By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 February 2021 at 1:23 pm
Provided photo: A trailer home was engulfed in flames last night on Skyline Circle.
MURRAY – A fire Friday night destroyed a trailer home in Murray at 27 Skyline Circle.
Firefighters from the Murray Joint Fire District were dispatched to the scene at 9:01 p.m.
“When the first unit went on scene the trailer was fully engulfed in flames,” said Harris Reed, the district fire chief. “The crews evacuated the nearby trailer due to the heavy fire load.”
Additional manpower were called from Clarendon, Brockport, Hamlin, Kendall, Albion and Monroe Ambulance. There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
“Thank you to the Holley Volunteer Fire Company’s support group who assisted the firefighters with warm refreshments,” Reed said. “Thank you to all the men and women of the Murray Joint Fire District and surrounding departments who assisted at last night’s fire.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 February 2021 at 10:40 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Traffic moves slowly on Main Street in Albion at about 9:50 this morning when it was snowing hard with reduced visibility.
Today it is forecast for another 3 to 5 inches of snow in Orleans County with a high near 27, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
Sunday is forecast for a high of 32 and then on Monday, the area will finally see above-freezing temperatures with a high of 39, followed by highs of 40 on Tuesday and 41 on Wednesday.
Jonathan Doherty braved the rough weather this morning to get a cup of coffee in downtown Albion.
GAINES – Orleans County is fortunate to have over 100 historical markers and monuments that have been erected, largely in the 20th century, to highlight the region’s storied past.
Many are NYS Historic Markers, previously made of cast iron, but more recently aluminum, which are painted the traditional colors of blue and gold. The small Hamlet of Childs is also fortunate to host six of the historic markers.
Part of the problem with counting the number of markers in Childs is that the geographic boundaries of the hamlet are not well defined. No local government exists solely in the hamlet, but the old Town of Gaines School District #5 gives a good approximation of boundaries for Childs, centered on the intersection of Routes 104 and 98, and running about a half mile in each of the four directions.
(Map location 1) The largest historic marker in Childs is located in the parking area in front of the Lake Ontario Fruit plant on Route 104. It might qualify as one of the largest markers erected in New York State. The history of the historic marker, itself, is now an interesting story.
This marker didn’t come into existence without a little controversy along the way. Linda Schwartz was a youngster when her father, Robert Schwartz, transferred title to the New York State for the farm land used to create the parking area. Linda said, “The state took the land by eminent domain. They told my father to accept what he was offered or he would end up with nothing.”
Schwartz agreed when NYS promised to build a complete year-round rest stop with heated restrooms and picnic tables. A quick inspection of the parking area today would indicate the powers-to-be at NYS dropped the ball. John Russell, co-owner/manager of Lake Ontario Fruit, said he reluctantly took the bull by the horns several years ago and placed a rented portable restroom on the site to make it more user friendly and to make up for its lack of amenities. Russell said he’d love to get that item off his budget, but without another source of funding, he feels obligated to continue.
To history buffs, the state historic marker erected in the parking area is a bright spot in a less than satisfactory fulfillment of a state promise. Former Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin remembers that his father, Cary Lattin, was asked to create the text for the large historic marker in the parking area in 1961 during the latter’s tenure as County Historian. The actual text he used was:
HISTORIC NEW YORK – THE LAKE PLAINS
The Neutral Nation of Indians, an Iroquoian group affiliated with the Erie, were early inhabitants of this area. About 1650 they were conquered by the Senecas of the Five Nations Confederacy. French explorers and raiders crossed this area and English expeditions along the lake shore entered the small streams, but extensive swamps deterred settlement.
After the Revolution a few settlers came from Canada but development awaited the formation of speculative land companies. The Pulteney Purchase and that of the Holland Land Company divided the land area into tracts for settlement. Inhabitants fled the area for a time after the fall of Fort Niagara in the War of 1812. Then came the building of highways some of which ran along old Indian trails. The Ridge Road opened in 1809 became a principal east-west route. Completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 spurred the building of towns along its route and the growth of commerce. There early settlers built unique cobblestone houses, many of which are still standing.
