‘Unconscionable’ says Senator Helming of Calls Made to County Officials by Cuomo Adviser and Vaccine Czar Larry Schwartz

In response to Sunday’s article in The Washington Post, “New York’s Vaccine Czar Called County Officials to Gauge Their Loyalty to Cuomo Amid Sexual Harassment Investigation,” Senator Helming issued the following statement.

“This is unconscionable behavior and yet another public betrayal by this Governor and his administration. They have politicized vaccine distribution, putting the public health at risk. While deeply disturbing, unfortunately this news is not surprising. It is just one more example of this administration’s grossly inappropriate behavior and bullying tactics,” said Senator Helming.

Larry Schwartz has coordinated New York’s vaccine distribution at Governor Cuomo’s direction. As also reported in a recent NPR article, “Local officials in New York who spoke to NPR viewed the calls from Cuomo administration ‘vaccine czar’ Larry Schwartz as an implicit threat — voice displeasure with the governor and the vaccine valve for their county would be turned off.”

Senator Helming added, “And where is the Health Commissioner on all this? His job is to protect the public’s health. My calls, and those of my colleagues, expressing concern about the lack of vaccine access in our rural districts continue to go unanswered. Is Dr. Zucker even involved in vaccine distribution, or has he ceded control to Larry Schwartz? I will say it again, Dr. Zucker should resign. He failed to protect our nursing home residents and deceived the public, he botched the vaccine rollout, and now the integrity of the state’s vaccine distribution program has been called into question.”

“Every citizen of this state who wants the vaccine should be able to get the vaccine as quickly as possible. Every citizen. Not just those whose elected officials support the Governor,” concluded Senator Helming.