Westchester Paratransit Expands Service To Vaccine Appointments

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Senior citizens and people with disabilities who live in Westchester have a new resource for getting to their coronavirus vaccine appointments.

County officials have authorized additional resources for the Westchester Paratransit ride service.

Even if you're not a Paratransit client already, if you're a senior citizen or a person with disabilities you can get a ride to any vaccination site in Westchester, said Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins.

Once you make an appointment for a vaccine, then call 995-7272 ext. 1 to schedule a ride with Paratransit.

The big mass vaccination sites in Westchester are located at the County Center in White Plains and the Armory in Yonkers (only for Westchester residents). Appointments can be made by calling the state hotline at 1-833-NYS-4VAX (833-697-4829) or going to the state's website.

If you need more help figuring out where and how to get a vaccine appointment, try using this new interactive online map. It shows all the public and private places in the Hudson Valley that offer vaccines, and gives you links for scheduling a vaccine. HV Coronavirus: Help For Finding Vaccine Appointments.

"You don't have to go to Potsdam or Plattsburgh even though, as the county executive said, they're really nice places," Jenkins said.

With the coronavirus vaccine supply increasing — more than 1.12 million doses have been administered in New York over the past seven days — state officials continue to make more people eligible — as of Wednesday, the age limit drops to 60.

They've also changed restrictions on who can be vaccinated where.

• Starting Wednesday, pharmacies may begin vaccinating teachers and people over the age of 60.
• Starting March 17, other providers will be able to vaccinate any eligible New Yorker.

The rule change releases local health departments and hospitals from their initial responsibilities which limited hospitals to vaccinating health care workers, local health departments to vaccinating essential workers and people with underlying health conditions, and pharmacies to giving shots to New Yorkers 65 years of age and older.

"Pharmacies still will only be doing 60-plus and teachers," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a coronavirus briefing Tuesday. "Why? Because the pharmacies, it's not as easy for them to identify different types of workers, etcetera. They can identify age, because age you can identify by just a driver's license. And President Biden, rightfully so, has made teachers a priority. So, pharmacies will do 60+ and teachers. We want to get those schools open. Every other site will be doing every other person who is eligible."

As of Wednesday, 23 percent of Westchester's population had received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, according to the state's dosage tracker.