Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Announces New York State to Provide 1,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses for Pop-up Site Targeting 16 to 25-year-old Population in Buffalo

Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York State will provide 1,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses and establish a new pop-up site targeting 16 to 25-year-olds in Buffalo. The Governor also announced that the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority will provide 1,000 day passes to help eligible residents reach the pop-up site.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks are available below:

Good morning to all. Pleasure to be back in Western New York. Yeah, that's it. Let's get a better good morning. Good morning. Beautiful day in Buffalo. A little rainy, could be worse. It could be snowing. As we know, it's a pleasure to be at The Belle Center for all the good work that happens here. And we remember Father Belle and his great contribution.

Let me acknowledge some of my colleagues who are here today. First majority leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes who - let me just say a word about Crystal. You know her as your representative, your voice and she does a fantastic job on that level, but majority leader means she is a leader in the New York State Assembly, and she is a powerful leader. We just went through what was probably the most difficult budget the state has done, but probably the most potent budget that the state has done and I want to thank Crystal personally for her leadership on the cannabis bill, she was fantastic. So thank you, Crystal.

Mayor Byron Brown. This COVID crisis was a test of people in general and it was a test of leadership. No elected official had gone through this before and you really get to see what a person is made of, frankly, when the pressure is on. And I can tell you a better partner I did not have across the state than Mayor Byron Brown. He really stepped up when things were at their worst. So let's give him another round of applause.

Eunice Lewin is a great community leader. She's also a great member on the SUNY Board of Trustees and she came up with a creative idea that we're going to be speaking about today. Let's give her a round of applause.

Lucy Candelario who's our host today. Thank you for opening up The Belle Center. Thank you for all your good work.

Reverend Mark Blue, who was the pastor of the Second Baptist Church. He's also the president of the Buffalo NAACP, which is doing extraordinary work. So thank you, Reverend Blue for being with us.

We have Thomas Beauford, who is the President and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League. He works with Marc Morial who is the national President, former mayor of New Orleans. They're doing great work all across the country. Pleasure to be with you. Thank you.

Thomas Quatroche, who has been leading the Erie Medical Center through this and talk about challenging times in great work. Thomas, thank you very much and thank the entire medical center.

Dr. Raul Vazquez who's the president and CEO of G-Health Enterprises. He's going to be participating in the initiative we announced today. Dr. Vazquez, thank you. Thank you very, very much. Thank you.

Let me give you an update on where we are on COVID because this COVID situation changes almost day to day. It certainly changes week to week. And as the enemy changes tactics, then we adopt our tactics to meet the enemy, right? Because this is a war. You read about the great wars. You watch the enemy, the enemy moves, and then you move in response.

We track COVID on a daily basis to see what it's up to. It has tricks for us and it has changed tactics. Don't dismiss these variants of interest, they call them. The COVID virus changes all the time. It mutates all the time and they talk about the UK mutation. Now they're talking about the mutation that's in India.

We have to watch these mutations because whatever happens anywhere on the world, it winds up here eventually. And eventually is becoming a shorter and shorter period of time. The world is shrinking. One person gets on an airplane, comes to New York, it's here. It can be here within 24 hours. So we watch it every day today.

Today the numbers are good. Positivity rate statewide 1.8 percent and that's really good news. Remember when we were up seven, eight, ten percent. 1.8 percent. So let's give New Yorkers round of applause.

2,900 people hospitalized. That's down 183. That's the first day under 3,000 since November 24th. So that's really good news. Also 691 in ICU. That's down. 425 New Yorkers intubated. That's down - lowest since December 3rd.

