KINGSTON – Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan has asked the governor for the state to activate a joint vaccination site at the current county-led point of dispensing location at the Kate Walton Field House at Kingston High School.
Ryan said through this proposed partnership, the county would have the capacity to vaccinate 50,000 people per month and could vaccinate all residents in two to three months once adequate supply is available.
“It is critical that here in Ulster County we have a joint site that is more accessible for our residents,” Ryan said.
The county’s main vaccination site at the high school field house has now been operational for six weeks and has the capability to vaccinate up to 50,000 residents per month but has greatly lacked supplies due to a vaccine shortage at the federal and state level.
Ryan believes that a partnership with the state would allow for all residents of the county to be inoculated in two to three months once adequate vaccine supply is available.
Presently, the nearest state-run facilities for Ulster County residents are located in Albany and Westchester counties.
“It is absolutely critical that we here in the Mid-Hudson region have a state, or a joint site, that is closer and more accessible for our residents, who cannot go to Westchester or Albany,” he said.
This week, Governor Cuomo announced additional vaccination sites will be operational in March in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Yonkers and that they will each vaccinate 1,000 New Yorkers per day.
