Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Ask anyone who has gone through the vaccine process in Erie County. They usually have a story about the drama associated with scheduling and getting the vaccine. Sometimes it took days, often without success, to get an appointment.
Suddenly, there's has been a shift on that front this week.
The process is no longer challenging. Appointments are readily available. Some slots are going unfilled.
"I'm a little surprised that we're seeing this," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz during his weekly Covid briefing Tuesday. "It's a rapid move, going from so much demand and not enough appointments, to basically walk-up status. If you want to get a vaccine right now, you could go to Key Bank Center and we'd do it," he said.
Poloncarz admits health officials were worried when eligibility opened to ages 16 and up that they would not be able to meet the demand. But he says in the last week there's been a tremendous slowdown in the number of people signing up for clinics.
"Something is going on out there and it's worrisome because we know about 50% of the population has received one dose and one third is fully vaccinated. But there's a large percentage of the population that doesn't seem interested in getting vaccinated. That's a big concern," he said. "We will never get back to normal, if 40% of our population is not vaccinated."
There are open vaccine appointments this week throughout Erie County at multiple clinics and pharmacies. Check out our vaccine locator.
"This is the next challenge," said Don Arthur of Brighton Eggert Pharmacy. "It's happening quickly. We're using our vaccines. The networks require us to use the vaccines within seven days."
Arthur says it's a difficult thing to manage. 'We've been ordering twelve hundred shots a week, but only receiving about 200." He says it's a stressful situation week to week knowing what to order and managing the distribution.
On Tuesday, Arthur held a vaccination clinic at Black Rock Pharmacy. They had 30 no-shows out of 200 scheduled appointments. He thinks it has a lot to do with the news that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been paused.
"When that happens you have to find 30 arms. We were able to do that, but this is going to be a problem for us, while it's a good thing for the community," added Arthur.
About one third of eligible Erie County residents have completed a vaccine regimen. Almost 50% of all eligible county residents have received their 1st dose as of April 12.
