New York’s obsolete COVID vaccine passport app still costing taxpayers $200K per month

ALBANY – The pandemic may be officially over but New York is still paying an eye-raising fee of $200,000 per month to maintain a state vaccine passport that nobody uses.

The Excelsior App was supposed to cost New York a mere $2.5 million when it debuted in the spring of 2021 as a way for New Yorkers to show their COVID-19 vaccinations as the state lifted pandemic restrictions on restaurants and live event venues.

But costs since then have ballooned to $64 million, the Albany Times Union reported Sunday.