With over
121,000 Westchester residents having been vaccinated, there is probably a good
chance that you know someone who has gotten a shot.
Knowing
that other people are getting the vaccine makes it very frustrating for some
people who have been unable to secure an appointment. "The government site
just keeps saying, 'None available,'" complains Mary-Ellen Smith, of Port
Chester
Mary-Ellen
Smith and her husband are both over 65. Both are eligible but both have been
unsuccessful getting an appointment for weeks. "I just said to my husband
the other day, I should get paid for the amount of time I sit here and have to
do this," says Smith.
What makes
it worse for Smith is that her backyard backs up to Greenwich,
Connecticut, and many of her friends there are already vaccinated. "All
within a couple days. And we're sitting here weeks on end and we can't even get
an appointment."
AARP New
York says nearly 44% of members successfully signed up for a COVID-19 shot -
which is progress from less than 10% last month but still means that less than half its members could
get an appointment. The organization says some appointments are too far
for people to travel to.
Westchester
County Executive George Latimer says some seniors have trouble using computers
to make an appointment. "If there aren't guaranteed vaccines, then
appointments cannot be set up," says Latimer.
Also, some
appointments are being cancelled at a major New York health system. News 12
obtained an email from Mount Sinai, sent out just a few days ago, saying
they received no new supplies of first-dose vaccines this week so they have had
to cancel all patient first-dose appointments, except at Mount Sinai South
Nassau. The hospital network says "the expansion of city and state
vaccination sites has put pressure on continued supplies to hospitals."