It's a straightforward question: How many first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been coming to the Western New York region in recent weeks, and which providers are getting them?
Good luck getting a straightforward answer.
Absent that answer, it is very difficult for residents to assess their ability to be vaccinated based on the number of first doses being shipped here and where those doses are going. Yet it seems that when the vaccine supply is this low, few of those with the answers have any interest in revealing just how low that supply really is.
The state's Covid-19 tracker lists cumulative doses of vaccine allocated to this region. Based on a daily tracking of that data by The Buffalo News, the region received 24,750 doses of the vaccine last week – which is 3,005 fewer doses than the week before. But that reduced number doesn't accurately reflect vaccine availability, since it includes second doses that are automatically reserved for individuals who have already received a first dose.
The vaccine tracker also indicates that more than 169,547 doses of the vaccine had been administered in Western New York since they first became available. But, again, since both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses to be considered effective, there's no way to tell from the state tracker how many people have actually gotten a shot.
Read the full story from News Staff Reporter Maki Becker
The Erie County Department of Health offered more insight last week, based on its review of state data:
• 83,599 eligible Erie County residents had received at least a first dose of the vaccine as of midweek last week, equivalent to 9.1% of the county's estimated population. That figure doesn't include vaccine recipients in nursing homes.
• Residents in all 35 nursing homes in Erie County have been offered the vaccine, with 3,888 nursing home residents – 86% – receiving at least a first dose, and 2,299 – 59% – receiving both doses, as of midweek last week.
But with vaccine supply constricted, the question of where new, first doses are being sent in Western New York remains a big – and largely unanswered – one.
The Buffalo News reached out to the New York State Department of Health, the Western New York vaccine hub, the Erie County Health Department, local hospital networks and pharmacies to try to get an answer.
Covid-19 in Western New York: The latest statistics
State officials could not answer any questions related to weekly, first-dose vaccine allocations shipped to this region or doses being allocated to the state-run vaccination site at the University at Buffalo South Campus.
Neither was this information provided by the Western New York vaccine hub, spearheaded by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul with partners including Catholic Health, the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Erie County Medical Center. None of them had any answers.
"I assume they're tracking it. They have the information," said Paul Wolf, president of the New York Coalition for Open Government. "This is an important issue that people are concerned about, and it shouldn’t be that hard."
Kaleida Health, Catholic Health and ECMC provided overall vaccination numbers to date, but none would provide any information about recent, weekly allocations.
Retail providers were no help, either. Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens responded with generic statements that provided no details on Covid-19 vaccines for this region, and a spokesman for Rite Aid was unreachable. Wegmans merely referred to a website with general vaccine information.
Nor is there any information on how many local, independent pharmacies are receiving Covid-19 vaccine doses. But we do know that some of them are getting nothing.
Dan Reinhart, pharmacist and owner of Dexter Leader Drugs at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Ferry Street on Buffalo's East Side, said he's requested 250 doses a week from the state each week over the past two months. He has received no vials.
"Politicians are talking about how these areas would be underserved, but then we can’t get our hands on any," he said.
At a recent Erie County Legislature meeting, county Health Commissioner Gale Burstein told the legislators that of the most recent allotment of vaccines, 5,800 have gone to area pharmacies, with each pharmacy receiving about 100 doses. Another 3,900 doses have been allocated to the state's main vaccination site on UB's South Campus, and 1,700 have come to the Erie County Health Department.
New Yorkers with pre-existing conditions will be able to start making appointments to receive Covid-19 vaccinations on Sunday.
But county Health Department spokeswoman Kara Kane said last week that she could not confirm any of those numbers and referred all questions to the state and regional vaccine hub, which didn't provide any answers.
Lisa Chimera, Democratic chairwoman of the County Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, said she's been grateful that the county Health Department has been able to provide some concrete data on the percentage of county residents who have been vaccinated, which exceeds the state average.
"I think the county Health Department has done a very good job," she said. "I’m hopeful that things continue to improve."
The Legislature did pass two resolutions last week, however, that cited concerns about communication from the state regarding vaccine availability.
"It’s been terrible, like most communication coming from the state about Covid," said Joseph Lorigo, minority leader for the County Legislature's Republican-supported caucus.
In response to Buffalo News inquiries, state officials have said they have been adding, and will continue to add, more information to the state's vaccine tracker. Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, said Monday that additional vaccine demographic data and hospital tracker data was added over the weekend. The request for more localized, detailed information regarding vaccine distribution and administration may be added in the future.
"I will take back those specific ones today, and I'll see how quickly we can get them updated to the website," she said in response to questions from The News.
The number of local residents who are eligible for vaccination is easier to tally.
According to U.S. Census data, the Buffalo Niagara region has more than 210,000 residents ages 65 and older. Add in about 40,000 educators; 30,000 health care workers; 15,000 police and firefighters and other first responders; restaurant and transit workers; and others identified under the state's Phase 1A and Phase 1B eligibility lists, and the figure for those eligible to be vaccinated easily surpasses 300,000.
Starting Monday, people with certain underlying health conditions and compromised immune systems will also become eligible for the vaccine. That will mean even more people competing for a limited number of spots.
Vaccine-eligible people have been able to make appointments to get inoculated, but limited vaccine supply means many will be waiting for some time.
In past weeks, the Erie County Health Department has been receiving 1,700 vaccines weekly, though the department is capable of vaccinating more than 2,000 residents a day. The department had provided at least a first dose of vaccine to 20,196 people as of Monday.
Kaleida Health, Catholic Health and ECMC reported that they have, collectively, begun or completed vaccinating more than 26,000 health care staffers and eligible community members as of last week.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last week that any hospital vaccine allocations meant for their own staffs, which aren't used up by the end of this week, will be handed over to county governments for distribution to people with certain underlying health conditions starting next week.
But the demand will still greatly outstrip supply until more vaccine is released by the federal government. Johnson & Johnson requested emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its single-dose vaccine last week. That vetting process, which has taken two to three weeks for Pfizer and Moderna, is underway and could go a long way toward improving supply.
In the meantime, incremental increases by the federal government will only help so much. Cuomo said 10 million New Yorkers are vying for 300,000 available doses statewide each week. No one is currently saying how that breaks down for Western New York.
"You have a precious resource, and only Jesus could figure out how to feed hundreds with limited loaves of bread and fish, right?" Cuomo said this week. "So we need to be fair in the allocation until the supply increases."
But it's hard to know if the allocation is fair when few will even say where the doses are going.
