People Over 75

To Get Vaccine,

Governor Says

Bassett Says Second Round Will Be

Done In Pharmacies, Doctors’ Offices

By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN – With the Bassett Healthcare Network reporting this evening that it has administered 80 percent of COVID-19 vaccines it  has received so far, Governor Cuomo announced this afternoon that the program is being expanded beyond 1A eligible New Yorkers to 1B.

• 1B includes teachers and schools employees, police and firefighters (first responders), public-safety workers, public transit workers and people over 75.

• The 1A category, nearing completion, encompasses healthcare workers, from doctors and nurses to local health department workers who are administering the vaccines.

While the first round of inoculations had occurred in hospitals, the second round – when it starts was not specified – will be in pharmacies, doctors’ office and county health departments, according to a Bassett Network announcement of the new round.

The Bassett Network also learned today that the state Health Department has granted it an extension as it continues inoculating 1A healthcare workers.  The network ramped up its efforts this week after the governor announced  Monday Bassett’s Fox Hospital in Oneonta had only administered 18 percent of its vaccine supply, the second worst record in the state.

Bassett said the governor’s data was not up to date:  that the number was actually 30 percent.  As of Thursday, Fox was reporting that all workers in its Tri-Town Campus in Sidney had been inoculated, and 50 percent had received the shot in Oneonta.  Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown was able to report it had administered 80 percent of the Moderna vaccine assigned by the state as of today.

The rest will be used on health workers, and also private medical practices, dentists and pharmacists in Bassett’s service area.

Bassett Network President/CEO Tommy Ibrahim called vaccination efforts to date “remarkable” and “extraordinary.”   He said, “We are nearing completion of this initial phase, and the state’s approval of the network vaccination plan recognizes the significant progress made.”