Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell has called on the state to give the county more leeway to vaccinate those residents that county officials deem essential. County Executive Odell is demanding the state add highway department workers to the list of essential workers eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and she is advocating for a teacher-only vaccination site in an effort to get schools fully open and students back in classrooms, where they belong.
“Parents are not only overworked and overwhelmed, they are worried sick about their children falling behind and not succeeding,” Odell said. “We need to get children back in school, and to do so, we need more vaccine – specifically for teachers. Our county health department could set up a vaccine POD just for teachers and we could have every educator inoculated in no time, if the state would just give us the vaccine and the go-ahead to set up a teachers-only site.”
Because of inclement weather throughout the nation, Putnam County did not receive its shipment of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for the week of Feb. 15. On Monday Feb. 22, the county received a shipment of 500 doses. Of those, 200 will be used for those who were due for second doses on Feb. 18 and those scheduled for second doses on Feb. 25; 100 will be administered to those with developmental disabilities, as required by the state; and the remaining 200 will go to essential workers and those with certain underlying medical conditions.
A POD for first doses of vaccine is being planned for certain essential workers and those with underlying medical conditions on Thursday, February 25 at the Philipstown Recreation Center. A limited number of doses are available at this time however we anticipate receiving more vaccine and will continue to schedule appointments as vaccine arrives.
The registration link will be shared on the health department website at putnamcountyny.com/health and health department social media channels once clinic details are confirmed.