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A working group of outside experts, convened by Mr Cuomo to guide the immunization plan, rarely met and was rarely offered the opportunity to provide advice.
For help planning the vaccination campaign, the governor turned to consultants from Deloitte and the Boston Consulting Group. The internal lobbyist for New York’s largest hospital system, Northwell Health, was directly involved in the rollout.
For about a month, starting in mid-October, Northwell lobbyist Dennis Whalen worked in a state department of health office and helped shape the state’s approach. Mr Whalen had previously worked as the No. 2 official in the ministry.
“If you are asked to help, you help,” said Michael Dowling, president of Northwell and longtime ally of Mr. Cuomo. “There is nothing bad about it.”
It is Northwell Hospital nurse Sandra Lindsay who received the country’s first dose of Covid-19 vaccine in mid-December, an iconic moment of the pandemic and a public relations victory for the system. private hospital.
The governor and his aides said the vaccine rollout was hampered by the federal government, which they blamed for a lack of vaccine. They also said the poor performance of local authorities and public hospitals, especially in New York City, slowed distribution. Lately, Mr Cuomo has regularly used his almost daily press briefings to call hospitals by name that he says are not getting vaccinated quickly enough.
After opening up eligibility to many more people, New York is now quickly using up its weekly vaccine shipments, not including doses sent to the state through a federal retirement home program, according to data from the state.
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