The vaccine rollout has started in Chautauqua County, but likely won’t be finished before the spring.

During a meeting this week of the county Board of Health, Christine Schuyler, county public health director and commissioner of Social Services, discussed the COVID-19 vaccination plan and how things have gone so far.

She noted that the federal government is distributing vaccines directly to hospitals and nursing homes. It also has a contract with CVS and Walgreens to go into the long-term care facilities and vaccinate staff and residents in those facilities.

The Pfizer vaccine is required to be stored at sub-degree temperatures. “What (hospitals) are receiving is what they ordered two weeks ago,” Schuyler told the health board. “That means that they had to certify that they had the freezer that could be at the extreme temperatures to store the Pfizer vaccine.”

But if the hospital didn’t have the special freezer available, that portion went to another hospital. “In our county, Brooks Hospital, I believe, received 100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for their staff and 20 doses of vaccine allocated to Westfield Hospital,” she said. That was because Westfield Memorial Hospital’s freezer wasn’t ready when the orders were placed.

The next round of vaccines will likely be of Moderna, which was approved Thursday night by an FDA advisers panel. “New York state is slated to get over 300,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine,” said Schuyler, compared to 70,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

She added that she didn’t believe UPMC Chautauqua received any Pfizer vaccines but will be receiving Moderna vaccines.

Meanwhile, Schuyler expressed her disappointment that county health departments have been left “in the dark” when it comes to the state planning for distrubtion. “We have not been allocated any vaccine. We filled out the form so we can order vaccine, but it’s not our turn yet so we don’t know how much we will get, or when it will come,” she said.

See HEALTH BOARD, Page A5

Instead, the distribution plan is being created by a regional “hub,” which in Western New York is headed by Catholic Health in Buffalo. “The regional hub is responsible for coordinating and getting all critical stake holders to ensure that there is a safe and equitible distrubtion of the vaccine to all residents in the region. That is an impossible task if public health is not intimately involved with this process,” she said.

She did add that she, along with other public health directors will be meeting via Zoom with Catholic Health to address the vaccine distribution in Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties shortly. Schuyler predicted that during that meeting, they would be forming a plan for further distribution. “Hopefully now as we begin to look at this regional approach and are actively at the table, we’ll begin to get a plan in place for our county,” she said.

Schuyer concluded by saying that although the vaccine provides a light at the end of tunnel, we’re still a long ways off from the county being vaccinated. “We are looking at spring before the general population will probably receive any vaccine. In the meantime, especially through these winter months … we really have to take care of ourselves and those that are close to us. Wear a mask, continue to wash hands, social distance and avoid large gatherings,” she said.