AARP New York says nearly 44% of members surveyed successfully
signed up for a COVID-19 shot.
That signifies progress from less than 10% last month, but
problems are persisting.
"The government site just keeps saying 'None
available,'" says Mary-Ellen Smith, of Port Chester. “I just said to my
husband the other day, ‘I should get paid for the amount of time I sit here and
have to do this.’"
Smith can see Greenwich, Connecticut from her backyard,
where she says her friends have already received their vaccines “all within a
couple of days.”
“We're sitting here weeks on end and we can't even get an
appointment," she said.
So what is the main issues preventing members from getting
vaccines?
AARP says some appointments are too far for people to
travel to. Westchester County Executive George Latimer says some seniors have
trouble using computers to make an appointment. Then there’s the problem of
supply and demand.
"If there aren't guaranteed vaccines, then
appointments cannot be set up," said Latimer.
So far, 121,000 people with a Westchester County ZIP
code have received a first dose, County Executive George Latimer says.
News 12 is learning that some appointments are being
canceled at Mount Sinai Health System. News 12 obtained an email that Mount
Sinai sent out recently, saying that it received no new supplies of first-dose
vaccines this week and have canceled all patient first-dose appointments except
at Mount Sinai South Nassau on Long Island.
The hospital network says, "The expansion of city and
state vaccination sites has put pressure on continued supplies to
hospitals."