Positivity by region and this is fascinating because it's one state. We all get the same message. We all have the same access. But yet you see variations in the positivity across the state Western New York, unfortunately, highest positivity in this state. Today, 3.5 percent. Finger Lakes, 2.8 percent. Mid-Hudson, 2.1. Long Island, 2. New York City, 1.9 percent. North Country, 1.8. Capital Region, 1.5. Mohawk Valley, 1.5. Central New York, 1.4. Southern Tier, 0.7. Okay. Statewide that's 1.98 percent for the seven day average. That seven day average is the first day under 2 percent since November 7th, which takes us all the way back to pre-Thanksgiving, pre-holiday surge. The numbers are going very well. As the numbers move, we move. As the enemy moves, we move. So this is all very good news.

Well, good. Then let's throw off the masks and let's all go celebrate. We're not done with COVID yet. All those good numbers, 38 people died yesterday. 38 people died yesterday from COVID. So, yes, we're making great progress, but people are still dying every day from COVID. So we have to weigh those two facts, right? Well, governor said, you're governor, you said we're doing great and we're making progress. I did. Well then why can't we get back to normal? Because 38 people died yesterday. And people will die today. So we're not through the woods. Yet.

3.56 in Western New York is the highest percentage in any region. We are working doubly hard in Western New York to get that number down. How do you get the number down? Two ways. Precautions and vaccinations. What are precautions? Precautions are precautions. Precautions are common sense. Wear the mask, socially distance, be careful. Well, I'm tired of all of this and we're making progress. I know, but we're not home yet. And we have to keep up with the precautions. We're relaxing. The precautions as the numbers are getting better, but we're not home yet. Precautions. And the ultimate weapon to win the war - the vaccinations.

Get the vaccination. We've vaccinated 15 million New Yorkers so far. 45% of New Yorkers have gotten at least one shot. 45 percent. We have a massive distribution network. Pop-up centers. We're going into public housing. We're going into hard-hit communities. Mass vaccination sites. We have an elaborate distribution center. So, people who want the vaccine can get the vaccine. Unfortunately, the rate of people getting vaccines is slowing.

Partially, that's understandable. You're up to 45 percent of the population. Those who were most eager to get the vaccine came in first. You get to 45 percent, now you're starting to see a slowing in the number of people coming in for the vaccine. We were doing 175,000 vaccines every 24 hours statewide. We were doing about 115,000 shots, every 24 hours.

Did you reduce the distribution? No. We just have fewer people coming in. So we have to work harder to get people to come in for the vaccinations. We're focused on two groups: the doubtful and the youthful. Who were the doubtful? The doubtful are people who doubt the vaccine. Well, government says I should get the vaccine. You know, I don't believe government. To those people I say it's not government that says it. Yes. Governmental leaders say it, Democrats say it Republican, say it, tall leaders say it, short leaders say it, females say it, black say it, white say it. It's not government telling you. It's every major medical source in the nation says get the vaccine.

Well I'm worried I don't want to go first. 15 million New Yorkers went first. People all over the globe went first. Well I'm afraid of it. You have a greater risk to yourself not getting the vaccine then you have getting the vaccine. It is safer to get the vaccine. Well, I don't like needles. Nobody likes needles. Nobody. Take it from me: I get needled every day on various levels. Sometimes with a needle, sometimes other types of needles. Nobody likes a needle, but it will keep you safe. That's a doubtful group.

And then we have the youthful group 16 to 25. The 16 to 25 is the lowest percent vaccinated. OK? Listen to these numbers because the mayor when I was here last time raised this point and I went back and I looked at the numbers and he was right. Statewide 75-plus in age, 72 percent vaccinated, 65 to 74, 80 percent vaccinated, 65 to 74, 16- to 25-year-olds, only 34 percent vaccinated. In Western New York, your vaccination rate is higher than the state rate in 75-plus and 65 to 74-plus. It's a little lower on 16 to 25. 16 to 25 is our target audience. Why? Why is that number lower? First, in truth, our emphasis on COVID from day one was always about older people. Older people are more vulnerable. Older people are more vulnerable. Second, younger people became eligible later than older people, right?

