If you’re trying to get a vaccine appointment, try the online portal — we had success, after several tries, very early this morning, getting an April appointment for our age 65+ co-publisher.
[UPDATE: By Sunday night all of the downstate locations were reporting no available appointments]
While the state also has a telephone hotline (1-833-NYS-4VAX), it was our experience that once you got a person on the line (and this took numerous tries with multiple dropped calls), they were hunting for appointments using the same online portal.
To get to it, you have to first prove eligibility through the “Am I Eligible” website. If your answers to questions — including date of birth — fit the current criteria, you’ll reach a screen that offers the option to schedule an appointment.
Numerous points of distribution (PODS) have been set up around the state, including here on Long Island at Stony Brook University and Jones Beach, and you’ll see them listed in order of distance from your home address. Many locations appeared to be fully booked but as of this morning, spaces remained at the Stony Brook POD.
At first we tried to book the next available time slot where just a single appointment remaining was indicated. But in three or four tries, these opportunities were taken by others before we could complete the additional information required to confirm the booking. After that, we scrolled further into the calendar for time slots that had multiple opportunities and got through.
The state has said that options for a second appointment (the vaccine is given in two doses) will be provided at the time you receive the first dose.
‘Immunocompromised’ under age 65 on-hold
As of this morning, New York State had yet to add criteria for those who are under age 65, but could qualify for a vaccine because they are immunocompromised. The CDC has said people who are immunocompromised should be eligible for the vaccine, but state health officials say no guidance was provided on which health conditions should be included.
In December, the CDC said people with the following conditions may be at increased risk for severe illness with COVID-19:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Down Syndrome
- Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
- Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
- Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2)
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Smoking
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Obviously, adding all of these categories this would greatly expand the eligibility pool and put additional strain on an already overwhelmed system. NYS health officials say they are working on determining the criteria to use and will update the “Am I Eligible” portal as soon as possible.
Local, state and federal officials weigh in
While Shelter Island has had great success with immunization programs through the Senior Services office, Supervisor Gerry Siller says it is important that the capacity of the local program not be put under undue pressure.
Anyone who is eligible for a COVID vaccine and is able to make and attend an appointment elsewhere, should do so, he said. Should the vaccine become available through the Town, Siller said it was important to reserve those shots for people least able to leave the Island.
The senior immunization program will next be providing shots for flu, pneumonia, tetanus and shingles at a drive-thru event on January 27 to people who have registered in advance. If you want to have your name added to the list for future non-COVID immunizations, send an email to sara.mundy@shelterislandtown.us.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo provided an update on Friday explaining that although over 7 million New Yorkers are now eligible for the COVID vaccine, the state only receives 300,000 doses per week from the federal government. To date, New York’s health care distribution sites have administered 75 percent of doses received from the federal government, he said.
“New York is working around the clock to get needles in arms quickly and efficiently, but we are being constrained by the federal government — they increased eligibility, but never increased supply,” Governor Cuomo said.
President-elect Joseph R. Biden said Friday that he would seek to immediately expand eligibility to get more people vaccinated, create more vaccination sites and take measures to increase the supply and distribution of the vaccines. He also said he’d worked to win over vaccine skeptics.
