BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Even though there is an extremely limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, people who have already received the first dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines will receive their second doses as scheduled, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
"We've been told (New York) is going to provide us with a supply on a weekly basis as we need to meet the second dose criteria," Poloncarz said. "Next week we are anticipating receiving a certain number of doses to do our first group of individuals that the county vaccinated...We have been told repeatedly that we don't know what (we are) going to get in the future with first doses, that could change, but (we) will get second dose numbers based on what we need. We'll hold the state to it."
Erie County has vaccinated 14,176 people since January 4. Due to a lack of supply from the state and federal government, Erie County was forced to cancel appointments this week. They anticipate having to cancel more appointments in the coming days.
The county is not scheduling any appointments in February and beyond.
"Rather than open up appointments at our Erie County Department of Health vaccine sites, we didn't open any," Poloncarz said. "We're going to prioritize those who had vaccination appointments cancelled. We will attempt to vaccinate those with the first dose in the first weeks of February. We're not going to schedule those until we know we have sufficient doses on hand."
Erie County is prioritizing the vaccination of essential workers such as first responders, teachers, grocery store workers. Most health care workers are being vaccinated through hospitals. Pharmacies are prioritizing the vaccination of those age 65 and older.
New York State on Tuesday unveiled a COVID-19 vaccination site at the University at Buffalo's South Campus. This site will vaccinate all of those who are currently eligible to receive the vaccine based on CDC and state guidelines. Click here to see if you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
