The widespread snow that was dumped on much of New York won't create a broad disruption for the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said. 

Cuomo, in Kingston for a briefing on the snow, said 120 people were confirmed to have died of the virus in the last 24 hours. There are more than 6,000 people who remain hospitalized due to the virus and the state's positivity rate remains above 6% in the last day. 

The nor'easter that hit much of the state on Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning will not disrupt vaccine distribution as non-clinical trial doses began this week for frontline health care workers and nursing home residents. 

As of Wednesday, about 4,000 people in New York have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Pfizer. A second batch of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Moderna is expected to reach New York in the coming weeks. 

New York is facing a surge of COVID-19 cases across the state in the last several weeks. Western New York cases have appeared to have flattened, and in the Southern Tier the positive rate is just above 2%, the lowest in the state. 

But the Finger Lakes region remains a trouble spot, Cuomo said. 

"We just have to make it to the point where the vaccine reaches critical mass and we're working like mad to get the vaccine out there," said Cuomo. "Slow the spread, avoid the shutdowns."