BUFFALO, N.Y. — At this point, it seems the vaccine supply in Western New York is finally meeting the demand, and then some.
Now some providers may be shifting their approach, making convenience a top priority.
Dr. Nancy Nielsen, the chair of the planning team for the vaccine rollout, told 2 On Your Side they've noticed a dramatic shift this past week.
"Before that, we still had lots and lots of people rushing to try to find appointments. Now it's different. There are appointments going unfilled, and that's really a problem, particularly with the rate of infection that we have in our area," said Dr. Nielsen, who is also the senior associate dean for health policy at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School Medicine.
Dr. Nielsen says now that the vaccines are more readily available here, what people are looking for is convenience.
"So at this point, probably we're going to start asking if the counties and other providers can allow walk-in appointments," Dr. Nielsen said.
We're seeing that to some extent already. For example, the Erie County Department of Health has made announcements about walk-in clinics a few times this week, based on availability.
Chautauqua County Public Health Director Christine Schuyler told 2 On Your Side that the county intends, within the next few weeks, to be prepared to offer walk-in clinics.
"Multiple strategies will be utilized now that we really are seeing somewhat of a saturation in the mass vaccination efforts," Schuyler said.
However, officials still say the safest and most reliable option is to schedule an appointment in advance.
Dr. Nielsen told 2 On Your Side, "Here's the problem with the walk-ins. It takes longer on the front end to get somebody registered, so there's a little bit of a bottleneck at the intake. But the reality is we have to do whatever we can do to get people immunized very quickly."
County health leaders in some of the region's more rural areas said they're also looking at shifting their approach from mass vaccination sites to smaller clinics.
"We're going to have to downsize those large mass vaccination clinics that you might have seen in the past, and we're going have to open up smaller clinics. Like, maybe some of the projects or apartment complexes that individuals of low income may not have had transportation means to get to a mass vaccination clinic," said Kevin Watkins, the Cattaraugus County Public Health Director.
He added, "We may even have to go into smaller venues like barber shops and salons and grocery stores. Whatever we can do in order to reach a population that has not been vaccinated."
Dr. Nielsen emphasized the sooner more people get vaccinated, the better for all of us.
"What we hope, as more and more vaccine becomes available on a regular basis, that we just flood all the places that are ready to give vaccine, whether it's an independent pharmacy, a pharmacy chain, a doctors office, a county health department, just get the vaccine wherever you can, and as quickly as you can," Dr. Nielsen said.
A spokesperson with the Erie County Department of Health told 2 On Your Side via email, "Making an appointment and registering saves a lot of time on-site for the person getting a vaccine, and is a huge help to keeping our lines moving smoothly and reducing wait times for all. Call (716) 858-2929 to find out about same-day appointments."