Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has said he will increase the amount of coronavirus vaccine sent to states by 15 percent next. He also said the U.S. has now ordered 600 million doses of the vaccine, or enough to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans, by September.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York has received 2.4 million vaccine doses and administered about 60 percent of those.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week has once again blamed slow downs in the state’s vaccine roll-out on the amount of doses received by the state.
However, during a media conference call with regional reporters on Wednesday, Congressman Tom Reed – who represents Chautauqua County in Washington, again said it’s the Cuomo administration’s fault for the problems associated with distributing the vaccinations. He said it’s now time for federal government should step in and oversee the roll-out process in New York because the vaccination registration system used by the state is outdated, and also the state expanded the vaccine eligibility far beyond what its limited supplies could handle.
Reed also said that if FEMA were to oversee the vaccination distribution process in New York, it wouldn’t require any type of formal request from New York.
Reed added hat after getting a better understanding of the vaccination production effort, he feels the country may be able to administer as many as 200 million vaccinations in president Biden’s first 100 days in office, doubling the goal that Biden has set forward. He added that if that were to take place, the country could get to 300 million vaccinations by June, rather than September.
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