De Blasio says NYC will run out of vaccine next week, Cuomo blames feds

De Blasio says NYC needs more vaccine doses as more sites open

With more New Yorkers able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the biggest concern now is supply, but Mayor Bill de Blasio is sounding the alarm, saying the city won't have enough doses to get through next week.

NEW YORK - Mayor Bill de Blasio is sounding the alarm that the number of people wanting to be vaccinated in New York City will not be able to do so as the vaccine allotment is on the verge of running out.

As of Friday, 125,000 New Yorkers had been vaccinated for the coronavirus, announced the mayor during his daily briefing. But the current demand for the vaccine will not be met starting next week if more doses don't arrive on time.

"We need maximum pressure on Washington, Albany, and the manufacturers to deliver us hundreds of thousands of more doses immediately," said de Blasio during a radio interview earlier in the day.

New York City has under 186,000 first doses remaining with more and more vaccination sites coming online.

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When asked about the issue in the city, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pointed fingers at the federal government during a briefing from Albany.

"We have to get from here to there," said Cuomo. "We need to get through the vaccination period to critical mass of the vaccine, that's six months, nine months, 12 months, depends on who you talk to and depends on the federal supply. That's what drives the timeline right now."

Seven million people across New York are currently eligible to be vaccinated. The state has been receiving 300,000 doses per week.

Cuomo on possible vaccine shortage

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo says NYC is sent a proportionate share of the COVID vaccine based on what the state receives.

"The supply should go to where there is an infrastructure to get it into people’s arms. We know there is supply in this country not being used," said de Blasio.

The city has already administered more than 337,500 doses to New Yorkers, including more than 42,000 second doses. The city has also administered 71.3% percent of the 175,000 vaccines it aimed to distribute by the end of this weekend.

"New York City gets a proportionate share every week but the proportion goes down if the overall state allocation goes down," said Cuomo.

State officials are also looking into a vaccine scheduling link issue where many New Yorkers believed they had made appointments, only to find out that wasn't the case.