28 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • FEBRUARY 2021
PRESS HEALTH
COVID-19 ROUNDUP
LATEST PANDEMIC HEADLINES
DRIVE-THROUGH TEST
SITE DEBUTS
Jones Beach State Park opened as the
state’s first drive-through Covid-19 vaccination
center on Long Island on Jan.
14, vaccinating eligible New Yorkers
who snagged appointments.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last
month the opening of five state-run
vaccination sites throughout the state
to accommodate the general public
after eligible groups expanded to essential
workers and those 65 and older.
“New York State is rapidly expanding
our networks and capabilities to get
as many New Yorkers vaccinated as
fast as our supply allows,” Cuomo
said in a statement. “The new vaccine
sites across the state will expedite our
distribution to get our most vulnerable
New Yorkers vaccinated efficiently.”
To check your eligibility and make
an appointment, visit am-i-eligible.
covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov or call
1-833-NYS-4-VAX.
-BB
EAST END URGES MORE
VACCINE ACCESS
More than a dozen East End lawmakers
sent a joint letter on Jan. 14 to Suffolk
County Executive Steve Bellone and
Gov. Andrew Cuomo demanding that
the coronavirus vaccine be made more
accessible to Twin Forks residents.
All five East End town supervisors, a
majority of the area’s village mayors,
and all three New York State legislators
that represent the Hamptons and the
North Fork signed the letter, which
detailed the officials’ grievances about
Covid-19 vaccine availability.
“The vaccine distribution on the East
End, with the new, expanded eligibility
categories, is virtually nonexistent,”
the letter stated. “Our residents, particularly
senior citizens, cannot be
expected to drive an hour or more to
places such as Brentwood, Jones Beach,
or Stony Brook, to get the vaccine.”
Derek Poppe, a spokesman for Bellone,
agreed that supply remains an issue.
“Suffolk County has actionable plans
and the infrastructure already in place
to administer at least 10,000 vaccinations
a week. The only impediment
right now is the current available
supply,” he told the Press. “We have
identified locations across the county
and already have agreements in place
to quickly stand up PODs Points of
Distribution at Suffolk County Community
College’s Ammerman Campus
and Eastern Campus once the vaccines
become available.”
The governor’s office did not respond
to a request for comment on the letter.
Cuomo has asked New Yorkers for
“patience at an impatient time” as the
state waits for increases in vaccine allocations
from the federal government
to meet high demand.
Wading River resident Dino DiIorio
said he and his family have spent many
hours trying to get a vaccination
appointment for his mother, 83-yearold
Helena DiIorio, who has a rare,
severe lung infection. Helena’s medical
specialists agree she should be at the
“top of the list” for the vaccine, Dino
said. However, individual doctors cannot
decide this, and Dino has repeatedly
been told to register Helena through
an online form. So far, all available
appointments have been taken.
“It is vital that she does not contract
Covid-19 because she would not be able
to survive it,” Dino said. “She needs
this vaccine. But those 75 or older with
medical conditions are now competing
with hundreds of people 65 and older,
and you can’t get these appointments.”
-TB & BB
LI CASES DOUBLE TO 200K
IN TWO MONTHS
The number of confirmed coronavirus
cases on Long Island has doubled to
more than 200,000 in slightly more
than two months’ time, New York State
health data shows.
Nassau County had 96,112 diagnosed
Covid-19 cases and Suffolk County had
106,061 for a total of 202,173 for the region
as of Jan. 2, according to the state
Department of Health. The number
of cases on LI had crossed the 100,000
mark on Nov. 1, nine months after the
first case was confirmed in the region.
“In 31 days we saw the highest number
of new cases since the beginning of this
crisis and suffered 100 more deaths
than we experienced in the prior six
months combined,” Suffolk County
Executive Steve Bellone said. “With
distribution of the vaccine underway,
the goal line is in sight but we must remain
vigilant in the weeks and months
ahead.”
New York State tallied more than 1
million cases of the virus on Jan. 2, a
number that is also double what it had
in November.
-TB
UK STRAIN CONFIRMED
ON LI
The number of cases of the more contagious
UK strain of Covid-19 found on
Long Island has increased to five as of
press time, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said
on Jan. 15.
Four days after the governor announced
that the first such variant of
the coronavirus had been found in Nassau
County and a week after the first
such case in the state was confirmed
in Saratoga, Cuomo said a cluster of
cases on the Island includes a second
and third case in Nassau, two cases in
Suffolk County, and one in Queens.
“We’re dealing with high numbers
of COVID cases across the state as we
move through the dark days of winter,
and although I understand COVID fatigue
has set in, we need New Yorkers
to remember that we aren’t out of the
woods yet,” Cuomo said.
The state has now confirmed 16 cases
of the variant. The rest are part of a
cluster upstate and one is in Manhattan,
unconnected to the two clusters.
LI’s first case was found to be in
Massapequa.
-TB
An employee shows the Moderna coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at
Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital in New York,
U.S., December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
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/covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov
