BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County announced Thursday a partnership with Pegula Sports and Entertainment to host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo.
The site will be at the Lexus Club inside the center, and will open Wednesday, March 10 with appointments for those age 65 and older. Appointments will be required. Registration information will be sent to people who have asked to be notified through the Erie County Department of Health's Vaccine Notification form.
There is plenty of parking available to residents and is near several bus lines and the Metro Rail.
“I thank the Pegulas, Pegula Sports & Entertainment and the Buffalo Sabres for providing the KeyBank Center location as the site for a new Erie County vaccination POD and we look forward to opening this site as soon as possible. Their commitment to our area and to protecting our residents stands out and is greatly appreciated as we work towards getting more and more people vaccinated. This site is well-placed to serve the City of Buffalo and all of Erie County, and as more vaccines become available we will be able to increase operations here,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz in a press release. “Together with existing county vaccination PODs at SUNY Erie South and SUNY Erie North, we are expanding our capacity to vaccinate more residents and protect more people.”
President & CEO of Pegula Sports & Entertainment and Owner & President of the Buffalo Sabres Kim Pegula added, “Our organization is proud to work with County Executive Mark Poloncarz and his team to help provide as many vaccinations as possible to our community. We appreciate the work of our front line healthcare workers and are happy to help in any way that we can."
“We appreciate having this new, accessible location available to our vaccination teams,” said Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein. “With three safe and effective vaccines available and supplies increasing, our department is ready to get to work vaccinating Erie County residents with this important tool in our COVID-19 prevention toolkit.”
This will be the county's third 'point of distribution' (POD). Health officials say they could administer over one thousand vaccinations a day at this location.