Thousands of Long Islanders can get their COVID-19 vaccinations at CVS pharmacies from Friday.
Vaccinations are distributed at 32 CVS locations throughout the state, including stores in Bethpage, West Sayville and Manorville, as part of a federal program.
The place in Manorville offers the shots, but appointments are fully booked.
At present, the pharmacy chain receives about 20,000 doses per week to use in those stores, and all the appointments have already been fully booked.
CVS spokesman Ed Campbell says they plan to open additional locations and will have more appointments available once the government sends more doses.
“There is no doubt that the demand for the vaccine outweighs the supply, which is why we ask people to be patient,” says Campbell.
Under the program, vaccines will also be administered at other major pharmacies such as Walgreens.
Suffolk County manager Steve Bellone says the additional distribution sites will help, but the biggest bottleneck remains the offer coming from the federal government.
“This week we are going to give 3,200 people the chance to take our counties,” Bellone said. “It will continue to increase as we move forward, but our capacity is much greater than that.”
Tony Mangiaracina (79) regularly buys at the Bethpage CVS. When he tried to book an appointment for a vaccination, he got a dead end.
“We tried a lot, my wife and I, on the web,” he says. “If you can find the site, it is only mentioned that no appointments are available.”
A pop-up vaccination site will also open Friday at 9 a.m. in Wyandanch, as part of an effort to protect minority communities affected by the pandemic.
Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre says the appointments also went quickly.
“It only took two days, not even, maybe a day and a half, not even a full two days,” she says. “The vaccine is not needed for the number of people who want to be vaccinated.”