NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Many more New Yorkers became eligible Tuesday to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The state has now expanded to those who are 30 years old and older.
But getting an appointment for many, still remains difficult. We're taking a look at where new appointments are available. Usually local health departments and pharmacies get their vaccine doses at the beginning of the week and then start putting those appointments online for clinics later in the week.
With many millennials now becoming eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, some local pharmacies tells us that has resulted in increased website activity and calls.
"Definitely, there's an increase in demand, so we have seen more of a demand for booking appointments and more questions coming in from customers as well," said Frank Pietrantoni, pharmacy operations manager at Wegmans.
In Niagara County, the county health department released 800 appointments online at noon Tuesday. They were all gone in 45 minutes.
"It means the people who are quickest on the computer get it and that doesn't mean the people most in need are getting it - it means the people quickest on the cell phone, the computer, have broadband are getting it so that's a concern that I have," said Dan Stapleton, Niagara County's public health director.
Appointments in Genesee County went fast as well.
"We’re hopeful that we can get as many shots in arms as quickly as we can to try to combat cases we have seen a little bit of an uptick in cases in the last week or two," said Paul Pettit, the public health director for Genesee and Orleans counties.
Appointments in some other rural counties such as in Chautauqua County and Allegany County have been slower to fill.
"Our appointments actually in Genesee and Orleans County and a lot of the rural counties were reporting similar scenarios where the clinics weren’t filling as fast," Pettit said.
On the state’s Am I Eligible website, the closest place we could find appointments available was at the Rochester Dome Arena.
If you’re interested in getting vaccinated through a pharmacy, you may have to travel, we found no appointments locally at major pharmacies in the Buffalo-Niagara region. But vaccine supply can change on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, and people are encouraged to check back.
Pettit says there should be another link for Genesee Community College, opening up in the next day or two with 1,000 appointments available.
As a reminder, people who are 16 years old and older will become eligible one week from Tuesday. That’s when the state will hit universal eligibility.