Levine has slammed the current rate of vaccine distribution, saying shots need to be handed out 24/7. 

'Vaccination in New York City is basically only occurring during regular business hours. Very little on weekends. Almost none on holidays,' he tweeted. 

'We are in a war-like situation. We need to be vaccinating twenty four seven. We are losing precious time.' 

Levine is now calling for at least one vaccination site in each zip code to be opened 24 hours to increase the number of vaccinations. 

'Prioritization is critical. But giving a vaccine to someone lower priority is better than giving it to no one,' he said.  

'If a site doesn't use all its time slots/doses on a given day they should be able to offer shots to those at lower priority. (As of now they could be fined for this).'   

Why the vaccine rollout has proceeded so slowly across US: 

He said they have submitted legislation for drafting that would require at least one vaccination site in each zip code to be opened 24 hours a day and require the activation of NYC Medical Reserve Corps to assist with the vaccine program.  

It comes after de Blasio said last week that the city aimed to vaccinate 1 million residents by the end of this month. 

He said the effort will require setting up vaccination sites across the city, which is home to about 8.3 million people. 

'Our goal is to get upwards of 250 locations citywide,' de Blasio said at a news conference, saying the city would dispense the vaccine through smaller health centers and clinics. 'This is going to be a massive effort.' 

In order to meet the mayor's target, the city will have to increase its vaccination rate sixfold to an average of roughly 29,000 people a day in January.

Vaccinations are taking much longer to dispense in the United States than hoped and previous projections by federal officials have proved exaggerated. 

Only about 4.3 million Americans have received a vaccine so far, which is far short of the government's target to vaccinate 20 million people before the New Year. 

It means just 1.3 percent of the US population has been vaccinated almost a month into the stumbling campaign as cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to surge across the country. 

Health officials, however, have said that the US ramped up vaccinations in the past few days and Dr Anthony Fauci said he has seen 'some little glimmer of hope' after 1.5 million doses were administered over a 72-hour period over the weekend.    

Federal officials had vowed to administer 20 million vaccine doses across the US before the New Year but, as of Monday, only 13 million doses had been distributed to states. Just 4.3 million of those doses - or 33 percent - have been administered so far

According to a state-by-state breakdown, Kansas and Georgia have only administered 17 percent of the doses distributed to them under the federal Operation Warp Speed vaccine program

According to a state-by-state breakdown, Kansas and Georgia have only administered 17 percent of the doses distributed to them under the federal Operation Warp Speed vaccine program. 

California, which is currently the hardest hit state with new cases per capita, has so far used 28 percent of its vaccine shots. 

Meanwhile, only a handful of states have already used more than 50 percent of the shots distributed to them: South Dakota (70%), Connecticut (64%), North Dakota (63%), Maine (62%), Ohio (54%), Vermont (51%), Iowa (50%) and West Virginia (50%). 

Fauci has acknowledged the US has fallen short of its goal of having 20 million doses shipped and distributed by the end of December. 

'There have been a couple of glitches. That's understandable,' Fauci said on NBC's Meet the Press. 'We are not where we want to be, there's no doubt about that.' 

He expressed optimism, however, that the momentum will pick up by mid-January and that ultimately the US will be vaccinating 1 million people a day.

Fauci said that Joe Biden's 'goal of vaccinating 100 million people in the first 100 days is a realistic goal'.

The failure to speedily vaccinate millions of Americans has already been blamed on various factors, including lack of federal oversights and chaotic distribution. 

The 20 million-dose goal hasn't been reached in part because local health departments and medical facilities had to stay focused on testing to handle a surge in cases, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said, adding that the holiday season meant health workers were taking time off.

Adams said he, too, expects vaccinations to 'rapidly ramp up in the new year.' 

President Donald Trump blamed local authorities for the delays, tweeting on the weekend that 'the vaccines are being delivered to the states by the Federal Government far faster than they can be administered!' 

Adams said part of the problem was that 'a lot of the local capacity to be able to vaccinate was being used for testing and responding to surges.'