Senator Borrello Urging Allegany County COVID Vaccination Sites

ALBANY – Senator George Borrello is calling on Governor Cuomo and state Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker to set up COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Allegany County.

“This is an urgent need. Only 7.6 percent of Allegany County residents have received their first dose of the COVID vaccine. That’s the lowest percent in the state. We need to establish state mass vaccination clinics in Allegany County as soon as possible.”

“I’ve written a formal request to Governor Cuomo and Commissioner Zucker asking them to address this critical issue. Allegany County, like many rural communities lacks the necessary health-care facilities and health-care professionals to distribute COVID-19 vaccine quickly and efficiently to protect its residents. New York State needs to step up and help its rural residents.”

“Governor Cuomo has repeatedly pledged to deliver COVID-19 vaccine to underserved communities. While it’s laudable that Governor Cuomo has targeted underserved communities in urban areas for vaccine distribution, our rural communities are also underserved, and that needs to be recognized and addressed.”

“We need to ensure COVID-19 vaccine is distributed in equitable manner to our rural communities. Many folks in Allegany County are struggling economically and the population is older. Many residents lack the resources or ability to access vaccine appointments online.”

“Transportation is another barrier. It is completely unreasonable to expect residents of Allegany County to travel 50 or 100 miles in the dead of winter to state-run vaccination sites in Buffalo, Binghamton or Rochester.”

“The Governor has repeatedly said in his many press briefings that COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed in a fair and equitable way to all New Yorkers. That isn’t the experience of most of our rural residents. They feel abandoned and sidelined by the Governor and his administration. He needs to focus on public health, not politics.”

“We need to redefine or expand what is classified as an underserved community to include rural regions of New York State and respond with a plan that will speed vaccination in these areas. Our rural residents deserve the same access to COVID vaccine that their fellow New Yorkers have downstate.” 

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