Local clinics left with extra vaccine
Just weeks after people struggled to find any COVID vaccine appointment, much less one near them, the first Queensbury clinic closed with many doses left over.
Warren County’s Moderna clinic, for which the county had 250 doses, had 50 doses left over Wednesday. And that was after a nurse drove one dose to a person who wanted it but couldn’t make it to the clinic.
That was the only dose left in an opened vial. The rest will be saved for upcoming clinics.
“If thawed, an unopened vial of Moderna vaccine can be stored refrigerated for 30 days. If still frozen, a vial is good until its expiration date. So there is no risk of any of these unopened vials going bad anytime soon, thankfully,” said county spokesman Don Lehman.
Many other clinics had leftovers Wednesday.
“It has been getting more difficult to fill clinics,” Lehman said. “It is a statewide phenomenon as we get further into the pool of eligible people. The Capital Region Vax regional hub website lists a bunch of county clinics in our region with openings today, and Albany County just asked us to share (on social media) a Pfizer clinic for those as young as 16 that is going on today at the TU Center.”
As of Tuesday, 39% of New Yorkers have received at least one vaccine dose. But that is far below herd immunity, the point at which the virus would stop spreading due to a lack of people to infect.
In Queensbury, walk-ins were accepted in an effort to use up the vaccine. Many people who don’t have internet service at home, and therefore couldn’t sign up, were vaccinated.
Now, Warren County is planning clinics for elsewhere in the county to reach people who don’t have transportation. While few families do not have any vehicles, some have only one car. In that case, it’s often in use by a family member who takes it to work, making it difficult for other family members to get to a vaccination clinic.
Details on those clinics are still being finalized.
More: https://poststar.com/news/local/local-clinics-left-with-extra-vaccine/article_26925e74-ad35-521b-ae19-47fd45dfbc6a.html