OVID-19 Vaccine Update from County Executive Marc Molinaro

COVID-19 Vaccine Update

from County Executive Marc Molinaro

Dutchess Responds Vaccinate New York joint logo

January 12, 2021

State Expands Eligibility – Vaccine Supply Remains Very Limited

Earlier today, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced New York State residents age 65 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination through the State’s phased immunization process.   The complete list of who is currently eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination can be reviewed at New York State Phase 1a and 1b eligibility.

Residents who are eligible for the vaccine are asked to remain patient, as the supply of vaccine doses counties have received from the state, including Dutchess County, remains extremely limited. Prior to today’s announcement expanding eligibility, the governor said it would take an estimated 14 weeks to immunize all eligible residents in the state’s Phase 1a and 1b priority groups.

The demand for vaccine in Dutchess County far exceeds the current supply, which has already been exhausted for appointments at the County’s Points of Dispensing (PODs) scheduled for this week. Dutchess County will alert residents when more vaccine and additional appointments at its PODs are available. Please do not call the Department of Behavioral & Community Health to schedule an appointment – the call center has been overwhelmed with thousands of calls and we do not want you to be further frustrated to simply learn there are no current appointments available. We cannot schedule future appointments until we receive confirmation from New York State about when we will receive vaccine allocations.

New York State has opened a vaccination hotline (1-833-697-4829), which is available to residents from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days per week to schedule appointments for eligible residents.

We encourage you to check www.dutchessny.gov/covidvaccine for updates on available appointments at the County-operated PODs, when more vaccine is made available to Dutchess County. There you can also access the State’s  Am I Eligible? online tool, which will list local providers offering the vaccine, as it becomes available. Please note, many of the locations listed have not yet received vaccine from New York State, so please be patient.

You can also sign up to receive emails about Coronavirus Information & Vaccine Updates, including announcements of vaccine appointment sign-ups, by using the blue button on our Coronavirus website at dutchessny.gov/coronavirus.

Once again, there are no appointments currently available at the PODs established by Dutchess County Government due the limited number of doses made available to the County from New York State. We are advocating to receive more vaccine as quickly as possible from the State and will keep you posted as more vaccination appointment opportunities are available.

Author: Harlem Valley News