ST. GEORGE, Staten Island — The supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses is quickly running out, with the federal government unable to get shipments out due to winter storms across the country.
But a new Staten Island vaccination center just opened Friday for Staten Island residents only, giving some hope at the end of this winter week.
“Staten Island is often overlooked,” Annette Angiuli, a Tottenville resident, told PIX11 News. “But it doesn’t seem to be the case in this instance.”
Angiuli was thrilled to be getting the Pfizer vaccine on the first day of Staten Island’s newest vaccination center at Empire Outlets.
The opening was delayed by snow in New York City already earlier this week, but now they are facing an even bigger problem.
“What’s missing are supplies,” Mayor de Blasio said at a news conference. “We need the federal government to take that next step.”
New York was supposed to receive 100,000 doses this week but snow and ice across the country has stopped trucks from making their deliveries. Delayed Pfizer shipments should arrive by Monday, Moderna by the middle of next week. But Many New Yorkers who were able to get that first shot in the arm in the last month are now worrying if they’ll get that second dose on schedule.
But Dr. Len Horovitz, a Lenox Hill Hospital internist and pulmonologist said there is little cause for concern.
“As it happens, just today, Pfizer announced that even one dose of the vaccine is 85 % effective in preventing severe disease,” Dr. Len Horovitz told PIX11 News. “I’ve heard Fauci say, and I believe him, a delay of two weeks between first and second dose and up to eight weeks might be acceptable.”
Two more vaccination megasites are opening Saturday, 8 a.m. at york college in Queens and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.
On Staten Island, officials are pushing for more sites mid-island and on the south shore and more equity in the distribution.
“This vaccine saves lives,” Debbie Rose, a New York City councilmember, said at a news conference outside Empire Outlets. “I know supplies are scarce. But as supplies come in, they must be equitably distributed.”
To make an appointment, you can go to nyc.gov/vaccine finder or call 877-vax-4nyc.
