New Yorkers with Some Pre-Existing Conditions Eligible for Vaccination Feb. 15

New York State has issued a list of pre-existing conditions that will enable previously ineligible people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the state beginning Feb. 15.

The full list of comorbidities and underlying conditions established Feb. 5 is below, but state officials warn the list is subject to change as additional scientific evidence is published and “as the state obtains and analyzes additional state-specific data.”

Adults of any age with the following conditions due to increased risk of moderate or severe illness or death from the virus that causes Covid-19:

• Cancer (current or in remission, including 9/11-related cancers)
• Chronic kidney disease
• Pulmonary Disease, including but not limited to, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate-to-severe), pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and 9/11 related pulmonary diseases
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities including Down Syndrome
• Heart conditions, including but not limited to heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies, or hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) including but not limited to solid organ transplant or from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, use of other immune weakening medicines, or other causes
• Severe Obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2), Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
• Pregnancy
• Sickle cell disease or Thalassemia
• Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus 
• Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
• Neurologic conditions including but not limited to Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia
• Liver disease

“New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions exist throughout the state’s population—they’re our teachers, lawyers and carpenters, in addition to the doctors who keep us safe every day, and they are a highly affected population,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Feb. 5. “We’re committed to vaccinating vulnerable populations that have suffered the most as we distribute a strictly limited supply of vaccines, and people with comorbidities are 94 percent of the state’s Covid deaths.”

Mr. Cuomo said that hospitals, which had previously been focusing on vaccinating health care workers, would be tasked with vaccinating people with pre-existing conditions.

Vaccine supplies are still very limited, with New York receiving just 300,000 doses from the federal government each week, up from about 250,000 doses per week in mid-January.

Mr. Cuomo had estimated in mid-January that about 5 million New Yorkers have pre-existing conditions, in addition to more than 7 million New Yorkers who were already eligible to receive the vaccine.