Governor Andrew Cuomo
NEW YORK STATE – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that on Sunday, the first day of eligibility for New Yorkers with comorbidities, more than a quarter of a million vaccination appointments were made at state-run mass vaccination sites–the largest single-day registration total since vaccinations began.
Specifically, 250,924 New Yorkers made appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine at a rate of nearly 10,000 per hour. Additionally, 1,645,941 screenings were conducted on the state’s ‘Am I Eligible‘ tool on Sunday, which represents 13 percent of all screenings conducted through that site since it was first launched.
With this massive push complete, appointments are now booked through April 16 at state-run mass vaccination sites, with the only exceptions being:
- New York State Fair – Booked through March 16
- SUNY Potsdam – Booked through April 1
- Rochester Dome – Booked through April 4
- SUNY Stony Brook – Booked through April 13
“We’re working hard to expand eligibility, make it easier for New Yorkers to get appointments and get shots in arms throughout the state, and the system is working,” Cuomo said. “250,000 appointments in a single day is a milestone, and we can do more—we just need more vaccine supply. We’re seeing the system work—more New Yorkers are finding out if they’re eligible, making appointments and getting vaccinated. But we need more supply from the federal government to push our vaccination effort into overdrive.”
When appointments were first opened for state-run mass vaccination sites in January, more than 30 hours passed before the same number of people made appointments as on Sunday. During this time of extremely high volume, the state’s appointment website and call center all worked as planned despite the massive increase in volume, and that can be attributed to New York’s continued work to improve both resources.
Since scheduling tools were first launched, a waiting room similar to the type used by major ticket brokers has been added to the website to manage traffic flow and a call-back feature and dedicated line for New Yorkers 75 and older have been added to the state hotline.
At a Glance: February 14 Appointment Data at State-Run Mass Vaccination Sites
- Total Appointments Made: 250,925
- Total Eligibility Screenings via ‘Am I Eligible’ Tool: 1,645,941 (13 percent of all screenings since January)
- Total Calls to Hotline: 30,543
- Average Hotline Wait Time: 24 minutes, 43 seconds
- Average Time to Schedule Appointment after Wait: 13 minutes, 36 seconds
- Average Hotline Wait Time: 24 minutes, 43 seconds
With the addition of New Yorkers with comorbidities, approximately 10 million New Yorkers are now currently eligible to receive the vaccine. The federal government has increased the weekly supply by more than 20 percent over the next three weeks, but New York’s vast distribution network and large population of eligible individuals still far exceed the supply coming from the federal government.
Due to limited supply and the addition of approximately 3 million New Yorkers to the eligibility pool, New Yorkers were, and continue to be, encouraged to remain patient when trying to schedule appointments.
