Cuomo: White House supply to states will increase by additional 5%

The federal supply of coronavirus vaccines will increase an additional 5% over the next three weeks, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said during a Tuesday afternoon conference call with reporters.

"The 5% increase doesn't sound like much, but that's on top of the first announcement, which was a 16% increase, then the second announcement of 5%, and so this is a third announcement of 5%. So for the past three weeks, it has been relatively significant. 

"Again, not proportionate to the need, but that has been helpful."  

The state has done 2.5 million vaccinations, which Cuomo said translated to about 10% of New Yorkers. 

Another 10 million New Yorkers eligible for the vaccine are vying for a supply of 300,000 doses per week. 

"The whole question is supply," Cuomo said. "When will the supply increase?" 

Cuomo said while the three-week 5% federal increase was good news, the overall supply won't increase significantly if and when a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has been submitted for emergency authorization, is available. 

"The supply will really only increase when and if Johnson & Johnson are approved," Cuomo said. "The Pfizer, Moderna vaccines are ramping up, but the ramping up is relatively slow. So we won't see a major supply increase from Pfizer and Moderna, nowhere near what we would need to make rapid progress against the 10 million. Johnson & Johnson would be a major and significant increase in production."

Cuomo said unused doses set aside for nursing homes, via the federal program for long-term care facilities, could be reallocated to the general state supply. The governor said there were potentially tens of thousands of such "unused" doses.

"This vaccine is the weapon that will win the war," Cuomo said. "I know everybody's tired. ... We're all just hanging in there. It's been a long year my friends. But, we know the vaccine is successful. And it's now a question of production and supply, so there's reason to be optimistic, and hopeful. ...

"The numbers are coming down, the vaccines are going up. Spring is coming, the glass is half full."

The statewide coronavirus positivity rate for Monday was 5.12% for Monday and the seven-day average rate was 4.38%, the state's lowest since Dec. 1.   

There were 138 deaths statewide Monday, while hospitalizations increased by 159 to 7,875.

Western New York's seven-day average positivity rate is below the state average at 4.1%.