Andrew Cuomo: ‘Post-COVID Future’ Depends on Getting Vaccines ‘in People’s Arms’

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said on Monday that the country’s “post-COVID future” is largely dependent on getting vaccines “in people’s arms.”

Cuomo previewed his thoughts on a “post-COVID future” in New York and the U.S. and suggested it remains largely contingent on getting the majority of the population vaccinated.

“What does 2021 look like? 2021 looks like what we’re going to make it look like. It’s going to be what we do, and, clearly, the key is going to be the vaccine. It’s the one really good piece of news we had in 2020 — was that the research community, the medical community, came up with highly effective vaccines,” Cuomo said.

“So it’s about getting those vaccines now in people’s arms right? … But what matters is getting it in people’s arms,” Cuomo added, noting that 140,000 New Yorkers have received one vaccine, putting the state at the top of the national chart in the number of vaccines that have been administered. He said the state expects another 259,000 vaccines from both Pfizer and Moderna this week.

Cuomo said they will continue to go down the list in administering the vaccines to priority populations. This week, for example, officials in New York will focus on urgent care center employees, as well as those who administer the vaccines, including local health department staff.

This is far from the first time the Democrat governor has emphasized the importance of vaccinating the majority of the population.

“I’m also frustrated that we see polls that suggest a high percent of Americans are not ready to take this vaccine, 49 percent nationwide,” Cuomo said during a press conference this month, with a special appearance from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who agreed with the governor that 75 to 80 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated to reach what Cuomo described as “critical mass.”

“When that happens, Governor, is going to be entirely dependent upon how well we do, how well I do, you do, your health officials, in getting the message out of why it’s so important for people to get vaccinated because if 50 percent of the people get vaccinated, then we don’t have that umbrella of immunity over us,” the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director stated.

Fauci told PODCAST-19 last week that he believes Americans will “start seeing life get back to normal” next fall but added that it is largely contingent on an “overwhelming majority” of the population getting vaccinated. 

“It’s going to depend on our success in vaccinating what I would say is an overwhelming majority of the population, between 70 to 85 percent,” Fauci said.

“If we can do that, by mid to end of the summer, I think as we get into fall, October, November, times like that, I think we will be very close to a degree of normality,” he added.