County role in vaccine expands
Cuomo’s team pledges more involvement
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s coronavirus vaccination team, which has come under fire for a roll-out that arguably faltered in its first few weeks, have told New York’s county leaders that they will be more involved in the distribution and administration of the vaccines.
The outreach came after weeks of confusion and a lack of information-sharing that was exacerbated when county officials were informed that the mass-vaccination planning they had done for years was — at least initially — being set aside in favor of a regional hub strategy headed by hospitals. But the hospitals had not overseen mass vaccinations before, and county leaders said they have been inundated with questions they are unable to answer — especially about who will be vaccinated and when.
In a conference call with county executives on Thursday afternoon, three top officials on Cuomo’s coronavirus task force — Larry Schwartz, a former secretary to the governor, state health Commissioner Howard Zucker and Gareth Rhodes, a deputy superintendent — pledged that the counties would take on a greater role and that they would also be provided with more data and information.
“Things have been a little helter-skelter; I apologize for that, but this is a massive undertaking and it’s something unprecedented that we’re doing
here,” Schwartz told the county leaders. “We’re going to work closely with the counties going forward and look to expand the role that counties play in the roll-out. … We’ll follow up with you on what that means.”
County officials on the call noted that in addition to not receiving up-todate data on the number of vaccines that have been administered in their counties and who has received them, they also were being forced to return small unused doses of vaccines if they were not used within very limited time frames. They noted that missteps could also result in hefty fines.
Albany County Executive Daniel Mccoy told Schwartz that 30 vaccine doses were “flushed down the toilet” recently when they went unused at a county nursing home.
“I couldn’t at that point get enough people there,” Mccoy said.
Pharmacies contracted by the federal government to vaccinate people in private nursing homes are undertaking that effort separately from the state’s efforts to vaccinate health care providers, front-line workers and others identified as essential.
“Let us know and we’ll follow up and talk to the pharmacy and find out what happened, because that shouldn’t happen,” Schwartz told Mccoy. “You should always be able to find someone to put a shot in someone’s arm and not waste any doses.”
Schwartz also pledged more flexibility on allowing counties and others to administer the vaccines to other eligible groups in line if there is an unforeseen surplus for any reason.
“We don’t want anyone to sit on a surplus,” Schwartz said. “Each week we want whatever the allocation is that we’re getting from the federal government ... in somebody’s arm, even to a point where if you’re scheduling a group and someone cancels their appointment ... we don’t want it to go to waste.”
Rensselaer County Executive Steve Mclaughlin challenged Schwartz on that point, saying that “if that needle goes into the wrong arm there’s a potential $1 million fine.”
“I know what you want to occur but until the chokehold is removed and the flexibility is given, you’re going to continue to have doses spoil,” Mclaughlin added.
Some county leaders said there have been issues getting health care networks and physicians certified to administer vaccines. Many counties also rely on paramedics to administer doses under their mass-vaccination plans, but have not received any feedback on how to get them authorized to deal with coronavirus vaccinations.
A Suffolk County official said they have concerns about providing security for their vaccination locations, and that there needs to be better education because some people are circulating misinformation that the vaccines can cause serious diseases, or that the government is using the opportunity to inject tracking devices.
The state’s shift to pledging more of a role for counties in vaccinations came days after Cuomo criticized the pace at which many of the regional hospitals have vaccinated the first round of recipients. He also threatened to impose hefty fines and revoke the hospital’s vaccination privileges if the situation didn’t improve.
On Tuesday, the New York Association of Counties called on Cuomo to allow them to activate their mass-vaccination plans, including administering doses at points of dispensing (POD) sites they have established through years of planning. Those locations include large concert venues, senior centers, fire departments and other sites where there is ample parking and easy access, especially for elderly citizens.
Some county officials noted that requiring elderly residents to go to a hospital to be vaccinated makes it more difficult for them.
Some counties have already received small batches of vaccines to administer to front-line health workers and first responders, while other counties are still waiting. Officials say there is also growing frustration among the general population, which has not been given a clear picture of when they will be vaccinated.
Two county officials, including Rensselaer County’s Mclaughlin, challenged Schwartz’s assertion that the vaccination process is unprecedented. Mclaughlin said counties have been overseeing vaccinations of their populations going back decades.