ALLEGANY COUNTY, N.Y. — The county with the lowest percentage in the state of people who have received one dose of the vaccine is in Western New York.
Allegany County has the state's lowest percent of the population with one dose of the vaccine so far at 8.4 percent. Statewide, it's 13.4-percent.
2 On Your Side wanted to know why this is the case and what's being done to make sure people in Allegany County have access to the vaccine.
For this story, 2 On Your Side contacted Governor Cuomo's office, the New York State Department of Health, Assemblymember Joseph Giglio's office, and State Senator George Borrello's office.
The Governor's office and state health department did not get back to us by our deadline Friday afternoon.
A spokesperson for Assemblymember Giglio's office told us the Governor's Office and the New York State Department of Health are in charge of distributing the vaccine, so it had no further information on statistics.
And we spoke with State Senator Borrello, who represents all of Allegany County. He sent a letter to the Governor and New York State Health Commissioner this week asking for more vaccine clinics to be set up in Allegany County ASAP.
"You have a very high percentage of senior citizens that typically could be challenged with accessing the internet, and that's one of the primary ways to make an appointment. But also, these are folks that are infirmed, or may not drive, or whatever, that the closest vaccine sites are often very far away. So, I think it's a number of issues, but I don't think it's vaccine hesitancy at all," State Senator Borrello said.
We asked him why he thinks the percentage of people getting the vaccine in Allegany County is so low.
"I think it's a number of reasons. I don't think it has anything to do with hesitancy on the vaccine, quite frankly. I think it has more to do with supply. I think it has to do with the governor's continued political rollout of the vaccine distribution, and not really focusing on the people that need it most, and those that are at the greatest risk of dying from COVID-19, and I think it also has a lot to do with access to technology. Allegany County also has a very small percentage of people that have access to reliable broadband," Borrello said.
Borrello says Allegany County has a waiting list of about 3,000 people over 65 who have not gotten the vaccine yet.
"The stories I'm hearing are people having to go far away trying to get a vaccine. In Allegany County, the county is getting small amounts of vaccine, and they are distributing them within 24 hours or less. Because it's such a small amount, they're getting it done quickly. Pharmacies, I'm told in the area, have had very small amounts of vaccine, and again, they're getting to the waiting lists that they have," Borrello said.
And this isn't just an issue in Allegany County. Other rural counties are also having similar issues.