Health care workers were the highest priority group in the initial rollout of the vaccine, but as News 12 has reported, the number of health care workers on Long Island who've gotten theirs is among the lowest in the state.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he wants 70-90% of hospital staff vaccinated. Currently, 67% of hospital workers statewide have been vaccinated.

He said on Friday that only 61% of hospital workers have been vaccinated on Long Island and that it should be a lot higher than that.

Officials at Northwell Health agree it's lower than expected, saying it has vaccinated 40,000 of its employees so far and that it doing everything possible to educate and talk to staff about getting the vaccine.

They say they expect there will be an uptick in the amount of staff getting vaccinated going forward, saying they are actively speaking, advising and using patience and empathy when discussing the vaccine to employees.

Michael Chacon, with the NYS Nurses Association for the Long Island region, says some of his nurses are not taking the vaccine because of fears of allergic reactions. He says for the most part, nurses want to take it, but it's not available for them to receive it.

Northwell Health says it has vaccinated 40,000 employees so far.