Eligibility for 16-plus just opened up fairly recently. But also, younger people are younger people. And, you know, they have been told this is less dangerous for them. They're young, they're strong, they're superheroes. Nothing can hurt them. They'll get over it. Well, my friend had COVID and my friend is fine. I'm fine. I'm young. I'm strong. That may all be true, but first of all, it's not true. Young people have gotten very sick from COVID also. Young people get what they call long haul syndrome. There's a group of people who get COVID and it lingers for months and months. And they're still studying this long-haul syndrome, but younger people.

Yeah, maybe it's not going to affect you. But you don't live in a world alone. If you said to me, I live in a cabin in the woods and I don't see anyone. Alright. But if you live in Buffalo, if you live in Western New York, if you go into a shopping center, if you go to school, if you have a family, if you would say hello to your grandmother or your father, or your brother or your sister, or you shake hands with someone on the street, then you are affecting other people.

So it's really not just about you, right? I know we like to think rugged individualism. I know, but we live in a community. We live in a society. I'm standing here today. Crystal is here. Byron is here. What I do affects other people. What we all do affects other people. Yes, you're young and you're strong, but what you do affects other people.

We talk about social responsibility, social equity, community, helping one another, supporting one another. Get the vaccine. It's the best way to help one another. You want to say, you care about me? You want to say, you care about us? Get the vaccine and say, you know what? I got the vaccine. I wasn't afraid for me, but because I love you and I care about you, and I understand that my actions can affect you, that's why I took the vaccine. And that is true for every 16 to 25-year-old. Now we want to make it easier to do it. And we are targeting the 16 to 25.

Eunice Lewin came up with a great idea. Dr. Vazquez, tomorrow and Saturday, we're going to have a pop-up at the greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network, 1195 Main Street. It will be open to everyone, but primarily focused on 16 to 25. NFTA has provided free bus vouchers for 1,000 young people so they can get to the vaccination site without having to pay the bus fare. Let's give the NFTA a round of applause.

Why? We want to get to a point where there are no excuses. There are no excuses. The vaccine side is available. It's been tested, it's safe and it won't even cost you anything to go and get it. To high schools: I recommend high schools do this as an organized effort. School is still in session. A high school should organize where they will take their students, 16-plus, to a vaccination site, put them on a bus, bring them to a vaccination site and get them vaccinated.

That's the population that we have to get up. Why? Because we want to get back to life as usual. We want to get the economy fully open. We want to get back to social life. We want to start to see people. We want to get back to the old days, right? Everybody talks about the future and I want change, I want change. Yeah. I want to get back to the old days. I want to be able to go to a restaurant with my friends. I want to be able to go to a bar. I want to be able to go to a ball game. I want to get back to the old days where life was normal. I want people working again and society thriving again. And the vaccine is the best way to do that.

We're taking another step forward since the COVID numbers are going to come down and we're going to announce that the Buffalo Marathon is going to return this year, June 26th and 27th. And we want to thank Greg Weber very much for organizing that, but the marathon will go on. So congratulations to Greg Weber and let's move forward with that.

So we are reopening. We're calibrating to COVID, but all the numbers in the right direction, we're opening more and more. The Buffalo Marathon is another example of that. We are in the home stretch. We use the marathon. We're coming around the last corner, the tape and the end of the race is ahead of us. Now is no time to slow down. Run through the tape. Let's bring it home. Get those vaccinations done.

Let's get Western New York where you open. Let's get back to life as normal. Thank you for having me here today. Let me now turn it over to Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader. You'll then hear from Mayor Byron Brown, and then you'll hear from, Ms. Lewin from the SUNY Board of Trustees who helped organize today. Thank you very much.

Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes: Thank you, Mr. Governor. Thank you for being here in our beloved Buffalo yet again. Folks already know every time you come, there's some good news and so I think this is also good news as well. I'd also like to thank Mayor Brown as well as Lucy Candelario for allowing us to be hosted in The Belle Center.

