Gov. Andrew Cuomo received the single dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday at an event with prominent supporters of his in the Black community, and he urged New Yorkers to get whichever version of the vaccine that is made available to them.

The governor received the vaccine at a church in Harlem as the state has expanded eligibility to include more people, including public-facing non-profit workers, public-facing government workers and business service employees, flanked by Black state lawmakers, clergy, and advocates.

The event was closed to the press due to COVID restrictions, according to Cuomo's office, and featured prominent supporters lavishly praising the governor, including NAACP New York President Hazel Dukes and former Rep. Charlie Rangel.

Cuomo at one point sang "Happy Birthday" to Dukes. Rangel praised Cuomo's public handling of the pandemic, which has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after a report found the state under-counted the deaths of nursing home and long-term care facility residents.

In remarks, Rangel made a reference to the sexual harassment allegations facing the governor in Albany.

"Due process and hearing is basically what we believe in in this country," Rangel said. "When people start piling up on you...you go to your family and you go to your friends because you know they will be with you."

In all, it was a split-screen moment after weeks of controversy facing the three-term governor as the speaker of the state Assembly is under fire for his handling of an impeachment investigation.

Cuomo has made multiple appearances with Black leaders in recent days as he faces the allegations of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior, sparking calls for his resignation by state and federal lawmakers. Polls have shown Cuomo retaining strong support from Black voters in the state.

"COVID discriminated," Cuomo said. "COVID may be race-blind, ethnic-blind, but COVID found the inequity in our society and it exploited the inequity."

Cuomo has urged people of color to be vaccinated amid concerns the communities will lack access and be hesitant to do so given a history of medical experiments on Black Americans. Health officials and clergy leaders have sought to counteract these concerns, opening vaccination sites at churches and adjacent to Black communities.

Black and Latino New Yorkers have contracted and died of COVID in disproportionately higher numbers during the pandemic.

"The communities that suffered the most should be first on the vaccine line," Cuomo said. "They all work, they're all safe. Don't try to pick one over the other. Take whatever vaccine you can get."

The governor had initially held back on receiving the vaccine, saying he would not do so until the vaccine was widely available for vulnerable communities. At 63, Cuomo qualifies under the state's expanded eligibility.

Cuomo is not the first statewide official to be vaccinated. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul received a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week. Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has received both shots of a two-shot vaccine, his office said on Wednesday.

The expanded eligibility will include public works employees, social service and child service caseworkers, government inspectors, sanitation workers, DMV workers, county clerks, building service workers, and election workers.

There are now more than 12 million people eligible for the vaccine in New York, and eligibility has expanded to include people above age 60 and those with underlying health conditions. So far, nearly 12% of New Yorkers have received at least one dose of a vaccine.