Seven million New Yorkers are eligible for the COVID vaccine, but Gov. Cuomo says New York State is now getting fewer doses of the COVID vaccine than expected.

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On Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo updated New Yorkers on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine after the first four weeks of availability for non-long term care facilities.

The governor says New York has created an extensive vaccine network, but protecting people from the virus is difficult since there's not enough for everyone. Cuomo says the Empire State will only receive 250 thousand doses this week, about 50 thousand less than past weeks, even though over seven-million people are eligible to get their shots.

As a result, several counties have canceled vaccination clinics set for this week. Cuomo is calling on the federal government to release more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the Empire State.

"We are in a footrace to get the vaccine into the arms of eligible New Yorkers as quickly and equitably as possible," Cuomo said. "However, we now have 7 million New Yorkers vying for a fraction of doses made available to use by the federal government. We need Washington to step up and increase New York's supply to make sure everyone who wants the vaccine has the opportunity to get it."

Since federal supply severely limits the ability to distribute vaccines, New Yorkers are encouraged to remain patient and are advised not to show up at vaccination sites without an appointment. New York's large population of eligible individuals far exceeds the vaccine supply coming from the federal government, officials say.

To date, New York's health care distribution sites have administered 83 percent of doses received from the federal government. These sites administered additional 73,336 doses over the prior 24-hour period.

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