The slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Cattaraugus County could delay vaccination of the general public by months.
Dr. Kevin Watkins, the county’s public health director, said that vaccinations for the general public, which he hoped could start in March or April could be delayed until June or July.
Reasons for the delay include the smaller than expected supply reaching the county and that hospitals and pharmacies have been selected to administer the vaccine, which do not have experience of vaccinating on such a large scale, Watkins said. There are more than 75,500 residents in the county.
“The supplies were slow to get here,” Watkins said. “A lot of supplies are just sitting in freezers. Hospitals that were put in charge haven’t had that role before.”
Watkins did not have a total number of the first doses of coronavirus vaccine administered as of Monday, but said the program “continues to go slower than expected.”
Olean General Hospital, which administered the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine for its high-risk health care staff on Dec. 22, will begin a second round of the vaccinations next week. All those individuals in the 1A group need to be vaccinated before going on to the 1B group.
University Primary Care is also administering the COVID-19 vaccine in this area, but has been limited in its program due to a staff shortage due to a need to isolate after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, Watkins said.
The county health department will receive 300 doses of the vaccine to help administer vaccines to people and professions in the 1A group that includes healthcare personnel, first responders in medical roles including EMTs, coroners and funeral workers, ambulatory care providers and long-term care facility residents.
Watkins said the health department will assist in the vaccinations by setting up an additional vaccination site away from the hospital.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that the state will step in and assist counties in vaccinating residents if the COVID-19 vaccination program stalls, including pop-up drive-through sites.
There are an estimated 2.1 million high-risk health care workers and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to the governor.
About 300,000 doses of vaccine have been used so far in the state, Cuomo said.
“It’s been three weeks and much of the vaccine hasn’t been administered yet,” the governor said.
Cuomo threatened fines if New York health care providers don’t use their COVID-19 vaccines fast enough.
Providers with vaccine on hand now have to use it this week or face a fine of up to $100,000. Going forward, they’ll have to use all vaccine allocations within seven days.
If they don’t, they could lose future allocations of vaccines, the governor said. The rules are contained in a new Health department regulation.
Next comes the 1B group of essential frontline workers and residents 75 and older. The next group, 1C includes other essential workers, those 16 and older with high-risk medical conditions and those age 65 and older.
Public health workers have been added to the first groups to be vaccinated. Dentists and ophthalmologists have also been added.
Reservations are made through a website set up by the state health department. Eligible individuals are contacted by the state and directed how to schedule a vaccination.
The health department has plans for five points of distribution (PODs) to administer the vaccine to the general public. Two PODs will be located in the southeast part of the county that has been hardest hit by the virus in terms of both cases and deaths. One will be located in each of the other corners of the county.
There have been more than 2,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county and 53 deaths from COVID-19 as of Monday.
Besides high-risk healthcare workers at the hospital and some EMTs, some residents and staff of the county’s nursing home and other long-term care facilities, including the Pines Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Olean, have received their first dose of the vaccine. The county nursing home in Machias is expected to vaccinate some residents and staff this week.
Nursing homes residents and staff are being vaccinated by pharmacists from CVS and Walgreens under contract with the federal government.
“The nursing homes are a slow process as well,” Watkins explained.
Statue Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said anecdotal evidence shows about 10% of nursing home residents and 15% of staff had refused initial vaccination for COVID-19.
“I was hoping we could get the general public starting in March or April,” Watkins explained. “It may be June or July if it continues at this pace. By including local county health departments, we will be able to get to the community sooner.”
