By Staff
Jan. 27, 2021: Updated Jan. 29: News reports today indicate that some upper Manhattan sites, including the Fort Washington Armory, are prioritizing appointments for residents in the local community and will now only book appointments for New York City residents.
Ever since the good news about the Covid-19 vaccine approvals came out, people in Bronxville have been scrambling to figure out how to get a vaccine. Am I eligible? Who do I call? How do I make an appointment? Where can I get it?
According to the state website, New York has been getting about 250,000 doses of the vaccine on average each week which it distributes to vaccine sites around the state. Shortage of vaccine doses and by extension appointments has been the largest challenge for New York. To address this issue, President Biden announced yesterday that state allocations will go up 16 percent for the next three weeks. He also announced that the US is purchasing an additional 200 million doses. These may not arrive until spring or summer.
While access has been a problem, the good news is that once you do get an appointment, the process seems to go quite smoothly. MyhometownBronxville spoke with a volunteer at the Westchester County Center, one of the larger vaccination sites in New York, who says that the process there is extremely well organized.
The County Center arena has been subdivided into many "pods" with medical personnel who administer vaccines. National Guardsmen (and women), local first responders, public health administrators and volunteers are stationed throughout the facility to ensure the process goes smoothly for patients. Coverage is provided from initial input of paperwork to vaccine administration all the way through to the recovery room where patients are observed by paramedics to ensure there are no adverse reactions. At the end of the process, patients receive a vaccination card with the date and time of their next vaccination.
As far as the process for getting a vaccine, below are some suggestions based on information compiled by MHTB.
1) Make sure you are eligible.
Go here to learn more about the vaccine and see if you are eligible in New York State.
2) Once you are eligible, you can make an appointment
on-line or you can call the NY State Covid-19 vaccination hotline at 1-833-697-4829. If you call the hotline, you can speak to a person who will input your zip code and look for a place within 25 miles to get the vaccine. They are open every day from 7am to 10pm. Once they have scheduled an appointment, you will receive a confirmation email with a barcode to bring to your appointment.
If they are unable to make an appointment, they will suggest you call back often as they get cancellations and more appointments become available. If you go
online, you will be directed to a variety of vaccination sites by distance with their status regarding appointments. A sampling of the larger vaccination sites that are accessed through the NY State website are Westchester County Center, Javits Center, Aqueduct Racetrack and Jones Beach.
3) Another option is to go online or call one of the hospitals involved with vaccine distribution. For example, New York Presbyterian has a vaccine site at the Armory in Washington Heights. MHTB reached out to one person who was vaccinated at the Armory and was "so impressed." According to the NYP website, here's how the process works at NYP. "People who are eligible can schedule their appointment through
Connect, NewYork-Presbyterian’s online patient portal. To sign up, simply
click here, fill out the required information, and create a username and password.
As vaccine supplies may be limited, patients will receive a notification through Connect when appointments become available. The site will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week....For more information or to register for Connect, please visit
VaccineTogetherNY.org or call 646-697-VACC. Appointments are required and need to be made through Connect."
4) There is also a
Covid-19 vaccine finder that provides vaccine site information in NYC (or you can call 1-844-NYC-4NYC).
Below are more resources:
Go here for a list of New York State run vaccination sites.
Go here for frequently asked questions about the vaccine.
There has also been a lot of exchange of information about vaccine sites by word-of-mouth in Bronxville. Readers can leave comments below.
Photo by A. Warner
