Many calls, few answers
Doctors, flooded with vaccine requests, frustrated with rollout
Capital Region doctors’ offices say they are growing increasingly frustrated at their inability to obtain coronavirus vaccines, despite having years of experience administering inoculations and the ability to quickly identify eligible populations.
Dr. Joanne Fogarty said her private medical practice in Latham has filled out numerous questionnaires from state and federal agencies in the past four months that detail her office’s storage capabilities, at-risk patient population and plans for administering vaccine to patients. In early January, she submitted an order with the state for 200 doses and received word that it had been approved.
As of Friday, however, the doses had yet to arrive and the state had given no indication as to when they might, she said.
“I cannot fathom how a supermarket is able to receive vaccine before every requesting physician in the state has received vaccine,” she said, referring to Price Chopper’s upand-running vaccination clinics at three of its local Market 32 pharmacies. “Especially since we spend all our time on the phone with elderly patients asking why don’t we have it, when are we getting it, and how come they have to travel to Utica or Plattsburgh to get it?”
Other doctors’ offices have also submitted orders and are waiting to hear back.
Albany Medical Center and St. Peter’s Health Partners said Friday that their physician practices have still not received any vaccines for eligible patients.
“We are still awaiting information on if and when we can expect to receive doses for patients, and we continue to wait for additional 1a first-dose vaccines to continue vaccinating our front-line patient-facing health care workers,” said
Robert Webster, a spokesman for St. Peter’s.
Community Care Physicians, which operates more than three dozen practices in the region, received a small allotment of vaccines intended for employees only, spokeswoman Alexis Musto said. Their offices are still awaiting word on whether they will be receiving vaccines for any of their 60,000 patients who are currently eligible, she said.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in call volumes to the point that some of our phone systems have crashed,” she said.
“When and if we do get vaccine, CCP will certainly be one part of a much larger effort to vaccinate the (65+ population),” she added. “But our message right now is if you are a patient of CCP who is 65 or older, do not wait for us to offer it to you. It’s just not guaranteed at this point.”
The state Department of Health did not directly respond when asked whether any doctors’ offices have received vaccines so far and, if not, when they might expect them.
“We are working around the clock and doing everything humanly possible to get every New Yorker who wants a vaccine inoculated, and we are working closely with all providers to get them the supplies they need,” said Jeffrey Hammond, a spokesman for the heath department. “Unfortunately the federal government’s supply doesn’t come anywhere close to the demand here in New York — in fact, the federal government had promised us 300,000 doses this week, but then told us that would be cut without explanation. We ask for patience as we implement the largest single vaccination effort in state history.”
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Friday that the state has a network of about 1,200 vaccine distributors ready and willing to administer vaccine, but is not receiving enough doses from the federal government yet to provide them all with a supply.
“We want to have that distribution network in place because we’re hoping to get more production and I want to anticipate more production and have that distribution network in place,” he said. “I’d rather have more distribution waiting for vaccine, than having vaccine sitting on a shelf waiting for distribution.”
Physicians say it makes little sense, though, that supermarkets were prioritized for vaccines over doctors’ offices.
In addition to their experience administering vaccines to people of all ages for many conditions and their ability to quickly identify patients who are eligible, they also say their trusted relationships with patients make them ideal candidates to address safety concerns and hesitancy about the vaccine.
“Local health department and community-based physicians have intimate and regular contact with patients and are uniquely positioned to promote and administer vaccinations,” said Vito Grasso, executive vice president of the New York State Academy of Family Physicians. “Using that infrastructure would likely be a very effective way to expedite proliferation of the vaccine throughout the state.”
Fogarty said she became exasperated with the situation last week, when her 82-year-old father informed her his neighbor had gotten vaccinated at a local Price Chopper.
“He was frustrated because I’ve asked him not to go into supermarkets for the past 10 months because he’s elderly and at risk,” she said. “I fail to recognize why that seemed like a better option than the doctor’s office.”
Her practice administered mass vaccinations during the H1N1 crisis of 2009, she said. It also held a flu shot clinic last September and was able to administer 250 doses in three and a half hours, she said.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel here,” she said. “We give vaccinations all the time. There is an infrastructure already in place here. Why not use it?”