Geography and climate have favored fruit culture and made packing and canning a principal industry.
Education Department – State of New York 1961. Department of Public Works
(Map location 2) The “Pioneer Settler” historic marker is located at Gaines Carlton Community Church at the end of Brown Street Road and Ridge Road. It celebrates Elizabeth Gilbert, described as the first settler in the Town of Gaines, who purchased 123 acres of land at this location in 1807, at a time that usually saw men owning property. Local history books retell the stories of “Widow Gilbert” who used her team of oxen to assist other settlers move their belongings onto their own recently purchased parcels of property. The full text of the sign reads:
PIONEER SETTLER
March 3, 1807 This land was chosen by the first settler in the Town of Gaines,
And on Ridge Road in Orleans County, Mrs. Elizabeth Gilbert.
ORLEANS COUNTY COMMUNITY PRIDE
(Map location 3) The founding father of the Hamlet of Childs (once known as Proctor’s Corners and Fairhaven), John Proctor is often referred to by historians as the Paul Revere of Ridge Road. On a cold December night in 1813, Proctor rode by horseback on the Ridge Road from Gaines to Clarkson to warn the settlers of the approach of British and the Indians after the burning of Lewiston during the War of 1812.
A historical marker on a large stone explains the story of John Proctor. The stone is on the south side of Ridge Road, a few houses west of the Route 98 intersection, in the lawn of a home currently occupied by Town of Gaines Historian, Adrienne Kirby, and her family.
The marker was put up in 1935 by the NYS Education Department and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). It is one of a series of historical markers along Ridge Road that were erected in the 1920s and ’30s.
The Proctor marker also notes that the site was once occupied by a primitive log cabin owned by Elijah Downer. When Gov. DeWitt Clinton passed through in 1810, looking for a possible route for the Erie Canal, he stopped at the cabin for breakfast.
The full text of the monument reads:
HISTORIC RIDGE ROAD
GENESEE TO NIAGARA
HOME OF JOHN PROCTOR
Who on horse during a December night in 1813 warned the settlers along the Ridge Road from here to Clarkson of the approach of the British and Indians after the burning of Lewiston. In the morning he joined the regiment of Captain Eleazer McCarty which proceeded toward Lewiston. The next night they surprised and captured the enemy forces quartered at Molyneaux Tavern.
TREK – DEWITT CLINTON – 1810
Nearby at the primitive log cabin of Elijah Downer, Dewitt Clinton and his companions stopped for breakfast on their eventful trip over the Ridge Road in 1810.
Erected by the Ridge Road Improvement Association
Orleans Chapter DAR State of New York 1935
(Map location 4) The Hamlet of Childs is the site of historic Laffler Brick Yard built in the mid-1800s, and a state historic marker and a massive stone monument mark the spot on Route 98 a half mile south of Ridge Road. The Laffler Brick Yard had a storied history that included some game-changing technology for the time. Laffler built and patented an Iron Clad Brick Machine that changed brickmaking from a hand pressing process to mechanical. His invention was said to produce 2,000 to 3,000 bricks per hour. Enough bricks to build the average house could be made in a few hours instead of several days. Laffler’s machine took the first place award at the New York State Fair in the 1860s for several years running.
The full text of the historic marker reads:
BRICKYARD – THE BRICK POND
A. Laffler opened a brickyard here in the 1850s. He produced drainage tile and brick for local buildings. Patented a brick machine – 1863.
Orleans County Historical Association 2001
(Map location 5) The Historic Hamlet of Childs is home to the National Historic Landmark Cobblestone District with three cobblestone structures that comprise a portion of the buildings owned by the Cobblestone Society & Museum. In addition, two other cobblestone buildings serve as private residences for their current owners and are the subject of a two-sided state historic marker located between the two houses on Ridge Road depicted here.
