BUFFALO, N.Y. — It has taken months for many rural counties to start seeing dramatic increases in COVID-19 vaccine supply. Some county health departments tell us they’re breaking records.
While Erie County has seen a drop in vaccine supply from the beginning of the month until now, several rural counties tell us their supply is on the way up.
In Niagara County, 1,600 doses were received this week, compared to 800 several weeks ago.
"We have been getting an increase the past couple of weeks have been flat but we did get an increase from where we were maybe a few weeks ago," said Dan Stapleton, Niagara County's public health director.
And, in Chautauqua County, leaders received their largest weekly distribution of vaccine from the state this week – 2,000 Moderna doses. For weeks, officials in rural counties have been pleading for more vaccine.
"When you look at Cattaraugus and Allegany they were both below average, which is very disappointing they are residents of New York state and obviously pay taxes the same as everybody else so they need to be taken care of," said PJ Wendel, the Chautauqua County Executive.
"I think voices have been raised from various levels that it’s important to also give counties with rural populations access to vaccine," said Christine Schuyler, public health director for Chautauqua County.
Those 2,000 doses will be used at SUNY Fredonia and Jamestown Community College. It took hours for appointments to be scooped up.
"That’s the first time that’s happened with any of our clinics not filling up instantly, but these are the most appointment slots we’ve had as well," Schuyler said.
Also noticing that trend and rising supply is Paul Pettit, the health director in Genesee and Orleans counties.
"We are seeing these clinics that we post them, fill up a little bit slower you go back a month or two we put up 400, 500, 600 appointments they were gone in matter of an hour," he said.
What’s the explanation for that trend – more people being vaccinated and more vaccine. But, there’s still a lot more work to do.
"We need to continue to push our vaccination rates up," Pettit said.
Orleans County has the lowest vaccination rate of any WNY county at 19 percent with a single dose.
In Allegany County, more than 3,000 doses were received this week from the state. That is the largest distribution the county has received. According to the state's CDMS website, appointments are still available. You can click here, for more information.
"This is a one-time thing for us and we want to make sure as many Allegany County residents are vaccinated as possible," said Theresa Moore, supervising public health educator and public information officer for the Allegany County Department of Health, "We do not know what next week will look like for vaccine, likely it will not be this amount of vaccine. We want the community to know they can go to www.alleganyco.com to register for an appointment. The link is posted and open for people to register for a vaccination. If they do not have access to the internet or cannot register themselves they can call 585-268-9250 and someone will help them register."
But appointments are still limited in other places such as the state-run vaccination sites -- UB South, Delavan Grider Community Center and the Niagara Falls Conference and Events Center. Pharmacies have varying vaccine availability.