Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, January 22, 2021
Vol. 70, No. 4
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
RA TOUTS OWN ECONOMIC PLAN
SUOZZI, RICE VOTE TO IMPEACH
PAGES 19-22
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SENIORITY RULES
Cuomo and Curran seek more, get less Pfizer denies gov’s request to buy vaccines directly BY R OB E RT PELAEZ Despite encouraging trends for vaccination distribution on Long Island, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued to say that the process needs to be sped up. Cuomo sent a letter to Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, Albert Bourla, after the state received 50,000 fewer vaccine doses this week than last week. Cuomo asked Bourla if the state could purchase vaccines directly from Pfizer rather than obtaining them from the federal initiative Opera-
PHOTO COURTESY OF MINEOLA HIGH SCHOOL
Friday was Senior Day for Mineola High School’s class of 2021. Students were able to show their school spirit by posting on social media with #OneLa2tR1de
tion Warp Speed. “It is abundantly clear that these vaccines are the weapons that will finally win the war against COVID-19,” Cuomo said in the letter. “But with hospitalizations and deaths increasing across the country this winter, we are in a footrace with the virus, and we will lose unless we dramatically increase the number of doses getting to New Yorkers.” Pfizer, in a statement, said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would need to approve for the state to conduct a transaction directly with the company. According to state figures,
the Nassau County Department of Health was the best-performing distribution entity on Long Island as of Monday, administering 100 percent of first doses through the first four weeks of vaccinating. Despite encouraging figures, Curran said, there is an immediate need to up the scale of vaccine distribution throughout Nassau County. “We must increase the scale of federal vaccine shipments so we can pick up the pace,” Curran said. “Nassau has the infrastructure in place to administer the vaccine in greater numbers, and we’re investing in the outreach Continued on Page 27
N. Shore coronavirus cases near 15,000 BY R OB E RT PELAEZ Nearly 15,000 people on the North Shore have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began in mid-March, according to statistics provided by the Nassau County Department of Health on Wednesday.
After trailing the Great Neck peninsula, the only North Shore area to be deemed a “yellow zone” by the state, the area that incorporates the Willistons and Mineola had 3,260 cases as of Wednesday, the most of all analyzed areas. The Village of Mineola once again saw one of the highest increase of cases over the
one-week period with nearly 100 new cases. Mineola’s 1,404 cases and Garden City’s 1,240 cases accounted for 2,544 of the 3,260 cases in the area. The New Hyde Park area accounted for 3,070 of the North Shore’s cases, with North New Hyde Park having the third most confirmed Continued on Page 28
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