BUFFALO, N.Y. — In Ohio, as of Friday, anyone over the age of 40 is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. That eligibility will expand even further starting March 29, when anyone over the age of 16 will then be eligible.
In New York, people living with comorbidities, essential workers, and people over the age of 60 are eligible to get a vaccine.
Some Western New Yorkers have been wondering if they can get a vaccine if they drive to Ohio.
Summit County Health Commissioner Donna Skoda from Akron, Ohio, said state and county health department vaccination resources are for Ohio residents only.
However, she said there is one vaccination site in Cleveland that does not have a residency requirement.
"You can go to the Wolstein Center in Cleveland because that's a federal, like I said, a FEMA site. Anybody from anywhere can go there," Skoda said.
Skoda was referring to the state-federal mass vaccination site operated at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center. 2 On Your Side called to confirm that out of state residents could make an appointment and they can.
However, there are currently no appointments available.
In terms of pharmacies, some require you live in Ohio to make an appointment, like at CVS Pharmacy, while others such as Walmart Pharmacy do not.
"People from Western New York have been driving to Syracuse, Potsdam, and beyond to get a vaccine, so for those individuals that have the luxury of time to be able to make a road trip, and are motivated to get vaccinated for whatever reason, I think this is another great opportunity to get on the vaccine carousel and get it done," according to Dr. Thomas Russo, the University at Buffalo's chief of infectious disease.
When will New York be expanding vaccine eligibility?
When 2 On Your Side reached out to the New York State Department of Health, a spokesperson referenced remarks from Governor Cuomo on March 12.
“The President's announcement last night is going to have a major ramification on states' vaccination capacity. He has moved up dramatically the amount of vaccines that are available and that is a good thing obviously. Remember when we started we were talking about June, July, August. The President is now talking about May 1. That means we have to have a tremendous increase in our capacity to vaccinate, and that is a logistical undertaking unlike anything we have done before so we're going to be preparing for that but the President's announcement that May 1 everyone will be eligible for a vaccine, what that means is in New York 15 million people will be eligible and we have to have the capacity to address those people as quickly as possible. Now the President said, it doesn't mean everybody gets a vaccine on May 1, but once you tell people they are eligible, then eligibility suggests, now I should be able to get it and we're going to have to dramatically increase our capacity to do that because we are not at that capacity now.”
On Friday, Senator Chuck Schumer announced New York's vaccine allotment will be increasing.
Schumer said the state will be receiving 1.6 million doses per week by the end of April, compared to 300,000 doses a week the state's been getting for much of winter.