'I feel protected': Long Island vaccine sites expand access to COVID-19 shots

More temporary vaccination sites popped up on Long Island on Friday — to reach senior citizens on the East End and members of the region's growing Indian community, among others — as part of a larger push by local and state governments to improve access to the COVID-19 shots.

In Melville, 237 people were vaccinated at the BAPS Hindu temple. Medical personnel from Stony Brook University Hospital administered the shots.

Snehal Shah of Nesconset was one of the recipients.

"I feel protected," he said after getting the first of the two-shot vaccine. "I feel that I am not going to be one of the ones who’s going to spread the germs around, the disease around, so I feel that I am doing my civic duty."

He said he is especially relieved because his 84-year-old mother lives with him.

The efforts continued as Long Island marked a year since the first case of the coronavirus was identified in the region, the beginning of a health crisis that had claimed 6,057 lives in Nassau and Suffolk combined, according to state figures updated Friday.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran mourned that loss, while saying the county is working to return to normal.

"On this one-year anniversary of the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Nassau County, we remember the 2,935 precious lives lost, and look forward to the future with renewed hope," Curran said in a statement.

She said Nassau "continues to lead the way" among large counties in the states "in getting residents vaccinated, which is a very positive signal for our recovery."

So far, she said more than 20% of residents have gotten at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine, which is delivered in two doses in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna formulations and as one dose with the more recent Johnson & Johnson shot.

"Although we’ve seen a major decline in cases and hospitalizations since our winter peak, we’re not out of the woods just yet," Curran added.

At the Melville site, Girish Patel, a spokesman for the temple, the largest Hindu place of worship on Long Island, said it was the first of 106 BAPS temples in the United States to run a vaccine clinic.

He said many members of the Hindu community on Long Island were afraid to get the shot because of health concerns, or needed translators to help fill out forms or register on websites. BAPS volunteers worked with them, including to persuade them the vaccine was good for them and others.

"Some of them are really scared to get the vaccine," Patel said. "Now they are so happy they got the vaccine."

Patel said the temple now has a waiting list of 150 more people who want to get vaccinated, and is hoping the state authorizes a second clinic.

Shots for seniors and teachers

In Riverhead, the local senior center began vaccinating seniors age 65 and over on Friday morning, Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said.

Vaccinations will take place over four days, and 500 seniors had signed up. Roughly 250 local seniors are expected to be vaccinated each day, and 1,000 seniors in total are expected to receive the Moderna vaccine by the end of Tuesday, Aguiar said.

"Riverhead has one of the largest senior populations, and after advocating to bring vaccines to the senior center, the state heard our call, and I thank the state for hearing our voices," Aguiar said.

Meanwhile, Nassau County and Mount Sinai South Nassau launched a pilot program to vaccinate teachers and school staff members from the Island Park, Long Beach, Oceanside and Rockville Centre school districts.

The Teacher’s Vaccination Pilot Program on Friday planned to vaccinate 300 teachers at the hospital's vaccination center in Rockville Centre.

"We know that getting students and teachers back to full, in-person school instruction is paramount and this pilot program is essential to help normalize our schools," said Dr. Adhi Sharma, chief medical officer at Mount Sinai South Nassau.

Kevin Kennedy, a social studies teacher at South Side High School in Rockville Centre, said he had tried unsuccessfully for weeks to secure a vaccination appointment at state-run sites.

"I am relieved and quite happy," Kennedy said Friday. "It’s been a long time coming."

Positivity levels in testing for COVID-19 continued to level off. The statewide seven-day average was 3.16%, with a level of 4.21% on Long Island.

The number of new confirmed cases from test results Thursday was 789 in Nassau County, 750 in Suffolk County, and 4,856 in New York City.

Statewide, a total of 94 people died of coronavirus-related causes on Thursday.

LI woman sues to visit husband in nursing home

A lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court asks that the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook be ordered to allow a woman to visit her husband of 60 years.

Mary Mauro wants to visit her husband, Mario Mauro, who has been in the nursing home since Jan. 9, 2020, states the suit, which was filed by Holtsville attorney Joseph Mauro. He did not return calls for comment. It’s unclear what his relationship is to Mary and Mario Mauro.

Members of Mario Mauro’s immediate family had assisted with his feeding before visitation was barred in March, and since then, his weight dropped from 142 to 110 pounds, the suit says.

The visitation ban "prevented Mrs. Mauro from helping to feed her husband and has led to Mr. Mauro losing over 30 pounds, which now threatens his life," the suit says.

The state has stringent rules on nursing home visitation, but the suit says that a Feb. 22 state health department directive allowing "compassionate care visits" for some residents who have lost weight and may need support from loved ones covers the Mauros’ situation.

"There is simply no risk posed by Plaintiff Mary Mauro entering the facility to help care for her husband" because both are vaccinated against COVID-19, Mary Mauro would wear a mask and not interact with anyone else at the facility, and her husband never leaves his room, the suit states.

The suit seeks unspecified damages in addition to an order preventing the home from barring her visits.

Stony Brook Medicine said it does not comment on pending litigation. Cuomo adviser Richard Azzopardi said the governor's office doesn't comment on litigation.

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