Another front-line site to offer the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine opened Wednesday at the State Fairgrounds. Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul was present on day one at the Exposition Center. She says residents will remember it as the day when the tide turned against a deadly pandemic and Central New Yorkers fought back… one shot at a time.
“Because we now have weapons in our hands and those weapons are the vaccines, shots being put in the arms of residents of this community as we speak. We’re here at the Expo Center, centrally located to be able to draw people from this region, after making an appointment.”
As people enter for their vaccine appointments at the Expo Center, they might be asked some follow up questions and then placed in a distanced waiting area and then called to get their shots privately behind curtains.
“…And then you go to another holding area where you’ll wait for 15 minutes for medical observation to ensure that you don’t have a reaction to it… and after this you’ll be contacted by public health officials to let you know when to arrive for your second dose.”
Phase 1B started on Monday allowing those 75 and older who are immunocompromised to also get the vaccine, and a day later, the CDC lowered it to age 65 and above. So, now those 65 and older who are immunocompromised in NYS are now eligible to sign up. Hochul says that created even more demand, leaving potentially thousands more waiting to sign-up online.
“It’s not surprising that this was more than the system can handle. I know if you’re the person either trying to go on the website or make a phone call, it is really going to be really frustrating for a little while. Let’s just expect that, I think it’s going to be tough for a little while; just like it was for testing.”
Hocul says 250,000 people were tested across the state in the past week. In order to shorten the wait time, Hochul says the state needs about 40 million doses to vaccinate a population of 20 million in New York. The state is only receiving 300,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines weekly. To sign-up at the state site, click here or call 1-833-NYS- 4-VAX. For Onondaga County residents, you can sign up for the vaccination site at the OnCenter by clicking here to schedule an appointment if you qualify for the 1A or 1 B phase and to access the county's COVID-19 dashboard with latest data on the virus. You'll also find testing locations and more resources. Kinney Drugs is also offering the vaccine to those 65 and older.
