Cuomo holding NY hospitals to ransom if they don't meet their vaccination targets. Incredible extortion going on here.

—

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/cuomo-flip-flops-threatens-fine-hospitals-not-meeting-covid-vaccination-targets

New York Gov Andrew Cuomo, once lionized by CNN & MSNBC as a liberal "hero" of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his every word and press conference broadcast for a national audience, is discovering that the country is starting to tire of his 'tough on COVID-19' act. We suspect his decision to send infected patients back to nursing homes, which is believed to have contributed to thousands of avoidable deaths, might have something to do with that.

But even if it wasn't for this depressing reality, Cuomo's latest attempt to wrest back the national spotlight by positioning himself as a "leader" in the vaccine rollout is already going awry. Over the weekend, the NY governor announced that he would be signing an executive order threatening to fine hospitals up to $1MM for doling out vaccine doses to patients who don't fall under the state's 'priority' criteria (a group that includes nursing home residents and drug addicts housed in state-run rehab facilities). He insisted that the measure was intended to combat economic inequality, and ensure that the wealthy and privileged didn't manage to finagle early access to the vaccine.

Instead, critics lambasted the governor for creating more roadblocks and oversight at a time when NY, like pretty much every other state in the US (with the exception of a few standouts like, uh, West Virginia), was already way behind in meeting its vaccine targets.

So on Monday, the governor revealed during a midday press conference that, in an effort to speed the process along, he would also fine hospitals for failing to meet their vaccination targets. Going forward, the governor declared, hospitals must use all of their doses within seven days of receiving them (presumably to avoid any being thrown out). He also blamed the slowness in vaccinating all the state's nursing home residents on the federal government, and claimed the state would be stepping in.