Long Islanders struggle to secure appointment for COVID-19 vaccination
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is a life or death proposition to Kelly Groom.
The 51-year-old Wantagh mother of two has metastatic breast cancer and has just two to five years to live — a life span she believes will be shortened if she contracts the virus, because of her body's inability to fight off infection.
But Groom is among the tens of thousands of Long Islanders who have been unable — or in her case, prevented by state guidelines — to sign up and grab an elusive vaccine appointment.
"I do not begrudge anyone else getting the vaccine," Groom said Friday. "But there's something terribly wrong when a healthy 65-year-old can get it and someone who has cancer can't."
The state's vaccine rollout faced harsh criticism this past week after eligibility was expanded, first to seniors 75 and older and then, following federal guidelines, to New Yorkers 65 and older. The group of 7 million eligible New Yorkers now includes health care workers, first responders, transit employees, teachers and grocery store workers.
Immunocompromised individuals like Groom are expected to be in the next batch of eligible people as the state works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reach a clear definition of who would qualify.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said during his Friday coronavirus briefing that he is empathetic to people with preexisting conditions, but referred to the discussion of how to define such conditions.
"We're talking to the federal officials, we're talking to the incoming federal administration, and we want to get more guidance, and we're looking at numbers on how we could define that category," he said.
Groom says time is not on her side.
"The vaccine is the difference of me dying at home with my family or me dying alone on a ventilator in a hospital," she said. "That's what the vaccine means to me. I know I am going to die. And some might say, 'You're going to die anyway. Why do you need a vaccine?' But I have a lot more years. I do. I am not dying tomorrow."
Even for healthy New Yorkers, the vaccine distribution system has become a source of unending frustration, technological resentment and karmic good fortune.
Not since Willy Wonka awarded five "Golden Tickets" has a prize been so valuable to the masses yet so elusive to so many.
"We have spent many hours on hold, listening to ringing phone sounds, filling out qualification forms that then don't link as promised to appointment forms," wrote Fred Kruger, 81, a retired neuroscientist from Commack who has been unable to book an appointment for himself and his 76-year-old wife, Barbara.
Cuomo has pinned the blame on the federal government, which has distributed to the state only about 300,000 doses per week — the amount drops to 250,000 in the coming week, state officials said — a figure insufficient to serve 7 million eligible New Yorkers.
"Our constraint is the federal supply … and that is creating pressure on what was supposed to be the prioritization process," Cuomo said Friday, one day after the state opened its first drive-thru mass vaccination site at Jones Beach State Park.
But many Long Islanders who reached out to Newsday in the past week blamed the Cuomo administration, arguing that it should not have expanded eligibility to those 65 and older before first vaccinating those over the age of 75.
A scarcity of appointments is not the only problem.
Critics point to a glitchy state-run online sign-up and screening system that frequently freezes or crashes. A COVID hotline has been equally problematic — many Long Islanders told stories of being repeatedly disconnected when transferring to an operator — and the phone number on Friday instructed callers that it is "temporarily unavailable" because of high call volume.
And those lucky enough to make an appointment soon discover they can't secure a spot for their spouse or child. Only one appointment can be made at a time.
"It's just very, very frustrating," said Shari Morris of Plainview, who has been waking up at 3 a.m. trying to make an appointment for her 87-year-old mother, Beverly Kepkey of Old Bethpage. "It's like a job. I just stay at it all day long refreshing pages and trying. And I can't get anyplace."
Cuomo and administration officials have urged patience, arguing that IT teams were working on the system. But with demand for the vaccine exceeding supply, they contend their hands are tied until Washington releases more doses of the vaccine.
The crush was vividly illustrated at Jones Beach this past week, where the state made 55,200 appointments available. All of those spots were filled within two days, said Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's top aide.
Checking beyond the county's boundaries proved no more fruitful. Long Islanders eligible to receive the vaccine checking for appointments at state-run sites as far as Plattsburgh and Buffalo on Friday received a message from the state health department stating, "Due to high volume, this site is temporarily unavailable. Please be patient and try again later."
Heidi Cavosi, 52, of Massapequa, has been trying to make appointments for her parents, Richard Zimmerman, 84, and Thelma Zimmerman, 80, of Lynbrook.
"I know the situation we're all in," Cavosi said. "It hasn't been easy for anybody. … We made it 10 months and now you see the prize at the end and you want to get that. And it's just frustrating because there are these obstacles in your way. And everyone is facing the same thing. Everyone has a right to get the vaccine. It really is just the luck of the draw."
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
