How I Got My COVID Vaccination

How I Got My COVID Vaccination: With New York’s supply of vaccine doses increasing from 250,000 to 300,000 New York State vaccination sites re-opened briefly last week and began scheduling new appointments for April. On Friday night I got a hot tip on my Facebook notifications from someone who I friended in 2015. I have no idea who this person is but apparently we’re friends. And I’m glad we are. As we had recently published an article on the how to’s of getting vaccine appointments, I immediately clicked on the link to New York State mass vaccination sites appointment scheduler we provided. But the entire site was down. I figured I had already missed it so I went to bed.

I woke up at four in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. (See 11 Sleep Tips for The COVID Age). What to do? I could re-dose on Melatonin. Listen to another audio-book chapter of David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty Some Day to see if that will put me to sleep. (No offense David, but it was four in the morning.) Or capitulate to a new day, go downstairs, override the auto settings on our Cuisinart coffee maker and manually brew my first caffeine load of the day. Try to sleep. Give it up. I was seriously conflicted.. Then I had a thought, “I know what I’ll do, I’ll check the New York State vaccination site to see if the appointment scheduler is working.

BINGO! At 4:28 am, I received confirmation that I had been scheduled for an appointment for April 11. Now I’m too amped to go back to bed so I did a little woot, woot, and a happy dance and fired up the Cuisinart. When my wife came down around six I told her the good news. “Did you get an appointment for anyone else?” “Who?” “Your sister. Your mother.” Oy! It never even crossed my mind. (I admit to this only as a cautionary tale for when you get lucky enough to get yours. Think of others too.) I immediately circled back with the vaccination site and all available appointments were gone. That means they “sold out” some time between 4:28 and 6:00 am.

So, while Governor Cuomo recently announced that New York has now administered 2.1 million vaccinations (that includes second doses) the Great 2021 Coronavirus Vaccination Scavenger Hunt continues. And is likely to continue for quite some time despite New York’s recent supply increase from 250,000 to 300,000 doses per week. Because, the pool of eligible people was expanded significantly last week when Cuomo announced that New Yorkers with co-morbidities of any age will become eligible to receive the vaccine in New York State beginning on February 15. Here’s the list of co-morbidities that qualify..

Cancer, Chronic Kidney Disease, Pulmonary Disease, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Heart Conditions, Immunocompromised State, Severe Obesity, Pregnancy, Sickle Cell Disease or Thalassemia, Type 1 or 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Cerebrovascular Disease, Neurologic Conditions and Liver Disease Will Be Eligible

The persistent supply issues, as we have previously written, is uncomfortably exacerbated by the state’s scheduling system that only schedules appointments when they receive new supplies. They do not maintain a wait list or an alert system. That means you just have to keep checking for cancellations or new openings.

Further complicating the problem is the outstanding promise that supplies at some point will become available to local hospitals, medical facilities and pharmacies. So, if you are anything like me, you will continue checking all possible vaccination venues. And, of course, each of these alternate vaccination sources have their own scheduling systems and policies. We outlined some of these last week and it may be worth a review here.

New York State Vaccination Sites: Offers no wait list or alert system. You can check for appointment openings at New York State mass vaccination sites or call the vaccination hotline for cancellations: 833-NYS-4-VAX.

Westchester County Health Department: The Westchester County Health Department does offer an alert system. However, they prioritize essential workers over age eligible county residents. Nonetheless, you can sign up for their alert system here.

Caremount Medical: Has no supplies and does not know when they will receive any. When they do, they will notify their patients who are eligible based on their patient records. Remember they have your age and your health records. They will not keep a waiting list.

Local Pharmacies and National Chains: Pharmacies that receive vaccine allocations will prioritize individuals that are 65+. However, they don’t have supplies and although Rite Aid in New York City has had a role in administering vaccinations there, the Rite Aid website indicates that their role wont’ come into play until Phase 2 when vaccines are available to the general public.

New York City Vaccination Sites: The website, city.nyc recently reported that more than one in four people who have received vaccinations in the city live outside the five boroughs. If you work in New York City you may want to check the NYC Vaccine Finder to see if you can  schedule an appointment. However, you will have to demonstrate that you work in the city to be eligible for a vaccine at non-state centers there.

Northern Westchester Hospital: Northern Westchester Hospital recently received vaccine supplies and they administered vaccines last Thursday and Friday. A friend emailed me a link on Wednesday and I was able to schedule an appointment for the next day. (Good friend, right?) NO SIDE EFFECTS. But, that’s just me. Today they were booking new appointments at Northern Westchester Hospital and we got one for my sister and for my 93-year-old mom.

The moral of the story: Just keep checking online and keep checking the New York State hotline for cancellations – until further notice.

PS New York’s 7-day positivity test declined to 4.5% last week, the lowest since December 2. On on Sunday, February 7, the statewide rate was just 4%, the lowest since November 27.