New York mayor, governor clash on vaccinations

New York's two famously feuding politicians are in disagreement again－over the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine.

On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio demanded that Governor Andrew Cuomo expand the number of people who can be vaccinated for COVID-19"today".

The mayor of the United States' biggest city explained why he announced on Wednesday that 25,000 New York Police Department officers and a number of corrections officers would be able to receive vaccines.

But shortly after the mayor's statements, the governor disagreed.

At the crux of the dispute is that if enough people prioritized to receive the vaccine first decide not to get it, then should it go to the next prioritized group?

Phase 1A, which includes frontline hospital workers and people in nursing homes, is underway. But de Blasio has argued that phase 1B, which includes people aged 75 and older and first responders, should begin now because about 30 percent of the 1A category in the city are not registered to receive the vaccine.

"The state has not conveyed when or how 1B will begin. There are not clear guidelines about remaining doses or recipients from 1A," mayoral spokesman Bill Neidhardt said.

De Blasio said: "We're at the front line. Like in war, the generals are at back at the headquarters. … At the front line, here's what we're seeing－a lot of people aren't ready to take the vaccine. There are some people adamantly opposed to taking the vaccine in those categories within 1A."

The governor's office said on Thursday: "The rules of the COVID vaccine distribution have been clear for many weeks and agreed to by virtually all credible federal and state leaders. The first priority is 1A, healthcare workers who are on the front lines."

Michael Katz, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, addressed the lack of response from healthcare workers. "When we opened vaccine slots there was tremendous interest ... as the days moved on, we found that demand began to decrease," he said.

He said many healthcare workers who had been working with COVID-19 patients for 10 months said they weren't getting the vaccine because they either have had the virus, had a stronger immune system because they haven't had it, or are just not ready to take the shot.

"Any healthcare worker left behind when you open 1B, it's going to be very hard to catch up," Cuomo said on a phone call with reporters.

Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, said: "If they don't get it while they're still priorities, they go to the back of the line. The question is, are you inadvertently pushing people who are in 1A, not because they don't want to get it but because of an incompetent or ineffective system of delivery."

As of midnight on Wednesday, according to NYC Health, the city had administered 149,932 doses of the vaccine, out of its supply of 487,375. As of July 2019, the city had an estimated population of 8.34 million.

New York on Thursday reported its biggest one-day increase in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and its deadliest day since May.

Only 5.4 million people in the country have been vaccinated so far, despite 17.2 million doses having been shipped.

The US as of Thursday had more than 21.5 million COVID-19 cases, with 364,218 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Reuters contributed to this story.