APRIL 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 37
PRESS HEALTH
COVID-19 ROUNDUP
LATEST PANDEMIC HEADLINES
NYS OPENS THREE NEW LI
VAX SITES
Three new New York State-run
Covid-19 vaccine sites on Long Island
started vaccinating eligible
members of the public on March 19.
Open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., the sites are located
at SUNY Old Westbury’s Clark Athletic
Center, Suffolk County Community College’s
Grant Campus in Brentwood, and
Stony Brook University’s Southampton
Campus.
“We’ll continue expanding our distribution
network and vaccinating more
New Yorkers as the state receives more
supply, and those efforts will help us
ensure the state moves through this
challenging time together,” Gov. Andrew
Cuomo said.
State-run sites previously opened at
Jones Beach State Park and Stony Brook
University. Eligible New Yorkers will
be able to schedule appointments by
utilizing New York’s Am I Eligible
website or by calling the state’s Covid-19
Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX
(1-833-697-4829).
-BB
FULLY VACCINATED
PEOPLE CAN GATHER
SANS MASKS
People who have been fully vaccinated
against Covid-19 can meet without
masks indoors in small groups with
others who have been inoculated, but
should avoid nonessential travel and
continue to wear face coverings in
public, the Biden administration said
on March 8.
In a long-awaited update of its guidance
for behaviors to prevent the spread of
the coronavirus, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
said fully vaccinated people could also
meet in small groups with unvaccinated
individuals deemed at low-risk for severe
Covid-19 from one other household
without masks.
The slight lifting of restrictions represented
a still-cautious approach to public
health guidance despite the quickly
growing number of vaccinated people.
President Joe Biden has urged Americans
to remain vigilant and continue
to follow CDC guidelines to prevent
another surge of cases.
-Reuters
A man signs up to take a Covid-19 test at a mobile testing van in Herald Square in New York City on March 16, 2021.
(REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
RESTAURANTS OK’D FOR
75 PERCENT CAPACITY
Restaurateurs rejoice!
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he
would allow eateries to operate indoors
at 75 percent capacity starting March
19, an order the legislature now has the
power to block if there is 50 percent
opposition. That includes restaurants
statewide, except for in New York City.
“It’s not just good news for the restaurant
owners; Remember, you have a
lot of good restaurants,” Cuomo said.
“There are a lot of jobs for a lot of suppliers.
So we’ll go to 75 percent.
The announcement follows the state of
Connecticut allowing 100 percent indoor
dining capacity as of the same date
and Massachusetts allowing the same
amount on March 1. But there’s one snag
for the dining scene in the five boroughs:
They must keep capacity at 35 percent
while the rest of the state opens up.
Cuomo had ordered all restaurants halt
indoor dining last March to curb the
spread of coronavirus. In June, outdoor
dining was allowed to return, and limited
indoor dining was approved after that.
-Mark Hallum
COLISEUM TO SCORE
VACCINE SITE STATUS
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
would become Nassau
County’s third mass Covid-19 vaccination
site, County Executive
Laura Curran announced March 6.
Since the end of March, the lower level
of the venue’s exhibition hall has been
used to administer vaccines to eligible
residents. Further information is yet
to follow.
“We’re focused on continuing to ramp
up our capacity for vaccination as
more supply is anticipated to arrive
in the coming weeks,” Curran said in
a statement. “All of our residents must
have access to the Covid-19 vaccine, and
this iconic site will give us the ability to
deliver the vaccine rapidly.”
In February, members of the Nassau
Legislature sent a letter to Gov. Andrew
Cuomo asking for the state to
open a vaccination site at the Coliseum,
similar to the one the state opened at
Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
-BB
MODERNA TO TEST
VACCINE IN KIDS
Moderna, Inc. has begun dosing patients
in a mid-to-late-stage study of
its Covid-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273, in
children aged 6 months to less than 12
years, the company said on March 16.
The study will assess the safety and effectiveness
of two doses of mRNA-1273
given 28 days apart and intends to enroll
about 6,750 children in the United
States and Canada.
The vaccine has already been authorized
for emergency use in Americans
who are aged 18 and older.
In a separate study which began in
December, Moderna is also testing
mRNA-1273 in adolescents between 12
and 18 years old.
The latest study is being conducted in
collaboration with the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced
Research and Development Authority
(BARDA).
-Reuters
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