The sign facing west reads:
HISTORIC DISTRICT
At left: Cobblestone House built in 2842 with field or glaciated stones in the Gaines Pattern also known as Depressed Hexagonal. Mason – John Simmons
Marker Erected 2001
The sign facing east reads:
HISTORIC DISTRICT
At right: Cobblestone House built in 1844 and remodeled in 1910. Makes use of lake washed stones in the façade. Fieldstones were selected fro the west end and wing.
Orleans County Department of History
(Map location 6) The National Historic Landmark Cobblestone Schoolhouse (District #5) has its own state historic marker. The school, built in 1849, was constructed with a wooden frame and a facade of lake washed cobblestones. The one-room schoolhouse was used from 1849 to 1952 until the small local school districts were centralized and included in the Albion School District. The school serves as a time-capsule of early education in the county.
The sign reads:
GAINES DISTRICT No. 5 1849 – SCHOOL HOUSE
Was used until 1952. Make of lake-washed stone, it is one of over 900 cobblestone masonry buildings built in N.Y. State from 1825 to 1860.
Marker in Memoriam Elwood Lawrence, Teacher 1951-1952
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 February 2021 at 4:32 pm
There are 25 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 to report today in Genesee and Orleans with the two counties now at 6,473 cases during the pandemic since last March, according to today’s daily update from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.
Since last Friday, Orleans County has 30 new cases while Genesee has 79. The number of active cases in the two counties has dropped in the past seven days from 147 to 118 as recoveries outpaced new cases.
Each county reported one death in the past week that was Covid-related.
In Orleans County there are 7 new positive cases of Covid-19 to report today for a total of 2,363 positive cases since last March.
The positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 40s and 60s.
Four of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list. There are 2 county residents currently hospitalized due to Covid.
In Genesee County there are 18 new positive cases of Covid-19 for a total of 4,110 positive cases since last March.
The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Alabama, Darien, Pembroke), Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Of the new cases, 7 are inmates at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia, where 75 people have now tested positive for Covid during the pandemic.
Genesee is reporting 11 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list. There are 13 Genesee residents hospitalized due to Covid.
State will provide free Covid rapid tests to nursing homes
Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the New York State Department of Health will allow visitation of residents in nursing home facilities in accordance with CMS and CDC guidelines.
The Department of Health recommends that visitors take a rapid test before entry into the facility, and DOH will provide rapid tests to nursing homes at no cost. Guidance on visitations will be available beginning Monday, February 22.
The Governor also announced that New York City indoor dining can expand to 35 percent capacity next Friday, February 26. The reopening is subject to strict state guidance and aligns with New Jersey’s 35 percent limit.
Covid-19 hospitalizations dropped to 6,155, the lowest level since December 17. The 7-day average positivity rate has declined for 42 straight days.
“One of the most devastating aspects of this virus has been how it separated families from their loved ones, making an already difficult situation even harder to bear,” Cuomo said. “Thanks to the dedication of New Yorkers, we’re now at a point where we can begin to resume nursing home visitations under strict guidelines to protect the health and safety of residents. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer, but we are not out of the woods yet.”
Courtesy of DEC: The yellow areas are to be remediated.
MIDDLEPORT – The state Department of Environmental Conservation has selected a $14 million cleanup plan in Middleport where the FMC Corporation will have seven sites excavated.
Those sites are immediately north and south of the canal and east of the Niagara-Orleans county line. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said the sites were contaminated by FMC primarily with arsenic.
The DEC worked with the state Department of Health on the cleanup plan. The contaminated areas are listed as a State Superfund Site. They are considered a Class 2 site on the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites. A Class 2 site represents a significant threat to public health or the environment with action required, the DEC said in a fact sheet about the project.
Details of the cleanup include:
Excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soils followed by restoration of excavated areas;
Consideration of soil tilling on larger parcels, based on the results of a pilot study to be performed;
Importing clean material that meets the established soil cleanup objectives for use as backfill;
Implementing a Health and Safety Plan and Community Air Monitoring Plan during all ground intrusive activities; and
Implementing a Site Management Plan for long-term maintenance of the remedial systems.