I want to thank Rev. Mark Blue, Trustee Eunice Lewin and Dr. Raul Vazquez for all of your hard work and partnership that's been going on during the course of this pandemic.

The last time you were here, Mr. Governor, we talked a lot about equity and what that means. You said it means basic justice requires that you give help to the communities that need it most. Based on the numbers that you just laid out of how the numbers are looking in the state of New York, it's clear that we need help. That help is here. Now all we need is for people to come and take advantage of it. Throughout this pandemic, some seniors told me this just a couple of weeks ago that they followed your lead on this, Mr. Governor, and so you have always taken the progressive steps forward in bringing us through what is probably the most horrific time in any of our lifetimes. And so for those seniors at the Gloria Parks Center, I want to thank you personally for them, because that's what they said to me when I went to see them. Thank the governor for me. So I'm thanking you for them.

You also took the opportunity which I think is awesome to create a vaccine clinical trial force that put New Yorkers together to figure out, how do we get the vaccine out? You created the Vaccine Equity Task Force, which is clear that everything needs to be done from an equity lens and you created the vaccine pop-ups here and across the state to literally meet people where they are, as opposed to someone needing to go to a hospital or a clinical setting. You created these pop-up centers so that they can go where they live.

Over the last three weeks we've seen COVID positivity rates increase in Western New York. This is a community that urgently needs the help and we are grateful to you for providing that. Our region has the lowest share of young people getting vaccinated and I think that can change based on the strategies that have been put together here today, under the leadership of yourself, Governor, as well as our SUNY Trustee, Eunice Lewin, a thought leader, a thought leader, for sure.

Everyone 16 years and older is now eligible to get vaccinated so I really liked the way you presented it. If you really care about the people who are around you, who live with you in your community, that should be one of the major reasons that you would get vaccinated. Not that you're concerned that you're going to get sick or it's not going to be good for you or in the long haul is not good for people of color, all of these great myths folks have talked about, but it's because you're concerned about the people where you live and are around. I've been vaccinated. I was vaccinated at the same time my mother was who is 95 years old and I was vaccinated because I care about her and because I care about my grandson and by the way, I would like to go out to a restaurant, have a meal and a glass of Pinot Noir or something like that. I would like to do that again. As much as restaurants are clamoring to have that access, I'm clamoring to get there, but I need everybody else to work with me so we can allow that to happen.

I also want to take this opportunity to, along with the Governor, thank NFTA for providing a thousand passes. I mean, that is really, people often say, I can't get there, it's too far, I'm going to walk. Well take the bus and you have access to do that because of the NFTA. Again, I want to thank the Governor for helping us all to understand why we need to get back to a normal life that we can all enjoy our families. Our President said this on the day that he was sworn in, that he would like to see us be able to hug our relatives on the Fourth of July. I'd like to be able to hug my relatives before the Fourth of July and if we can get everybody vaccinated and get our numbers down in Western New York, like they are across the state, and soon they will be zero, then we can start hugging sooner than later. With that I want to thank the Governor again for being here and welcome to the podium, our great mayor, you all know him well, he's none other than Byron W. Brown. Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Brown: Thank you very much Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes and thank you, Governor Cuomo, for being here today and coming back to Buffalo so soon. It's great to have you back in our city. I also again want to thank Lucy Candelariofor hosting us here at the Belle Center. Governor, the last time you were here we talked about the disparities highlighted by the COVID pandemic and the work you've done to increase equity and access to the vaccine. That is so critically important. I can share with all of you that last week I attended a funeral of a young man more than 20 years younger than me that passed away from COVID and any loss of a loved one, a friend, is a painful loss. The thing that was shocking at that wake is not only did that young man pass away, but COVID also took his brother and took his mother. So this thing is real as the Governor has said, and people in our community are still getting very sick and dying from COVID-19.

