Vaccination Site To Open At Jones Beach
WANTAGH, NY — Jones Beach State Park will be one of five vaccination sites to open this week though New York officials expect up to a 14-week delay or more for appointments due to the vaccine’s availability.
The roughly 2,400-acre park, which also has a testing area, opens Thursday at 8 a.m. Other sites slated to open include the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan, the Westchester County Center, the New York State Fair Expo Center in Syracuse and the State University of New York at Albany. The state plans to add an additional 15 sites, which will be announced in the coming days.
The state’s “vast distribution network and large population of eligible individuals far exceeds the vaccine supply coming from the federal government,” which is arriving at a rate of about 300,000 doses per week, so those eligible should be prepared to receive an appointment date as far as 14 weeks or further in the future, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said in a news release.
The network of distribution sites will enhance the work being done in hospitals to prevent any one hospital from becoming “overburdened” and will also utilize doctors' offices, federally-qualified health centers, county health departments and ambulatory center, according to a news release issued from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. Over 1,200 pharmacies have committed to participating in the network, with nearly 400 scheduled to go online this week, Cuomo’s office said. Under the plan, Cuomo’s office explained, the facilities will be provided vaccines for those aged 65 and older, while hospitals will still continue vaccinating healthcare workers, and local health departments and union-organized efforts will serve essential workers like first responders, police, and teachers in the 1b category of eligibility.
Cuomo said the state is rapidly expanding its networks and capabilities to get as many New Yorkers vaccinated as fast as the vaccine supply allows and the five new vaccine sites will expedite the vaccine distribution to get the “most vulnerable New Yorkers vaccinated efficiently.” “Our greatest hindrance continues to be federal inaction,” Cuomo said. “We have come too far to be held back in our efforts by the inadequate vaccine supply from the federal government. I encourage New Yorkers to be patient throughout this process and I urge our federal government to increase the supply to states."
For more information or to determine eligibility and schedule appointments with administrating providers, click here.
This article originally appeared on the Wantagh-Seaford Patch
