A one-time gubernatorial candidate is getting vexed in the city and says New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s to blame. Cynthia Nixon, a liberal activist and former star of Sex and the City, rebuked her primary opponent on Monday for the sluggish distribution of the coronavirus vaccine throughout New York state.
“Typical Cuomo: blaming others for his slow vaccine roll out,” she wrote. Her tweet linked to a New York Daily News article in which Cuomo faulted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for the delay.
Typical Cuomo: blaming others for his slow vaccine roll out https://t.co/SwdBV5iRJC
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) January 5, 2021
The actress also retweeted two tweets that were critical of Cuomo’s vaccine distribution plan.
“What if — and hear me out — Cuomo is actually really bad at this?” the first read.
What if — and hear me out — Cuomo is actually really bad at this? https://t.co/ZrCGJQSbk8
— Rebecca Katz (@RebeccaKKatz) January 4, 2021
Alex Kotch, an investigative journalist at the Center for Media and Democracy, shared an article from the Times Union indicating Cuomo shelved the original vaccine rollout plan in favor of an alternate path.
“Cuomo scrapped the statewide plan to administer the vaccine at local health departments, only allowing distribution at hospitals, and now he’s yelling at the hospitals for being slow,” Kotch wrote in Nixon’s second retweet.
Cuomo scrapped the statewide plan to administer the vaccine at local health departments, only allowing distribution at hospitals, and now he’s yelling at the hospitals for being slow. https://t.co/VzFjgpc7bT
— Alex Kotch (@alexkotch) January 5, 2021
The former primary challenger’s criticism comes as Cuomo faces widespread backlash for his handling of the vaccine distribution process. Reports indicate that New York has not yet administered about two-thirds of its coronavirus vaccine doses.
The delay has prompted outcry from many in New York, including the Washington Examiner‘s Kaylee McGhee White.
“Cuomo is needlessly dragging out the vaccination process,” she wrote. “Hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses are beginning to expire. Cuomo doesn’t seem to care.”
The slow vaccine rollout is doing little to temper the growing rate of coronavirus in the state. According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker, the Empire State has suffered the third-most cases in the country, with more than one million New Yorkers having been diagnosed with the disease. In response to the growing number of cases, Cuomo recently announced new restrictions, shutting down indoor dining in New York City in December and predicting the possibility of a second statewide lockdown in 2021.
