People with comorbidities like cancer, HIV/AIDS and other underlying ailments will soon be able to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments in New York.
The state's "Am I Eligible" screening website will be updated at 8 a.m. on Sunday to include new information for people who have qualifying comorbidities. New appointments will also be released on a rolling basis over the next weeks.
Vaccination sites in New York so far have administered 2.1 million doses, with 90% of those the first of two shots.
"Our vaccine supply is going up, the positivity rate is going down and we're getting one step closer to winning the war against COVID each day," Cuomo said in a statement.
"The numbers show that we're moving in the right direction, and to maintain this trajectory we must win the footrace between vaccinating New Yorkers as quickly and fairly as possible and keeping the infection rate down. We have the infrastructure in place to get shots in arms as quickly as possible - we just need the supply to do it - and with a new leader in Washington we're finally beginning to get more supply, allowing us to open vaccination appointments up to New Yorkers with comorbidities starting next week. We can almost see the light at the end of this dark tunnel, and it is critical that all New Yorkers continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing and act responsibly so that we can defeat this beast once and for all."
Currently more than 7 million New York residents qualifying for the vaccine, but demand has outpaced supply. The federal government has announced a steady increase in vaccine supplies heading to states over the next several weeks.