Thousands of Long Islanders will be able to obtain their COVID-19 vaccines from CVS pharmacies starting on Friday.
The vaccines will be distributed at 32 CVS locations across the state, including stores in Bethpage, West Sayville and Manorville, as part of a federal program.
The Manorville location has offered the photos, but the appointments are fully booked.
At the moment, the drugstore chain is receiving about 20 thousand doses per week to use in these stores, and all consultations are already full.
CVS spokesman Ed Campbell says they plan to open more locations and will have more consultations available as soon as the government sends more doses.
“There is no doubt that the demand for the vaccine exceeds the supply, so we are asking people to be patient,” says Campbell.
According to the program, vaccines will also be administered at other major pharmacies, such as Walgreens.
Suffolk County executive Steve Bellone says additional distribution locations will help, but the biggest bottleneck remains the supply from the federal government.
“This week, we’re going to give 3,200 people a chance to shoot our county pods,” said Bellone. “This will continue to increase as we move forward, but our capacity is much greater than that.”
Tony Mangiaracina, 79, makes regular purchases at Bethpage CVS. When he tried to schedule a vaccination appointment, he came to a dead end.
“We have tried hard, my wife and I, on the web,” he says. “If you can find the site, it just informs you that there are no commitments available.”
A pop-up vaccination site will also open at 9 am on Friday in Wyandanch, part of an effort to protect minority communities, which have been hard hit by the pandemic.
Congresswoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre says these appointments were also quick.
“It was just two days, not even, maybe a day and a half, not even two whole days,” she says. “For the number of people who want to be vaccinated, we don’t have the vaccine.”