First NYC Nursing Home Residents Get Coronavirus Vaccine Shots

NEW YORK CITY — Nursing home residents and staff in New York City rolled up their sleeves Monday to become the next group to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said vaccinations will roll out to 618 nursing homes across the state enrolled in a federal program.

“It is estimated that it will take six weeks,” he said.

The federal program partners with pharmacies run by Walgreens, CVS and other local businesses to administer the shots.

Cuomo said health workers will spend three days at each facility dispensing shots. Everyone at a facility will receive a shot the first day, followed by a two-week wait for the second dose on the remaining two days, he said.

Nursing home residents have been especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. At least 3,000 nursing home residents in New York City died from COVID-19 infections, according to a list of confirmed and presumed deaths by the state’s Department of Health.

The statewide toll tops 6,500 — and could be even greater because the state only counted people who died in nursing homes rather than those residents who perished in hospitals as well.

Cuomo has come under fire for a March directive that nursing homes accept coronavirus patients from hospitals. For his part, Cuomo claimed the criticism is politically motivated.