People in the Hudson Valley are going to great lengths to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
As eligibility expands for the COVID-19 vaccine, Hudson Valley residents are making the long trip out of the region to get their shots.
John Latino, a teacher at Spackenkill Schools in Poughkeepsie, says his first opportunity was in Binghamton. It was a three-hour drive for the second time to get his final dose.
The Westchester County Center is currently the only state-run vaccination site in the mid-Hudson region.
Two more are slated to open in the next few weeks - one at the Ulster County Fairgrounds in New Paltz and another at SUNY Orange in Middletown.
Dutchess County is also calling for the state to step in.
The county says it is vaccinating 8,000 to 10,000 residents every week between first and second doses.
To ramp that up Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro has been calling on the governor to open a joint vaccination site at the former JCPenney in the Poughkeepsie Galleria.
That site has been vaccinating about 1,000 people every week. If the state steps in, the county says they could vaccinate as many as five times that number.
He is currently anticipating a steep increase in doses.
"Over the next couple of weeks, you're going to see significant increases in doses from the federal government to the states from states to local distribution points…it is going to ramp up very, very quickly," says Molinaro.