Theresa Schrantz, LPN, administers the 3,500 vaccine dose to Stephen Romanik.

Brooks-TLC Hospital System Inc. reached a milestone last week.

Hospital officials in a news release Monday announced it administered its 3,500th vaccine dose to community member, Stephen Romanik, 20, of Silver Creek.

Brooks-TLC has been designated a vaccination site by the state Department of Health and regularly schedules public clinics for eligible community members as soon as vaccine supply arrives at the hospital.

“Vaccine clinics have become a well-oiled machine,” shares Ken Morris, chief operating officer. “Community members are typically in and out within 30 minutes, including post-vaccine observation time.”

Through Sunday, more than 29% of Chautauqua County residents had their first shot.

“The 3,500-dose milestone is a testament to the outstanding teamwork among hospital departments,” Morris said. “We are grateful to our staff for volunteering for this additional duty. The clinics have been a tremendous benefit to our community and we plan to continue offering the vaccine into the foreseeable future.”

Community members are encouraged to regularly check for new clinic appointments on the hospital website at www.brookshospital.org as new clinics are steadily added.

In related news, New York state residents over 30 will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations starting Tuesday, and everyone over 16 will be eligible starting April 6, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.

Vaccine eligibility had previously been restricted to people over 50, people in certain job categories and those with health conditions that put them at risk for serious illness if they were to become infected with the coronavirus. Previously, 12.2 million out of over 15 million New Yorkers over the age of 16 were eligible for COVID-19 vaccination as of last week.

People over the age of 30 can begin booking appointments at 8 a.m. today.

“Today we take a monumental step forward in the fight to beat COVID,” the Democratic governor said in a news release, adding that the new timetable was “well ahead of the May 1 deadline set by the White House.”

Locally, the number of Chautauqua County residents with the virus in the hospital dropped to two, in addition to 63 new confirmed cases announced Monday. There have been 8,182 cases to date in addition to 7,889 recoveries and 142 virus-related deaths.

There are currently 151 active cases, 395 people in quarantine and a seven-day positivity rate of 1.2%.