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Chris McKenna
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David Propper
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Nancy Cutler
| Rockland/Westchester Journal News
Lines form as appointments rescheduled due to snow
Lines form at Westchester County Center as appointments are rescheduled due to snow.
John Meore, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
If people in the Mid Hudson are itching to get a COVID-19 vaccine, rest assured that local pharmacists are itching to dispense the shots.
Dr. Neal Smoller, the pharmacist who owns and operates Village Apothecary in Woodstock, said his pharmacy got a small allotment of about 100 doses the first week the vaccines went out; about 200 the week after. They went through the allocation quickly.
“After that, I got 700, which was unbelievable,” he said. “We had these mass clinics and we were giving them out.”
“We took a big chunk of our doses and we went to Baptist churches and the NAACP, where people were having access issues, and making sure they got the doses,” Smoller said. He also took care of his own high-risk customers.
More than 17,000 vaccine doses were allocated across Hudson Valley hospitals, pharmacies and local health departments this week as the effort to inoculate residents against COVID-19 continued.
The state has an allocation system where eligible populations are served by different providers:
- Health care workers: Local hospitals.
- Essential workers, including police, fire, teachers, public safety personnel: Local departments of health.
- People age 65 and over: Retail sites, including pharmacies, and state-run mass vaccination sites including the Westchester County Center in White Plains.
Confusing rollout
The state’s confusing rollout has complicated the process, Smoller said, and he thinks the state moved to vaccinate the 65+ category too quickly, at the expense of the oldest people who still need vaccines. The appointment system, heavily online, creates disadvantages for people who don’t have internet access and can’t stay on the phone on hold waiting to book an appointment, and transportation issues create barriers for too many people, Smoller said.
“It the goal is to get to the most vulnerable population,” he said. “the way that it’s rolling out is not in support of that.”
Smoller said he thinks his is one of “very few” independent pharmacies that applied for vaccine allotments, and expects that he’ll likely get no more than 100-200 doses in upcoming rounds, now that the big chains are ready to accept the vaccines.
If he gets more, though, he said, “I’ll drive” to set up more clinics. “I’ll bring my volunteers, we’ll get them done quickly.”
Appointments a must
Those seeking a vaccine need to make an appointment beforehand and need to contact the provider directly to book it.
County leaders around the region had been calling for further information about vaccine availability in their jurisdictions. While counties are mandated to provide public health services through their health departments, hospital-based HUBS have had a large role in the state’s distribution process.
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County executives, including Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and Rockland County Executive Ed Day, had hoped the county could help manage pharmacies’ vaccine appointments.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said Thursday that the state told him that up to eight pharmacies in his county would be given vaccine doses, but provided no list indicating which pharmacies and how many doses or information about how people could sign up for shots. Members of his staff were set to visit individual pharmacies to try to ferret out that information, he said.
“There’s complete confusion over the pharmacies,” he said.
Al Squitieri, the pharmacist who owns the independent GoodNeighbRx Pharmacy in Slate Hill, said he’s currently waiting to get the vaccine through his wholesaler, and figuring out the logistics of dispensing the shots.
There’s the initial intake paperwork, checking for allergies and other contraindications. There’s keeping the person on-premises for observation for 15 minutes after the shot, or 30 minutes if they’ve ever had a serious allergic reaction. There’s setting up the second shot. And there’s the paperwork. Reports must be filed with the state within 24 hours for every vaccination, along with follow-up reports on any adverse incident, and to verify that all doses were used, Squitieri said.
Because the vaccine has been so scarce, people have signed up at anywhere from two to five places, hoping to get the shots, Squitieri said. “What’s going to happen when it comes in?”
He also worries that people will travel from two or three hours away for shots, skewing the distribution, to the detriment of locals.
“People just want to get it. They don’t care how,” he said.
On the bright side, the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which has lower overall efficacy but appears to protect well against severe illness and hospitalization, should be out soon, he said. Whatever vaccine comes in, Squitieri is ready to go.
“We want to get the stuff out,” he said.
Here are the following entities that are expected to receive vaccine shipments.
Orange
- Garnet Health Medical Center
- St. Anthony Community Hospital
- RRS RX
- Walgreens 10914 (82 North Plank Road, Newburgh)
- Walgreens 19693 (96 Dolson Ave., Middletown)
- Walgreens 18100 (1 Fitzgerald Dr., Town of Wallkill)
- Walgreens 17667 (188 Main St., Highland Falls)
- Walgreens 19578 (89 Brookside Ave., Chester)
- Walgreens 19500 (76 Pike St., Port Jervis)
- Walgreens 12631 (2084 Route 208, Montgomery)
- Walgreens 18225 (475 Route 17M, Monroe)
- Orange County Department of Health
Ulster
- HealthAlliance Hospital Broadway Campus
- Rite Aid 10700 (485 Broadway, Kingston)
- Walgreens 02077 (316 Broadway, Kingston)
- Walgreens 06650 (201 Plaza Road, Kingston)
- Walgreens 17489 (6 Simmons Plaza, Saugerties)
- Walgreens 19993 (50 Main St., Ellenville)
- Walgreens 17676 (3732 Route 9W, Highland)
- Ulster County Department of Health
Sullivan
- Riverside Remedies Rx Corp., (39 Lower Main St., Callicoon)
- Sullivan County Department of Health
Cuomo allows local governments to vaccinate restaurant workers
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo grants restaurant workers the ability to get the COVID-19 vaccine if local governments allow them; Feb. 2, 2021.
Courtesy: NYS Governor’s Office, New York State Team
Dutchess
- MidHudson Regional Hospital
- Northern Dutchess Hospital
- Vassar Brothers Medical Center
- McCarthy’s Pharmacy in Stanfordville
- Walgreens 07932
- Rite Aid 01617
- Walgreens 11961
- Walgreens 12633
- Walgreens 12158
- Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health
Westchester
- Northern Westchester Hospital
- St. Joseph’s Hospital
- Westchester Medical Center
- Save Mor Drugs
- LE-MAC Pharmacy
- Grassy Sprain Pharmacy
- Rite Aid 10545
- Walgreens 15313
- Walgreens 11509
- New Rochelle Prescription Center
- Walgreens 12760
- Walgreens 02122
- Walgreens 20583
- Walgreens 07485
- Walgreens 12871
- Walgreens 02758
- Walgreens 14204
- Walgreens 9972
- Walgreens 11291
- SHP Westchester LLC
- Westchester County Department of Health
- White Plains Hospital
Rockland
- Good Samaritan Hospital
- Monte Nyack
- New City Pharmacy
- Walgreens 13726
- Bardonia Pharmacy
- Walgreens 13611
- Genoa Healthcare, LLC 20186
- Walgreens 13468
- Walgreens 16064
- Walgreens 04029
- Rockland County Department of Health
Putnam
- ACME Pharmacy #1063
- ShopRite Pharmacy #235
- Rite Aid 01451
- Putnam County Department of Health
