Coronavirus News

State lawmakers, along with restaurant owners and their workers, are pressing for a two-year extension of takeout alcoholic beverages. They said the practice -- authorized at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic -- has allowed the businesses to keep their doors open and avoid some layoffs.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in one of hundreds of executive orders issued in 2020, allowed alcoholic drinks to be ordered and delivered along with takeout food. 

New York paused administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, after the federal Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control recommended halting the doses because a few recipients developed blood clots.

Out of the 6.8 million Americans who have already received the J&J vaccine, six women developed blood clots after receiving the doses. One died, and another was hospitalized in critical condition.

After the FDA and CDC announced the temporary halt Tuesday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York state is also pausing the doses. Monroe County is doing the same.

Criminal justice advocates in New York state say they hope to build on recent victories, such as the legalization of adult recreational use of marijuana, to gain more reforms for members of Black and brown communities who are incarcerated at a higher rate than white New Yorkers. 

Advocates and progressive-leaning Democratic lawmakers hope that in the legislative session’s remaining weeks, measures that reform the state’s parole system will be passed.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that New York state will distribute 35,000 COVID-19 vaccines directly to state’s and New York City’s public colleges and universities — where some schools have already begun offering the vaccine — with the aim of vaccinating as many college students as possible before the end of the spring semester.

Cuomo said the state will ship vaccines directly to campuses.

Various media sources report that alcoholism has increased due to the pandemic. Local researchers leading a study on the issue have noticed that participants’ drinking habits have changed; the data shows they are drinking more and differently due to pandemic stressors.

We talk with the experts about the research and how to help people struggling with alcoholism. Our guests:

• Tim Wiegand, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center
• Kenneth Conner, Psy.D., M.P.H., professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center
  

What are the most significant public health errors of the pandemic? Our guests are doctors who have pushed back against public health groupthink, challenging colleagues to stop the refrain of "Stay home, save lives." They feel that public health has failed to protect the most vulnerable during this pandemic, and they have ideas for how to shift course.

Guests include:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo commented for the first time on Wednesday about allegations that he gave priority to COVID-19 tests for his family and friends, last spring when the tests were scarce.