In another sign of some light at the end of the tunnel on the COVID crisis, at a press conference on Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State

ALBANY—In another sign of some light at the end of the tunnel on the COVID crisis, at a press conference on Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State will soon receive an initial delivery of enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for 170,000 New Yorkers.

If all safety and efficacy approvals are granted by the federal government, the state expects to receive the vaccines—which were created by Pfizer—on Dec. 15. New York State expects additional allocations of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna later this month.

“As we continue to move through the holiday season, the good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but unfortunately it is still a ways away and we are now faced with a set of challenges to overcome before we get there. Not only is the number of COVID-19 cases rising virtually everywhere, but they are stemming from a new source, with nearly 70% of cases being traced back to households and private gatherings,” Governor Cuomo said.

The governor also complained that the federal government is not contributing any funding to support the distribution of the vaccine. He also noted that the federal vaccination plan “not only overlooks the black, brown, and poor communities, but its data sharing provisions will dissuade the undocumented community from getting a vaccination. Winning the war against COVID has to be an inclusive process and only by everyone working together will we be successful. While we continue to fight to make the federal plan more inclusive, effective and fair, New Yorkers need to do their part to help limit the spread.”

The statewide COVID positivity rate on Dec. 1 was 4.63%.

The governor noted that the positive testing rate in all focus areas under the state’s Micro-Cluster strategy on Tuesday was 5.88%, and outside the focus zone areas was 4.21%. Within the focus areas, 49,027 test results were reported yesterday, yielding 2,882 positives. In the remainder of the state, not counting these focus areas, 144,524 test results were reported, yielding 6,091 positives.

The positivity rate for the Mid-Hudson region on Tuesday was 4.94%, while New York City’s COVID positivity rate was 3.34%.

There were 69 COVID-19 related deaths in the state on Tuesday, including three residents of Westchester and the Bronx and one each in Rockland, Orange and Manhattan, bringing the pandemic statewide total to 26,889.