Vaccine Rollout Slowness Was Expected: Putnam Health Commissioner
In Putnam County, there are now three options for coronavirus vaccination: the county Department of Health, which is running clinics for eligible essential workers; Putnam Hospital Center, which is authorized to vaccinate healthcare professionals; and Drug World in Cold Spring, which is authorized for senior citizen vaccinations.
"It should be easier and faster to get COVID-19 vaccine, but the hard truth is that a lot of our most vulnerable residents are having to wait too long to be vaccinated," Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell said in a news release.
Currently, anyone age 65 and older is eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine, but the doses aren't available. The federal government doles out fewer than 300,000 doses a week to New York state.
“We recognize there is concern about the wait for vaccines,” said Dr. Michael Nesheiwat, Commissioner of Health. “One thing that is important to realize is this was not completely unexpected. We need to look at vaccine implementation as the long-term project it is—more of a long-distance race and not an all-out sprint. It is an enormous undertaking and not physically possible to roll out large numbers of vaccines in an instant.”
State health officials parcel out the 250,000 or so vaccine dosages received each week among 10 regions based on population size. While the Hudson region is one of the largest, Putnam County is one of the smallest among the seven counties in the region.
“More than 30,700 Putnam residents are eligible under state rules to receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” Odell said. “But this week, the state has allocated just 200 vaccines to our health department to inoculate essential workers and 200 vaccines to a pharmacy to administer to senior citizens. If you can’t get an appointment for a vaccine, that’s why. We are working with the state to try and get more vaccine.”
Here's how it breaks down: Putnam has almost 18,000 residents aged 65 or older. An estimated 2,600 residents work in law enforcement, firefighting or other protective service occupations. Another 6,200 or so residents work in education and libraries, which the Census lumps together. Then there are 3,900 healthcare practitioners, technologists and technicians, she said.
While nursing home residents and staff are also eligible, they're being vaccinated through a federal program and those doses are being allocated separately.
"We are waiting for data from the state to tell us how many doses of vaccine have been dispensed countywide since the start of the program and how many vaccinations have been administered," Odell said.
County health departments have been tasked by the state with vaccinating essential workers. Putnam health officials do not schedule appointments online. Instead, they try to distribute appointments equally among organizations. The department has run three vaccine PODs (points of dispensing), two in Carmel and one in Philipstown, and has vaccinated nearly 1,000 people in the five weeks since the vaccines were made available.
“We are just trying to be fair and work within the guidelines the state has given us,” said Kathy Percacciolo, PCDOH Supervising Public Health Nurse. “We are very experienced at organizing and operating mass vaccination PODs, and we hope the state will allow us to vaccinate more of our residents when supplies increase.”
Pharmacies are the networks for vaccinating people 65 and older. Drug World, a pharmacy at 55 Chestnut Street in Cold Spring, is the only one in Putnam currently in that network. The pharmacy vaccinated 140 seniors last week at St. Mary’s in-the-Highlands church, also on Chestnut Street in Cold Spring, and is expected to hold vaccination clinics regularly as supply allows. To check for an appointment, click here.
The same shortage of supply is at work for those trying to get an appointment at one of the big regional vaccine centers run by the state, like the Westchester County Center in White Plains. Appointments at those sites are booked through the end of April, the websites say. To check their availability, click here.
Despite the frustration at the current scarcity of vaccine supply, the good news is that more vaccines are expected to be approved in the near future. There will soon be enough vaccine for everyone that wants to get vaccinated, Odell said.
Meanwhile, it is worth checking the health department’s website regularly in case it is given the flexibility to vaccinate a broader scope of residents in the future.
"And, the public health practices we’ve been following continue to work: wearing masks, social distancing and frequent hand washing," she said.
This article originally appeared on the Southeast-Brewster Patch
