Cuomo Makes Big Move on Vaccine

When the federal government gives the green light for the first COVID vaccine, New Yorkers may be waiting longer than others. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said he was forming a special panel of experts to vet anything approved by the feds before it gets distributed in his state, reports Syracuse.com. He was blunt in his rationale: "Frankly, I’m not going to trust the federal government’s opinion," he said, labeling the federal pandemic response as "incompetent," per the New York Times. President Trump is pushing for emergency approval of a vaccine by Election Day, and Cuomo's announcement came one day after the president said he might reject an FDA plan to tighten restrictions related to an emergency authorization, reports Politico.

All this comes as polls suggest that more Americans are growing apprehensive about receiving a coronavirus vaccination. A new survey by Axios-Ipsos finds that 60% of Americans don't plan to try to get a vaccine as soon as it's available, up from 53% last month. Only 13% say they want to try it immediately, with 34% saying they'd prefer to wait weeks, months, or even more than a year. Nearly a quarter say they don't want a vaccination at all. Health experts note that if relatively few people get a shot, that will make the vaccine less effective in terms of establishing herd immunity. (Johnson & Johnson's vaccine candidate might require only one dose.)