ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVB)–All scheduled Erie County Department of Health Points of Distribution Clinics for this upcoming Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday have been canceled.
County Health officials tell us this includes locations at Erie Community College South and Erie Community College North.
These cancellations come after the state informed the ECDOH that its vaccine allocation will be dramatically reduced from the expected amount.
Officials say they cannot order vaccine directly from the manufacturer or the federal government, so they are dependent on New York State.
The ECDOH says their weekly orders of 10,000 doses are only being partially filled.
According to the health department, the state notified them Friday night that they will receive 1,700 doses from the state for the entire week.
“There does not appear to be any other doses that could be transferred from another entity to ECDOH,” officials wrote in a release Saturday.
Officials say all future appointments should be considered tentative, and are subject to vaccine availability.
Upcoming first-dose appointments will be cancelled if the Erie County Health Department does not receive additional doses from the state.
Individuals who have scheduled second-dose appointments at ECDOH PODs are not affected by these cancellations, county health officials tell News 4.
The cancellations are affecting more than 3,500 individuals who have scheduled appointments. The county says emails and a robocall are planned to make individual notifications about the cancellations.
“Those affected will be offered an appointment at a future POD site once a vaccine supply is secured,” the ECDOH wrote.
Erie County Department of Health officials say this does not affect scheduled appointments at non-ECDOH sites including, pharmacies, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), hospitals, and state sites.
