Rockland Officials Offer Vaccine To Phase 1A Priority Group

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — As the federal government slowly distributes doses of coronavirus vaccine to the 50 states, the New York Health Department has given Rockland County's Department of Health a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine to treat people in New York's Phase 1A priority group.

That includes, according to state health officials:

• Outpatient/ambulatory front-line, high-risk health care workers of any age who provide direct in-person patient care, or other staff in a position in which they have direct contact with patients (i.e., intake staff)
• People who work in private medical practices; hospital-affiliated medical practices; public health clinics; specialty medical practices of all types; dental practices of all types; dialysis workers; diagnostic and treatment centers; occupational therapists; physical therapists; speech therapists; phlebotomists; behavioral health workers; and student health workers
• Front-line, high-risk public health workers who have direct contact with patients, including those conducting COVID-19 tests, those handling COVID-19 lab specimens and those directly engaged in COVID-19 vaccinations

Appointments are required. If you are in the Phase 1A priority group, complete the county's questionnaire at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HCZB359

You must bring proof that you are in the Phase 1A priority group, such as an employee ID card, a letter from your employer or affiliated organization, or a recent pay stub.

Before you visit:

• Complete the NYS COVID-19 Vaccine Form and bring it with you.
• Wear a face mask, as you will not be allowed to enter the building without one.

Do not come if you are not feeling well.

As of the end of the day Wednesday, the Rockland Health Department had administered 425 vaccines doses during two hours of operation of clinical staff vaccinations on Tuesday afternoon and during the 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. operation Wednesday.

Wednesday evening, Rockland requested additional doses of vaccine from the NYS Department of Health as the first delivery contained only 1,000 doses, county officials said.

The distribution rate to New York State from the federal government is 1.2 million doses per month. The state is lobbying for faster distribution as New York needs 40 million doses to vaccinate 20 million New Yorkers, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week. "Obviously it's a very long timeline at this supply rate."

Putnam County has asked the state to move police and fire departments to Phase 1A.

An attempt by New York City to re-label most of the NYPD as EMS providers so they could get vaccines in the 1A phase was halted Wednesday. Officers who are already certified EMS providers are in 1A.

Cuomo's office issued a statement Thursday afternoon on the issue.

"The rules of the COVID vaccine distribution have been clear for many weeks and agreed to by virtually all credible federal and state leaders. The first priority is "1A," healthcare workers who are on the front lines. With the increasing hospitalization rates, the new UK strain spread and hospital staff shortages, keeping hospitals functioning is essential to avoid another shutdown.

"Once those healthcare workers who want to accept a vaccine are afforded the opportunity, vaccinations go to the "1B" category which includes essential workers including police, firefighters and 75+ year old New Yorkers (who have the highest death rate from COVID). Police are not "healthcare workers" for 1A purposes except those who are EMS or EMT. As everyone knows, virtually every police officer is trained in CPR, but that does not make them a 'healthcare worker' for the purpose of vaccine distribution.

"Also the state plan will not allow 1B to commence only with police; it also includes teachers, firefighters and other essential workers as well as 75+ year old New Yorkers - all eligible at the same time. We do not, and will not allow, prioritization of one group over any other in 1B.

"The City of New York has 917,000 eligible healthcare workers in 1A and has only administered 144,000 vaccines. Many more healthcare workers are anxiously awaiting the vaccine. New York City has received 304,000 dosages beginning in December through last week and administered less than 50 percent. We urge New York City and other local governments to get needles in the arms of the healthcare workers to avoid our frontline heroes from getting sick and our hospitals from collapsing due to increasing staff shortages.

"Any government or hospital that has offered their healthcare workers vaccines and are at their "refusal rate" (workers have been offered the vaccine but refused it) should inform DOH and we will reallocate their doses. We have many healthcare workers demanding the vaccine. There are over 1 million healthcare workers who have not yet been offered the vaccine. Also, as a reminder, herd immunity requires 70-90% vaccination and we hope healthcare workers exceed the minimum acceptance rate.

"We're all anxious to get the vaccination to 1B, 75 year old New Yorkers, and essential workers. However, we must establish competent administration because if a government fails to administer 1A vaccines, what makes anyone think they can competently administer 1B?"

"The state has previously announced plans for 1B vaccines. The 1B category includes approximately 3 million people statewide and the state will utilize a variety of non-governmental agencies to administer those vaccines including pharmacies, private doctor networks, and community groups serving underserved communities, as the state announced last week. There will be literally thousands of distribution points statewide.

"We are asking large union forces such as police, firefighters and teachers to organize their own vaccination programs, where possible, to remove volume from private providers and health departments.

"We have asked local governments to coordinate with these groups to determine if they can "self-administer" or use their own providers or will utilize the private provider network. Again the main issue will be supply. For example, the 1B category is over 3 million people and the state still only receives 300,000 doses per week. There are also 1 million 1A healthcare workers still awaiting vaccines. Hopefully, we expect an increase in federal supply shortly."

Rockland and the entire Hudson region continue to see a surge in coronavirus positivity rates.