Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that the New York State Clinical Advisory Task Force, following the FDA’s advisory committee’s recommendation for emergency use authorization of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, has reviewed and approved use of the vaccine in New York State. New York expects to receive approximately 346,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine this week, pending final FDA authorization.

The Governor also announced that the State Department of Health has approved and issued guidance regarding the use of an extra one to two doses that have been discovered in Pfizer vaccine shipments. Pfizer vaccine vials were previously believed to contain five doses each, but may possibly contain six or seven doses. Medical professionals administering doses can use any extra vaccine that can be easily pulled into a syringe to meet the dose requirement. Extra vaccine from one vial cannot be combined with extra vaccine from another vial to make an additional dose. The New York State Department of Health is issuing guidance to guide healthcare professionals regarding these extra doses. A letter from DOH Commissioner Howard Zucker is available here.

“New Yorkers are smart, they see the COVID numbers and they understand the risks. I think they’re going to learn from Thanksgiving and I think you’ll see a smarter response through the holiday season. I believe we can avoid a shutdown because we can slow the spread and the hospitals can manage the increase in cases. This is now a footrace between the vaccine and COVID, and as we slow the spread we also have to accelerate vaccine distribution at the same time,” Governor Cuomo said. “The faster we vaccinate people, the quicker new COVID cases go down, and the potential six-to-nine-month timeline is all in our control. I believe we had the first vaccination in the country because I believe New York is mobilizing faster and is more organized than any other state. New York’s Clinical Advisory Task Force approved Moderna’s vaccine this morning and we’re expecting doses of it next week, which is good news. The even better news is that the supply of vaccine doses is actually bigger than we thought and we’ll be authorizing the use of those additional doses today.”

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:

• Test Results Reported – 249,385
• New Cases – 12,697
• Percent Positive – 5.09%
• Patient Hospitalization – 6,081 (-66)
• Patients Newly Admitted – 698
• Hospital Counties – 55
• Number ICU – 1,068 (-27)
• Number ICU with Intubation – 592 (-19)
• Total Discharges – 94,057 (+639)
• Deaths – 120
• Total Deaths – 28,344

Yesterday, 120 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 28,344.