Rockland County Officials Call For Mass COVID-19 Vaccine Site

Press release from Rockland County Legislature:

March 26, 2021

Rockland County Legislators, along with dozens of locally elected village, town and county officials, are imploring Gov. Cuomo to promptly open a mass vaccination site in Rockland to hasten the achievement of herd immunity and to address shortfalls in vaccination rates in communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

In their letter to Gov. Cuomo this week, they wrote:

“It is incumbent upon all of us to do whatever we can to quickly end the fear and uncertainty by speeding up the process by which the greatest number of people can receive the vaccination in as short a time as possible. One crucial way to do that would be to open a state-run mass vaccination site within the borders of Rockland County so that we can do our part for the hardest hit communities.”

Rockland County Chairman Alden H. Wolfe pointed out that as more people become eligible for the vaccines, an already difficult process has become even harder for many people.

“Every few days, more and more people are ruled eligible for the vaccines, but we’re in the 15th week of the rollout and too many are still having trouble obtaining appointments,” Legislator Wolfe said. “Some communities that have been hardest hit currently have the lowest vaccination rates. We need to make it easier for people to get their shots and we need to conduct special outreach to these communities. A mass vaccination site would help address both goals.”

In their written request to the Governor, the elected officials point out the sobering statistics when it comes to COVID-19 in Rockland County:

“The data shows clearly that not only was Rockland one of the hardest hit counties overall in the past year, but it still has one of the highest infection rates in the state, per capita. Furthermore, the areas of Rockland with the highest number of infections over the past year have the lowest vaccination rates – between 6% and 15% - compared to the overall county vaccination rate of 22.7%. Clearly there is a need for a concerted local effort to reach those communities to encourage vaccination and hasten the achievement of herd immunity.”

They continued, “Making it easier and more convenient to receive the vaccination will undoubtedly lead to a higher vaccination rate and swifter end to this terrible pandemic. Because of this, Rockland state lawmakers have introduced legislation demanding a state-run site for any county with a population of more than 300,000. Rockland is the only county of that size that still does not have a mass vaccination site within its borders.”

Legislator Itamar Yeger said that at this point in the process, there is no question that Rockland County needs a mass vaccination site.

“Here in Rockland County, we still have unvaccinated seniors in their 80s, people with underlying health conditions and people of color whose communities have been hard hit,” Legislator Yeger said. “A mass vaccination site will immediately and beneficially impact those populations.”

The letter is signed by all 17 Rockland County Legislators, County Executive Ed Day, County Sheriff Louis Falco III, County Clerk Donna Gorman-Silberman and village and town boards members in Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Orangetown, Ramapo, Stony Point, Airmont, Chestnut Ridge, Grand View-on-Hudson, Haverstraw village, Montebello, New Hempstead, Nyack, Piermont, Pomona, Sloatsburg, Spring Valley, South Nyack, Upper Nyack, Wesley Hills, and West Haverstraw.

As of today, more than 900 COVID-19-related deaths have been recorded in Rockland County, and more than 41,700 cases have been recorded in Rockland by the New York State Health Department.

Legislators Wolfe and Yeger said that Rockland’s Health Department could assist the state in identifying an appropriate site for the mass vaccination clinic. They noted that the fieldhouse at Rockland Community College was identified as a possible field hospital site during the height of the pandemic last spring.

“We all stand ready to help in whatever way we can, but we need the state to listen to us and to take action,” Legislator Wolfe said.

HOW TO CONTACT GOV. CUOMO

• Call 1-518-474-8390
• Go here to submit a message: https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form
• Mail comments to:

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo

Governor of New York State

NYS State Capitol Building

Albany, NY 12224

This press release was produced by Rockland County Legislature. The views expressed here are the author's own.