The governor says at least 40,000 additional doses of a COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna are expected to come to New York if the FDA approves them during a hearing on Dec. 17.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York expects to receive 170,000 doses of Rockland-based Pfizer's vaccine in just under two weeks – if they're given the green light by the FDA to go public.

That approval could come during a hearing on Dec. 10. It could then be delivered on Dec. 15.

The state is planning to give nursing home staff and residents first dibs on the vaccine. Next on the list is congregate care facilities and health care workers in emergency room and ICU settings.

The 170,000 doses, however, will not go very far. New York has 85,000 nursing home residents, 130,000 staff members and roughly 600,000 hospital workers. Pfizer's vaccine requires two shots - so 170,000 doses will only help 85,000 people.

The governor says at least 40,000 additional doses of a COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna are expected to come to New York if the FDA approves them during a hearing on Dec. 17.

"By the end of December, the administration suggests that there will be enough to vaccinate 20 million people with two dosages, which is 40 million dosages. That means 6% of Americans," he says. "Gives you an idea of where we're going to be coming into January. You see how far we have to go."

It's not yet clear how many doses each county in the state will receive or where they will be stored.

Gov. Cuomo says to get back to some sort of normalcy, 75-85% percent of the population must be vaccinated. Citing experts, the governor says that could happen as soon as June, but could take until September 2021.

During his briefing in Albany, Gov. Cuomo also announced that his briefing schedule would be Monday, Wednesday and Friday through the vaccination process in the state. He also brought back Linda Lacewell and Larry Schwartz, former top aides, to help lead the team that will be in charge of distribution.

Local doctors are telling us that this is a light at the end of the tunnel, but that the battle is far from over. "This is definitely reason for hope but temper that hope with the fact that it's going to be a long while before we're all vaccinated," says Dr. Steven Meixler, Medical Director at WestMed Medical Group. So in the meantime, they're asking people to continue wearing masks and social distancing.

Business owners in Westchester tell News 12 they see it as a step toward normalcy.  "We've been waiting a really long time and I think that it is going to bring a lot of hope for us. Especially for the front-line workers, that they work so hard," says Marina Cardoza, of Araras Coffee & More