About the site: The plant site was used for the manufacturing of a number of chemicals used as pesticides and herbicides between the 1920s and the 1980s. In the mid-1980s, the plant shifted from manufacturing to only formulating pesticides (mixing and packaging) and is presently operating in this capacity.
During its manufacturing period, the plant released hazardous and non-hazardous wastes through production activities and disposed of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes in an on-site landfill and a number of surface impoundments.
State Superfund Program: New York’s State Superfund Program identifies and characterizes suspected inactive hazardous waste disposal sites. Sites that pose a significant threat to public health and/or the environment go through a process of investigation, evaluation, cleanup and monitoring.
The DEC attempts to identify parties responsible for site contamination before committing State funds for investigation and cleanup.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 February 2021 at 12:21 pm
BATAVIA – The afternoon Covid-19 vaccine appointments at GCC in Batavia are still on schedule.
The appointments between 9 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. needed to be rescheduled due to the weather-related delay of vaccine delivery.
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments have notified those with the earlier appointments about the need to be rescheduled for next week, but the other appointments are still set for today.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 February 2021 at 12:02 pm
ALBION – Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced that more than $37.2 million in federal highway safety grants have been awarded to 502 programs throughout New York State during the federal FY 2021.
The Albion Police Department was awarded $2,000 for a child passenger safety program and $3,528 for a police traffic safety initiative.
The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office was approved for $1,700 for a child passenger safety program and $8,032 for a police traffic safety initiative.
These grants throughout the state provide funding to local, state and not-for-profit agencies for projects that improve overall highway safety and reduce deaths and serious injuries due to crashes, Cuomo said.
The projects awarded funding focused on three types of driver safety initiatives: highway safety, child passenger safety and police traffic services.
The funding, which is provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is administered by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. This year, $37.2 million was awarded to 502 projects that focused on three types of driver safety initiatives:
• $32.1 Million for Highway Safety Grants
Provided to state, local and not-for-profit programs that cover a variety of traffic safety efforts including education initiatives, traffic records improvements, training, crash reconstruction, and railroad crossing safety. In addition, the programs cover distracted driving, slow moving vehicles, and drowsy and impaired driving. These initiatives focus on protecting child passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, wheel-sport athletes, motorcyclists, teens and older drivers.
• $2.6 Million for Child Passenger Safety
Supports child passenger safety education, training for child passenger safety technicians, conducting car seat checks statewide, operating a car seat distribution program for low-income families, and establishing permanent child safety seat fitting stations.
• $2.5 Million for Police Traffic Services
Initiatives by law enforcement agencies to target dangerous driver behaviors. This includes participation in the national Click It or Ticket seat belt mobilization and other enforcement initiatives aimed at preventing unsafe speed, aggressive and distracted behaviors, and occupant restraint enforcement.
“The safety of our roadways is critical to communities in every corner of this great state and we’re working to avoid needless tragedies caused by dangerous and reckless driving,” Cuomo said. “This funding will support critical traffic enforcement, community programs and child passenger safety initiatives that will help protect everyone on the road and make our state’s roadways safer for all.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 February 2021 at 10:00 am
ALBANY – The Republican Conference in the State Assembly announced it wants an impeachment commission to look at how Gov. Andrew Cuomo handled the Covid-19 crisis in nursing homes, including if the administration deliberatively withheld data on deaths to mislead the public and federal authorities.
Will Barclay, the Assembly Republican leader from Pulaski, said the conference will begin the process of forming an impeachment commission “to gather facts and evidence surrounding Gov. Cuomo’s handling and subsequent coverup of the Covid-19 crisis in nursing homes.”
Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2-to-1 in the 150-member Assembly. Barclay said his conference wants bipartisan support to establish the “Temporary Joint Legislative Committee on Investigating the State’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nursing Homes.” The committee’s findings and recommendations would be submitted to the Legislature.
“The Cuomo Administration’s nursing home cover-up is one of the most alarming scandals we’ve seen in state government,” Barclay said in a statement on Thursday. “Intentionally withholding critical information from the public, underreporting fatality numbers by 50 percent and the recent revelation they hid the truth to avoid a federal Department of Justice investigation are among the factors that raise the serious possibility of criminality. It is incumbent upon the Legislature to undertake a comprehensive, bipartisan review of the Cuomo Administration’s policies, decisions and actions on this matter and render a decision on what steps must be taken to hold the governor accountable.”
Cuomo said there hasn’t been a coverup. He acknowledged on Monday his administration was slow in providing information to state legislators about nursing home deaths. He said the mounting criticism he faces is politically motivated and is a disservice to families who lost loved ones in nursing homes due to Covid.
Barclay on Thursday highlighted a report on Jan. 28 from Attorney General Letitia James who said nursing home deaths may have been reported by as much as 50 percent. Cuomo said some nursing home residents died in hospitals and the state counted those as hospital deaths, because that is where the person died.
He disputed his administration undercounted the deaths. The protocol for counting deaths was where the person passed away. If they died in a hospital, those were counted as hospital deaths, not nursing homes. There are nearly 700 nursing homes in the state. The Department of Health has tried to get the data from nursing homes on how many of their residents died in hospitals after getting Covid.
Barclay said the March 25 guidance from state Department of Health, which said nursing homes had to accept Covid-positive patients, contributed to the spread of the disease.
Cuomo said New York was following the advice of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just like many other states. Cuomo said the nursing homes didn’t have to accept Covid-positive patients if the facilities didn’t believe they could adequately care for the patients and contain the Covid spread. He said 98 percent of the nursing homes that accepted Covid-positive patients already had residents in the nursing homes with Covid. Cuomo said the spread in the homes was mainly due to asymptomatic staff and visitors.
Assemblyman Mike Norris, R-Lockport, issued a statement on Thursday saying he supports the move to create a commission looking at Cuomo’s handling of nursing home data and whether the governor’s policies contributed to deaths among nursing home residents.
“With 15,000 of our most vulnerable citizens dead, their grieving families deserve answers and justice,” Norris said. “There must be thorough, independent and transparent investigations. It is good news that the FBI and U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of New York have opened investigations, but it would be prudent to appoint a special prosecutor to ensure there are no conflicts of interest. We must find out what are the real facts and get to the bottom of this in order to protect New Yorkers. This must be done expeditiously in order to ensure our government remains honest and transparent, particularly during this extraordinary pandemic.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 February 2021 at 8:27 am
Melissa Blanar of the Office for the Aging and Robert Batt of Cornell Cooperative Extension praised for service to county
Melissa Blanar
ALBION – Leadership Orleans has announced its alumni of the year for 2020: Melissa Blanar and Robert Batt.
Blanar, director of the office for the Aging in Orleans County, graduated from Leadership Orleans in 2019. Batt, a graduate of the inaugural class in 2018, is executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County.
Robert Batt
“Their ongoing leadership efforts during 2020 supported many areas of need in Orleans County,” The Leadership Orleans Steering Committee said. “Both went far and beyond their professional leadership roles through their organizations to serve at even greater levels. In reaching out, their natural leadership styles inspired the volunteer efforts of many others who to this day are still assisting them in fulfilling those needs. From distributing food to community members to addressing other pandemic realities, Robert and Melissa have been there to share their leadership skills.”
Leadership Orleans is a year-long program with about 25 members in a class who learn about the different sectors of the county, from agriculture, manufacturing, education, healthcare, government and other industries and services. Last year’s class was disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of a graduation in December, the Class of 2020’s commencement is tentatively scheduled for May 20, 2021. Batt and Blanar will be recognized at that ceremony.
