The vaccine is here, but there’s a big wait

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The public distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in New York state has begun, but the supply in Nassau County has not kept up with the high demand, according to officials.

More than 55,000 doses of vaccines had been administered in Nassau as of Jan. 14, according to Executive Laura Curran, but as more people are vaccinated, the supply dwindles. Officials have relied on the steady influx of doses from the federal government, which sends roughly 250,000 vaccine doses a week to the state.

Under state guidance, all doses must be administered to eligible residents within the week that they are received.

In New York, a select group is currently eligible to receive the vaccine: those 65 and over, doctors, nurses and health care workers, first responders, teachers, and public transit, grocery store or public safety workers.

All appointments should be made through the state-run website, www.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov. There, residents can check if they are eligible, and appointments for both doses of the vaccine can be made.

In Nassau, a state-run vaccination site has opened at Jones Beach, while Northwell Health has established sites at the Nassau University Medical Center and Belmont Park. Sites run by the county’s Department of Health have also been established at Nassau Community College and the Yes We Can Community Center in Westbury.

Information from the county can be found at www.nassaucountyny.gov/vaccine.

Appointments for nearly all the available sites are booked. “We do not have enough vaccine supply to meet the demand,” Curran said in an interview. “Anyone over 65 is eligible, health care workers, teachers, first responders, law enforcement, grocery store workers, transit workers — all of those people are eligible, and that’s a lot of folks.”

“We are begging for more,” Curran added. “I’m hoping the supply chain right up to our federal government gets fixed, and we can get what we need down here.”

Officials have been working on such a tight schedule that vaccines are often administered the day they arrive. When vaccination sites opened last Tuesday, for example, the doses administered that day had only arrived earlier that morning.

“That’s how tightly we’re moving it out as quickly as we can,” Health Commissioner Lawrence Eisenstein said at a news conference.

“It’s a rolling process, so daily we are making our decisions and determinations,” Eisenstein noted. “When we have vaccines, we schedule out as far as we can.”

Those receiving the vaccines must make sure their second dose is of the same vaccine they were given for the first dose. The county DOH will reach out to residents who should be getting their second dose at a county-run site.

Through the state-run website, the second appointment should be made for the same site automatically. The website has run into problems, however, as the high traffic has caused the page to be inundated and sometimes crash.

Ralph Esposito, director of the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency, expressed concern for home-bound veterans and elderly residents who may not have the technical know-how to navigate a website. “My main concern are the veterans,” he said. “We have to start with the weakest first.”

Outreach programs for seniors are in the works, according to Curran. Officials are working to establish more sites at senior centers or houses of worship, and transport services are available through the VA. The Nassau County Office for the Aging will also assist seniors.

“We are ready to vaccinate the rest of the community as long as the supply chain is there,” said Dr. Anthony Boutin, president and CEO of NuHealth.