Hochul tells New Yorkers that second boosters are offered at state’s mass vaccination sites.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday introduced that New Yorkers ages 50 or older who acquired their booster pictures at the least 4 months in the past, or adults who acquired the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are actually eligible for a second booster dose. New Yorkers who’re at the least 12 years outdated and are reasonably to severely immunocompromised are additionally eligible.

“Getting vaccinated and staying up-to-date with all really helpful doses is the best technique to forestall extreme sickness and hospitalization, and transfer safely ahead by means of this pandemic,” Ms. Hochul stated.

New Yorkers can schedule an appointment for a free booster shot at considered one of greater than a dozen state-run mass vaccination websites, together with Medgar Evers School in Brooklyn; the Queensbury Aviation Mall-Sears in Queensbury; State Truthful Artwork and House Middle in Syracuse; and the College at Buffalo South Campus at Harriman Corridor in Buffalo.

Booster pictures are a dose of an mRNA vaccine — both the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna.

At a information convention on Friday at Metropolis Corridor, the New York Metropolis well being commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, additionally inspired metropolis residents to get booster pictures and to put on masks in public indoor settings, stating that he was sporting a masks on the information convention. Residents can discover a location to get a free shot and make a vaccination appointment on the New York Metropolis Division of Well being’s web site.

The governor’s announcement comes as well being officers estimate that BA.2 — essentially the most transmissible model of the coronavirus but recognized — accounts for greater than half of latest virus instances in america, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention stated this week. The Omicron subvariant accounts for about 70 % of instances within the area that features New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico.

Though BA.2 is extra transmissible than BA.1, it has not proven to trigger extra extreme sickness.

Well being consultants fear that BA.2, which has fueled case surges in Europe and Asia, might result in one other wave of the pandemic in New York, and presumably the nation. They imagine that the true variety of instances in New York may be increased than the info suggests, as a result of many individuals are testing at house, with no official reporting of outcomes.

That has well being officers urging New Yorkers to stay vigilant.

“As we’ve seen with the latest enhance of the Omicron subvariant BA.2, Covid remains to be with us,” Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the state well being commissioner, stated within the assertion on Saturday. “These secure and efficient vaccines stay free, together with the second booster.”