Send More Coronavirus Vaccines: County Executives
With New York's massive vaccination operation off to a bumpy start, Rockland County Executive Ed Day said this week that state officials should change the way they dole out the doses.
Right now New York receives 300,000 doses a week from the federal government, a share based on the state's adult population, and parcels those out to the 10 regions in the state based on population; in those regions some is allotted to hospitals, some to nursing homes, some to county health departments and some to designated vaccine providers.
Frustrated after his county's health department asked the state for 2,000 doses and got 200, Day proposed a big change.
"We are one of the 62 counties in New York State and the basic math of it makes it clear that based on the Governor's own observation each county should get just under 5000 doses per week ... 4839 to be exact (300,000 by 62 = 4839)," Day said.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer told Patch he disagreed on behalf of his residents.
"Westchester County has about a million people, we're about three times the size of Rockland," he said. "So we think we need the number of doses proportional to our population base."
Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell told Patch her health department would be happy to get 4,800 doses a week.
Westchester's population is about 967,00, Rockland's about 326,000 and Putnam's about 98,000.
"We're supportive of any asks of this kind, particularly from our neighbors," Odell said. "We have built a network of vaccinations ... We are well equipped to do the dispensing. The problem is the demand is high and the supply is low."
The biggest problem is at the federal level. The Department of Health and Human Services has been slower than promised with both vaccine supply and federal funding for mass vaccination programs in the 50 states.
On top of that, its rapid changes to its program this week left states scrambling. The Department of Health and Human Services called for widening eligibility first to those 75 and older on Monday and then on Tuesday to those 65 and older.
Federal officials also made big changes in how they're allocating doses to states, NPR reported. In two weeks the feds will share vaccines based on two new metrics: the number of a state's residents 65 and over, and how fast states are getting people vaccinated.
"This is not making things easier to get vaccine into arms," Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, told NPR. "This is unquestionably making things harder, and will cause considerable confusion among the public."
The vaccination program has also been a victim of tension in Washington DC. The Biden transition team has repeatedly cited lack of cooperation and transparency from the outgoing Trump administration.
There is no current information for the public from the federal Department of Health and Human Services about vaccine manufacture or distribution. HHS hasn't updated its vaccine website since Dec. 21.
"We will aggressively act to get New Yorkers vaccinated quickly and efficiently, but lack of supply from the federal government is an enormous issue," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday morning. "Until the federal government provides us with more supply of vaccines, I again ask that New Yorkers be patient. As of 3 p.m. Wednesday New York had administered 732,066 vaccine doses. Of those, 624,280 doses were administered in distribution sites including hospitals and 107,786 were administered in Long Term Care facilities. This represents an increase of 67,000 in the last 24 hours."
New York is not the only state where vaccine supplies are low and people are frustrated. SEE: Mad Dash For Vaccine Leaves Pinellas Seniors Irate, Irked
This article originally appeared on the Nanuet Patch
