Immunocompromised New Yorkers still aren’t eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine — a week after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that they would be added to the list — and say they feel forgotten amid the state’s troubled inoculation rollout.
“At this point, I am wallpaper, I am not in the conversation,” Swati Bhise, 61, told The Post Monday.
“I just feel it’s almost like saying anyone with comorbidities, you are allowed to be dispensed, you are not important.”
Bhise, an educator and filmmaker who lives in Midtown East, is at high-risk of getting seriously sick if she catches COVID-19.
Three years ago, she suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome, which ravaged her lungs and left her intubated in an ICU, fighting for her life. She’s overweight, can’t walk more than a few blocks without needing supplemental oxygen because of her reduced lung capacity and requires medication to keep her type-2 diabetes at bay.
Catching COVID-19 “would be a certain death sentence for her,” Bhise’s son Aditya Bhise said.
So for nearly a year, Swati has been locked up inside, unable to rejoin society because of her condition.
“I am living in fear, I don’t go out,” Swati said by phone.
“Don’t pretend we don’t exist. We do exist,” she implored.
Cuomo announced last Tuesday that the immunocompromised would be made eligible for the vaccine alongside people aged 65 and older, in line with federal guidance.
But the state has been dragging its feet, with Cuomo saying he’s waiting for federal authorities to better define “immunocompromised” and which conditions should be prioritized.
Other states like New Jersey and Florida haven’t waited for the explanation and are already permitting those with qualifying conditions to receive the booster.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly updates a long list of medical conditions that put people at a higher-risk of a bad COVID-19 case, which include cancer, chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and a host of other issues.
New Jersey is now allowing anyone who has a condition from the CDC’s list to have equal access to the vaccine in an effort to prevent distribution from becoming “overly bureaucratic,” Gov. Phil Murphy said last week.
Meanwhile, New York has been consistently criticized for a slow rollout and initially tight restrictions — and now says it is running low on doses.
Cuomo placed blame on the federal government Monday, saying he’s trying to avoid a major backlog of appointments after the feds increased who is eligible without increasing the supply of doses.
“Now you have 7 million New Yorkers chasing 300,000 [vaccines],” Cuomo griped.
“Why did you raise that expectation? You tell me I’m going to be eligible for a vaccine. Great, I’m all excited. By the way, it’s going to take seven months to get to you.”
Cuomo senior advisor Rich Azzopardi said the state is staring down a severe vaccine shortage and needs more doses if they’re going to meet the demand.
“We’re working on next steps,” Azzopardi said.
“But this would be easily solved if Washington kept its word and increased the number of doses to the states as promised.”
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January 19, 2021 at 07:04AM
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NY still not allowing immunocompromised to receive COVID-19 vaccine - New York Post
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