Who's Next? Oneida County Ready To Vaccinate

As New York State again expands the list of those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente is encouraging local residents who can get inoculated to roll up their sleeves and do so.

Those 'eligible' to get the vaccine further opened on Monday to now include first responders, like fire fighters, police officers, investigators, corrections officers and other law enforcement, along with local teachers, public transit employees, and those 75 and older (For a detailed list, see below).

Picente says a POD (Point of Distribution) is up and running at Mohawk Valley Community College's Jorgensen Center on the Utica campus - open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The county received some 3,000 doses last week and is due to receive another 1,300 on Tuesday, he said. As of this posting, a few appointments remained open for this week, but are filling up quickly.

The MVCC POD is in addition to one hosted by Mohawk Valley Health System, open 7 days a week at the St. Elizabeth College of Nursing.

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As more doses continue to roll in and become available, the county executive said the hours, days and locations of those PODs would be expanded to quickly provided available doses to those who are eligible. Obviously, as days and weeks go by, the 'eligible list' will further expand.

When asked if he had a timeline in mind for vaccinating all county residents who wished to receive one, Picente said Governor Cuomo has vaguely discussed April as being a possible date for all state residents. But, Picente believes it is possible that if all goes well, that goal could be achieved sometime in March.

Below is the list of New Yorkers eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, as of January 11, 2021:

Eligible New Yorkers in Phase 1a and 1b are:
High-risk hospital workers (emergency room workers, ICU staff and Pulmonary Department staff)
Residents and staff at nursing homes and other congregate care facilities
Federally Qualified Health Center employees
EMS workers
Coroners, medical examiners and certain funeral workers
Staff and residents at OPWDD, OMH and OASAS facilities
Urgent Care providers
Individuals administering COVID-19 vaccines, including local health department staff
All Outpatient/Ambulatory front-line, high-risk health care workers of any age who provide direct in-person patient care
All staff who are in direct contact with patients (i.e., intake staff)
All front-line, high-risk public health workers who have direct contact with patients, including those conducting COVID-19 tests, handling COVID-19 specimens and COVID-19 vaccinations
This includes, but is not limited to,
Doctors who work in private medical practices and their staff
Doctors who work in hospital-affiliated medical practices and their staff
Doctors who work in public health clinics and their staff
Registered Nurses
Specialty medical practices of all types
Dentists and Orthodontists and their staff
Psychiatrists and Psychologists and their staff
Physical Therapists and their staff
Optometrists and their staff
Pharmacists and Pharmacy Aides
Home care workers
Hospice workers
Staff of nursing homes/skilled nursing facilities who did not receive COVID vaccination through the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program
Beginning January 11, 2021 Eligible New Yorkers in Phase 1b:
Individuals Age 75 and older
First Responders and Support Staff for First Responder Agency
Fire Service
§ State Fire Service, including firefighters and investigators (professional and volunteer)
§ Local Fire Services, including firefighters and investigators (professional and volunteer)
Police and Investigators
§ State Police, including Troopers
§ State Park Police, DEC Police, Forest Rangers
§ SUNY Police
§ Sheriffs' Offices
§ County Police Departments and Police Districts
§ City, Town, and Village Police Departments
§ Transit or other Public Authority Police Departments
§ State Field Investigators, including Department of Motor Vehicles, State Commission of Correction, Justice Center, Department of Financial Services, Inspector General, Department of Tax and Finance, Office of Children and Family Services and State Liquor Authority
Public Safety Communications
§ Emergency Communication and Public Safety Answering Point Personnel, including dispatchers and technicians
Other Sworn and Civilian Personnel
§ Court Officers
§ Other Police or Peace Officers
§ Support of Civilian Staff for Any of the above services, agencies, or facilities
Corrections
State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Personnel, including correction and parole officers
Local Correctional Facilities, including correction officers
Local Probation Departments, including probation officers
State Juvenile Detention and Rehabilitation Facilities
Local Juvenile Detention and Rehabilitation Facilities
P-12 Schools
P-12 school or school district faculty or staff (includes all teachers, substitute teachers, student teachers, school administrators, paraprofessional staff and support staff including bus drivers)
Contractors working in a P-12 school or school district (including contracted bus drivers)
Licensed, registered, approved or legally exempt group Childcare Providers
Employees or Support Staff of Licensed or Registered Childcare Setting
Public Transit
Airline and airport employees
Passenger railroad employees
Subway and mass transit employees (i.e., MTA, LIRR, Metro North, NYC Transit, Upstate transit)
Ferry employees
Port Authority employees
Public bus employees
Individuals living in a homeless shelter where sleeping, bathing or eating accommodations must be shared with individuals and families who are not part of your household
Individual working (paid or unpaid) in a homeless shelter where sleeping, bathing or eating accommodations must be shared by individuals and families who are not part of the same household, in a position where there is potential for interaction with shelter residents
Public-facing grocery store workers
In-person college instructors