LI police are waiting for vaccines in the surge of new COVID-19

Nassau and Suffolk County police stations, along with other local law enforcement agencies, will vaccinate thousands of police officers with COVID-19 from state health officials, potentially starting “later this month” Authorities told Newsday that they were waiting for detailed instructions.

A spokesman for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement released Friday afternoon, authorities prevented police in late January following Phase 1A, a group of health care workers and paramedics. He said he expected to start receiving vaccinations.

“Once we have vaccinated 2.1 million New Yorkers in Phase 1A, we will begin vaccination of essential workers such as police officers and older New Yorkers in Phase 1B. Prevention of Phase 1B population later this month. We are planning to start vaccination. ” Jack Stern, a spokesman for the Cuomo administration.

Development from state authorities occurs while multiple law enforcement agencies in Long Island report a surge in COVID-19 infections in their ranks.

Representatives and county officials from Nassau and Suffolk, along with New York State Police, Southern Ptontown Police, and Suffolk County Security Officer’s Office, said most, if not all, police officers have not been vaccinated this week. ..

Suffolk said some police officers certified as emergency medical technicians began vaccination on Tuesday and Wednesday, but a spokeswoman for the agency wrote in an email: “The station has a COVID 19 vaccine by police officers.”

A Nassau police spokesman said most of the officers were not vaccinated. However, according to a statement by Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick J. Ryder, some police officers, not among the 2,436 sworn officers, have begun vaccination.

“Police medics in our department, who have handled about 85% of COVID-19 calls across Nassau County, have already begun vaccination,” Rider said.

Nassau police said they had 161 police doctors in the department. Authorities could not say the number of vaccinated police medics. Similarly, Suffolk police were unable to provide how many EMT-certified police officers were vaccinated. The Suffolk Police Department has about 2,400 police officers.

Police in both counties said vaccination of police officers was voluntary.

Increasing PD cases

While police officers from both Nassau and Suffolk, Long Island’s largest divisions, have reported that they have exceeded or are approaching the highest levels since the outbreak of the pandemic, the first responders were vaccines. Waiting for

As of Thursday, Nassau police said 107 police officers were infected with COVID-19. An additional 73 police officers were also quarantined waiting for the results of the COVID-19 test. As of Tuesday, Suffolk police said 94 police officers were infected with COVID-19. In August, Nassau officials said 108 police officers tested positive.

According to a Suffolk police statement, “Current numbers are slightly higher than spring numbers. Part of this increase is to identify asymptomatic individuals who may unknowingly affect others. It reflects the county’s commitment to testing employees on a regular basis. “

In April, 84 Suffolk police officers were virus-positive, officials said.

Several small divisions of Long Island are also experiencing an increase in police officers infected with COVID-19.

Stephen Sclinecki, Southampton Town Police Chief, said Thursday that 10 out of 100 police officers in his department had been infected with the virus since the fall. Only two police officers were infected with COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic, he said.

“The resurrection is clearly affecting us more than the first surge,” Skrynecki said. “Our executives are exposed to potential COVID in everything they do because of their supportive care response. [call], To respond to car accidents. “

A spokesman for the state police has quarantined 36 soldiers from Troop L, headquartered in Farmingdale, who have been infected with COVID-19 since March and recently five have been tested positive. Said.

A spokesman for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that 18 prison officers and 4 deputy sheriffs were not infected with COVID-19. Since the pandemic, 55 prison officers and 21 deputy sheriffs have been infected with the virus, a spokesman said.

Officials on Friday said the average positive rate for COVID-19 on Long Island for seven days was 8.42%. State figures showed 1,556 new cases of coronavirus with a daily positive rate of 8% in Nassau and 1,874 new cases with a daily positive rate of 9.7% in Suffolk.

Waiting for vaccine

Vaccinations in New York began on December 14 for high-risk health care workers. Cuomo said on Twitter this week that about 203,000 New Yorkers received the first of the two doses.

NYPD police officers expected them to be vaccinated in the state. Officials said they expected police to begin vaccination with COVID-19 on Tuesday, but instead learned that they would have to wait until authorities began vaccination of city firefighters.

Long Island police are also waiting.

At a press conference in Hauppauge on Thursday, Suffolk County executive Steve Beron said he hopes the “vaccination pod” will go live next week and “law enforcement will be a top priority.” It was.

He said the county’s vaccination program is constantly evolving and has daily conversations with state and regional vaccination coordinators, Northwell Health.

“We don’t have an exact schedule, but we should be able to report it early next week,” Belone said.

Nassau County executive Laura Callan praised the deployment of local vaccinations on Thursday, but added that there was room for improvement.

“It’s going well on Long Island. I want to ramp up. I want to go faster. That’s my goal,” Karan said.

With Robert Brodski, Cecilia Daud, David Olson