Batt and Blanar have both been instrumental in the food distributions during the pandemic. They have worked with Foodlink and other distributors to have boxes of food available for free to local residents. (There is a food distribution this morning at Medina Central School.)
Those distributions have been at Holley, Clarendon, Albion, Medina, Ridgeway and the 4-H Fairgrounds in Knowlesville.
Melissa Blanar, left, carried milk to residents’ vehicles at a food distribution on Nov. 13, 2020 in Albion. Her office has been extra busy in the past year assisting seniors during the Covid pandemic, including recent efforts trying to help them make appointments for the vaccine.
Robert Batt carries a box of food to a car on July 2, 2020 during a distribution at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds. Batt helped at similar events throughout the county. He also wrote a grant and is on a committee to bridge the digital divide in the county by bringing more high-speed internet access to Orleans.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 February 2021 at 5:00 pm
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments today are reporting 5 new Covid cases in each county, which are among the lowest daily numbers since a Covid surge started in November.
In Orleans County the 5 new cases bring the total to 2,356 positive cases since last March.
The positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon). The individuals are in the age groups of 20s, 30s, 40s and 60s.
Two of the current positive individuals are hospitalized. Orleans is unable to report the number of those who have recovered or the number of active positive cases today. This data will be included in tomorrow’s update. The Daily Data Chart also will be updated on Friday, the Health Departments said in a news briefing sent this afternoon.
In Genesee County the 5 new positive cases bring the Genesee total to 4,092 confirmed cases since last March.
The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Alabama, Darien, Pembroke), Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The individuals are in the age groups of 20s, 40s and 50s. One of the new positive individuals is an inmate at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia.
Genesee is reporting one of the previously positive individuals has recovered and been removed from the isolation list. Genesee currently has 14 residents hospitalized due to Covid.
Correction: The Health Departments retracted one positive resident of the LeRoy Village Green Residential Healthcare Facility that was determined to be a duplicate.
ORCHARD PARK – Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) released the following statement after it was reported last night that the FBI and the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office have opened an investigation into Governor Cuomo and senior members of his Covid-19 Task Force.
“For weeks, I have called for a full federal investigation into Governor Cuomo and his staff for their actions to cover-up the disastrous impacts of the Governor’s directive forcing Covid positive patients back into nursing homes. This investigation is long overdue but necessary to the grieving families who have been cast aside, smeared, and talked down to by this Governor for simply seeking answers surrounding the death of a loved one.
“I will keep working tirelessly until we have these answers. This investigation should leave no stone unturned and thoroughly examine the deliberate and willful action to withhold information from federal prosecutors and the public. The Governor’s actions represent one of the greatest betrayals of public trust during this pandemic. He must be held accountable.”
Health Alert from Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments
BATAVIA – Some of the Covid-19 2nd Dose Vaccine Clinic appointments scheduled for Friday at Genesee Community College in Batavia will be moved to another day due to the weather-related delay of vaccine delivery.
Anyone with an appointment between 9 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. will be contacted directly by the provided e-mail or phone number to reschedule the appointment for next week.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
UPDATED at 8:08 p.m.: Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued this statement about the vaccine shipping delays:
“The Federal government has informed New York that nearly all Covid-19 vaccine doses allocated for Week 10 — which were scheduled to be delivered between February 12th and February 21st — are delayed due to the winter storms continuing to impact much of the country. Every dose that should have shipped on Monday was held back, and only a limited number of Pfizer vaccines left shipping facilities on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“This delay will undoubtedly pose a logistical challenge for New York — but as we have shown over the last 350-plus days, we are New York Tough, and we are up to the challenge. The Department of Health is working closely with all providers, including local health departments, hospitals, pharmacies, and FQHCs to minimize the impact on their operations and reduce the number of appointments that must be rescheduled. The vaccine is the weapon that will win the war against Covid, and we will continue to work with our federal partners to expedite the delayed shipments and will keep New Yorkers updated over the coming days.”