And while we are close to the end of this painful period in our lives and we often say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we have to also continue to emphasize that we are not out of the woods yet and we can't take this lightly. These last three weeks, as you've heard, we've seen COVID positivity rates increase in Western New York, especially among our young people. We have got to stop and make sure COVID cannot make a resurgence in our community. The Governor saw this and answered our call, which is why he's back here today. As you know the Governor expanded walk-in access to everyone 16 and up at all state-run mass vaccination sites. Now, the Governor is expanding access to an increasingly vulnerable group by partnering with our community to create a pop-up for our youth population. This pop-up brings 1,000 doses of the COVID vaccine into our community for our young people and creates an opportunity for them to get vaccinated so that they can safely return to their normal lives.

I want to just again recognize the partners in this. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Reverend Mark Blue, the President of the NAACP, Thomas Beauford, the President of the Buffalo Urban League, SUNY Trustee Eunice Lewin, Kim Minkel, the Executive Director of the NFTA, Dr. Raul Vazquez, the president of GBUAHN, and his wife, Toni Vazquez. Tom Quatroche, of ECMC and many others that have all come together around this idea of a youth vaccination pop-up in this community to make sure that one of our most precious resources, our youth, are getting vaccinated.

So let's be clear. COVID isn't defeated yet. We have to be careful and we have to get everyone vaccinated. And I want to send out a special appeal to our beloved young people in this community, please get vaccinated. Protect yourself, protect your family, your friends, and our community. Again I want to thank the Governor for his great leadership and partnership throughout the pandemic, and Governor, for your continued commitment to Buffalo and Western New York. Now, it is my great pleasure to introduce someone that was incredibly passionate about this youth pop-up. I think she called all of us who could listen, who would listen, around the clock, morning, noon and night, and that is none other than the great SUNY Trustee, Eunice Lewin.

Eunice Lewin: Thank you, Mayor Brown. Good morning. Buenos dias. I like it. Governor Cuomo, Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Mayor Brown, Reverend Blue. It is an honor to be here with you on this very special day. Governor, thank you for continuing to fight tooth and nail to crush COVID-19. You are not leaving any stone unturned. For over a year, you have led the people of New York by focusing on what needed to get done to save lives. Early on, it was making sure communities had PPE and COVID tests. Since the fall, you on your team have made sure the vaccines are safe and have fought to get New York State the vaccine it needs. Governor, your efforts to bring vaccination to the underserved areas all over this state have been remarkable. We thank you.

Standing up mass vaccination sites like the Delavan-Grider Community Center here in Buffalo and pop-up vaccine sites at churches and community centers all over this state have made it possible for New Yorkers, including our heroic essential workers, to get the vaccine more conveniently. I'm grateful to the Governor to his team for making a special effort to encourage young people, young people, to get the vaccine and for making available 1,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for this group. Young people, especially for you, I'm grateful to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority for providing 1,000 day passes to help eligible residents reach the pop-up site. We knew, and we learned early on, that transportation, Governor, was a challenge, so tomorrow we do not have that problem. We have free transportation.

At a time when we are becoming more and more hopeful that the long nightmare is close to a conclusion, we are seeing the COVID positivity rate going up here in Western New York. We need to do everything, everything we can, to keep moving forward and not backwards. As a trustee of the State University of New York, I know that this has been a challenging time for young people. I'm urging you to hang on a little longer and get yourself vaccinated. Get the shot for yourself, for your family, for your community. It could be one of the most important things you do for your lifetime. Thank you once again Governor, our elected and community leaders for demonstrating that leadership, teamwork and partnership can save lives. Young people, I am a cancer survivor, I got the shot. Thank you.

Governor Cuomo: Okay. Let's give Ms. Lewin another round of applause for getting it done. I'm now going to ask Dr. Vazquez to administer two vaccines for us, two volunteers, two young people volunteers who are going to come up and receive the vaccine. The vaccine can be done faster than you text, faster than you post. I'll tell you, a very cool post is you getting a vaccine shot, that is a very cool post. Dr. Vazquez?