ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York plans to prioritize nursing home residents and staff members when it begins distributing the first doses of coronavirus vaccine, hopefully this month.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that the state expects to receive 170,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine by Dec. 15. That's if the pharmaceutical company gets the federal government’s OK to make it available to the public on an emergency basis.

"As we continue to move through the holiday season, the good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but unfortunately it is still a ways away and we are now faced with a set of challenges to overcome before we get there. Not only is the number of COVID-19 cases rising virtually everywhere, but they are stemming from a new source, with nearly 70 percent of cases being traced back to households and private gatherings," Cuomo said.

After nursing home staff and patients, doses could then go to New York’s next priority. Those are congregate care facilities and then some of the roughly 600,000 health care workers who treat patients in emergency rooms and intensive care units.