NEW YORK, NY – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo once again mocked Operation Warp Speed, an initiative by President Donald J. Trump to accelerate the vaccine research and approval process in the global war against COVID-19. Cuomo said Trump’s effort is too little, too late and only his life-saving COVID-19 lockdown can save New Yorkers this winter.
“The vaccine is here, happy days. A new therapeutic was just announced. Great. And by the way, it is great news. It is great news. You had an international competition among big pharma companies who could do the first vaccine – by the way, Pfizer, New York company,” Cuomo said. “Regeneron, New York company. Great news. “Well, the vaccine is here, the vaccine is going to save us, so I don’t have to worry.” It is going to be months and months and months before you hit a critical mass on the vaccination. I will wager anyone who wants to wager, it will be at least six months before you hit critical mass. The vaccine is not going to be here in time to stop an increasing infection rate. ”
Cuomo said neighboring states like New Jersey pose a major risk factor to New Yorkers and could speed up the spread of the virus in his own state.
“We are threatened by everyone around us. All the surrounding states are higher than we are,” Cuomo said. “They have a higher infection rate. Jersey’s over 7, Connecticut’s over 5, Pennsylvania’s over 11. And these people come in and out every day. They work here, they socialize here, they’re in the bar, they’re in the restaurant, every day. You see the reflection of the numbers in today’s numbers. The micro-cluster areas, 4.4. statewide without the micro-clusters 2.7. With the micro-clusters, 3.8. that’s 190,000 tests, we still test more than any state in the nation, so our data is more solid. 33 people passed away. Hospitalizations up 162. And then the ICUs go up, 43, then the intubations go up, and then the death number goes up. That is what is happening.”
