ONEONTA TO HOST
VACCINATION SITE,
BLISS ANNOUNCES
By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – The state will open a vaccination center in SUNY Oneonta’s Dewar Arena in the next few weeks, county board Chairman David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield, announced a few minutes ago.
The Oneonta site was one of 10 Governor Cuomo announced at his press briefing this morning, and is the only new one in the Mohawk Valley region, which includes Otsego County.
“It’s absolutely a good thing,” said Bliss. “I’ve been advocating it – as has (Oneonta Mayor) Gary Herzig – for the past couple of months. Peter Oberacker jumped in Friday; I sure that was helpful, too.”
The site will be hosted by SUNY Oneonta and administered by Bassett Healthcare Network.
For now, the new site would offer vaccinations to groups 1A (co-morbidity) and 1B (65 and older), but Bliss, whose a member of the Mohawk Valley control room, which received twice-weekly meetings from Albany, said “there’s been some noise about lowering it to 55 and older, but that hasn’t happened yet.”
Of the new sites, three are on Long Island, two in the Hudson Valley, and others in the Capitol Region, the Southern Tier and Western New York.
The lack of vaccines has slowed the opening of the Oneonta site, so, with the approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last weekend, this signals an anticipated expansion of the vaccine supply, Bliss said.
As with the other sites around the state, the local one will be open to any state resident who registers on the state’s “Am I Eligible” site.
I’m 70 and have been trying hard to find a place to get a vaccination
I will be 65 in July and a diabetic. my son works at price chopper and has a learning disability
We would like to get the shot
Eventhough I was able to get a ticket for last Saturday’s covid shot at Cooperstown, I was refused because of not being a resident of Otsego county. Rediculous.