BUFFALO, N.Y. — By the end of the week, more than 64,000 COVID-19 vaccines will have been distributed across the Western New York region according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.
Phase 1 started around mid-December and is ongoing. Those eligible include health care workers, including EMS and high-risk nursing home residents.
One group notably left out of the initial vaccine distribution has been first responders, who often fill a number of roles when responding to emergency calls especially during a pandemic.
"We're walking in and some of these people are very sick," Kenmore Fire Chief David McGregor said.
Added AMR Chief EMS Officer Scott Karaszewski: "Some people aren't even symptomatic, so you could walk into somebody's house with no symptoms whatsoever, and they could be positive and contagious.".
First responders include police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs. Each job is inherently risky even without a pandemic, but Karaszewski told 2 On Your Side that some worry is being eliminated.
AMR is not requiring vaccination, but EMS workers with the company can voluntarily sign up to get it.
"You're fighting the unknown right, it's invisible, so to try and give them this added protection has been a relief for the providers," Karaszewski said.
The same relief can't be felt by firefighters and police officers who, although also first responders and handle similar situations on a daily basis, are currently waiting for Phase 2.
"I definitely agree that the doctors and nurses should have gotten it first but I think the police officers the firefighters should have been included in frontline," Chief McGregor said.
While McGregor said seven or eight firefighters in his department have been vaccinated, it's only because the Kenmore Fire Department also runs EMS, which isn't the case for every fire department in Western New York.
McGregor used North Tonawanda as an example.
"So the problem that NYS needs to tackle is getting just the regular firefighters and police officers vaccinated and by the sounds of it it's going to be a ways down the road for them," McGregor added.
And until Phase 2 begins, a gap will still exist.
New York State has not indicated when the next stage of vaccine distribution, which also includes teachers, public health workers, and grocery store employees, will begin.