New York will expand COVID vaccine eligibility to all adults over 16 starting April 6

New York State will expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults 16 years and older starting April 6, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday. Eligibility will expand to adults 30 and older on March 30.

This puts New York nearly a month ahead of President Biden's May 1 deadline for every state, tribe and territory to make the vaccine available to all adults. But by April 6, New York will be behind other states that have already started universal adult eligibility or are scheduled to begin this week.  The announcement comes as New York and New Jersey are seeing the nation's fastest rises in coronavirus cases. According to data Johns Hopkins University, New York reported 67,963 new cases in the past week — a 64% jump from the week before.  Health officials have warned that a COVID variant in New York could fuel new outbreaks.