ARCADE, N.Y. — Slower and limited vaccine distribution has been a problem for many rural parts of Western New York and the Finger Lakes regions since the state's rollout began.
With areas such as southern Allegany County and central Orleans lacking the same resources as larger cities and towns, people like Jamie Studley are having to wait weeks just to schedule an appointment.
"It's frustrating," Studley told 2 On Your Side on Thursday. "I feel like we are left out to fend for ourselves."
Studley and her family all qualify for vaccination because of pre-existing conditions: one son is a Type 1 diabetic, the other suffers from seizures.
She jumped at the chance to get an appointment but never expected her location to play so much of a role. Studley, her husband, and two sons live in Wellsville, near the border of Cattaraugus and Allegany counties.
A rural area.
"Our counties are getting 200 or less doses a week. Some of the pharmacies that have been approved for vaccination have gotten none," Studley said.
Their only option for vaccination without driving well over an hour to sites in Buffalo and Rochester has been Olean General Hospital, which is still about 45 minutes away.
Studley and her family are now on a wait list at the hospital but know there are likely hundreds of people ahead of them. She questions with situations like this, why state allocations haven't changed to address the low vaccination rate in Allegany County.
According to the state's own COVID-19 vaccine tracker, the county continues to have one of the lowest percentages of its population with a first dose. As of Thursday at 11 a.m. it was 7.6%. The statewide percentage is 12.8%.
"How is it being rolled out equally when we’re getting 200 or less doses weekly and some weeks we’re not getting any doses?" Studley said.
"I’m not only talking for myself and my family, I’m talking for everyone that wants a vaccination or needs a vaccination."
An effort to address this rural disparity is underway north of Studley and her family in Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming counties.
"We're just in this gray area with quite a few taxpayers who are eligible but unable to get vaccinated," Orleans County chairwoman Lynne Johnson said.
Johnson is among a group of leaders in those counties who has sent a letter to the Governor's Office asking that a FEMA-run mass vaccination site be placed at Genesee Community College.
They believe it could help get 2,000 more people vaccinated daily.
"You know they were supposed to allocate 20% more, then 5% more, then 14% more, and in Orleans County we've been cut," Johnson said.
The state has not provided a timeline for a possible decision or revealed if more FEMA-run sites are even being considered in New York, but Johnson and Studley both hope some action is taken to better address rural parts of the region.