How many New Yorkers are getting new COVID vaccine? We may not know for a bit. Here's why

The first state reporting on the number of New Yorkers getting updated COVID-19 vaccines is expected to come next week, as questions mount about early confusion over insurance coverage and supply chain delays.

Authorities tracking the shots plan to provide an initial estimate on the number of people getting the new vaccines by Oct. 2, but that tally will be incomplete due to changes in how doses get reported to government, state officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipates releasing its first national report on the uptake of shots by mid-October, the agency said.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen New Yorkers shared stories of struggling to find COVID-19 vaccines at some pharmacies, in response to USA TODAY Network reporting last week on the tough transition from prior government-run COVID vaccination campaigns to the current corporate rollout of shots.

President Joe Biden and Gov. Kathy Hochul got their updated vaccines last week, one reader noted in an email, adding: “Why don't elected officials know what's happening while they do photo-ops?”

Drug makers have asserted they are shipping out enough supply to meet demand nationally, despite the reports of some pharmacies without doses. Insurers in New York have also noted that coverage hiccups have been addressed, adding insured consumers should not be asked to pay out-of-pocket for shots. And a federal program covers the cost for uninsured.

Why tracking COVID vaccination effort is tough now

The challenge in gauging the early successes, or missteps, of the new vaccines’ rollout is due, in part, to changes in the way shots get reported to government entities.

Previously, pandemic emergency measures required providers to report each shot administered to state and federal officials, resulting in nearly real-time tracking of the vaccination effort through public health data posted online.

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But those emergency measures expired this past spring. Now, adult patients must consent to that reporting, which could limit understanding of the exact number of doses administered.

Still, state and federal agencies have historically tracked vaccination coverage for various diseases, such as flu, through a mix of reporting from providers administering shots as well as the National Immunization Survey.

For example, an estimated 47% of adults nationally got the flu shot last season, which was up slightly from 45% the prior season, CDC reported.

What New Yorkers say about new COVID vaccine supply issues

“THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!”

That is how one USA TODAY Network reader described having a COVID-19 vaccination appointment canceled last week.

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Other responses to the USA TODAY Network request for firsthand accounts of COVID vaccination experiences included a reader struggling to book appointments for parents in their nineties at heightened risk of serious illness due to age.

Some responses detailed learning about canceled appointments via phone calls and texts from pharmacies. Other people described getting to a pharmacy for an appointment, only to be told doses ran out.

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One response told of a pharmacist that recommended calling daily to see if doses arrived, noting that approach is “not exactly convenient!”

Health officials are hoping those early frustrations don't deter people from getting vaccinated, which would join past struggles with coaxing Americans to get prior doses of COVID-19 vaccines. For example, just 15% of New Yorkers got the bivalent booster dose recommended previously.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: COVID in NY: How many New Yorkers are getting new COVID vaccine?