As the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more readily available to distribute to the general population, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc has the Town poised for action. He shared an update on the Town’s plan and ability to vaccinate with Hamptons.com. “We are ready to administer as soon as doses are made available,” he told us. “We have no control over the number of doses we might get or who we will be required to vaccinate. This could possibly change once the vaccine is more widely available.”
There has been a lot of speculation via media reports about where an official COVID-19 vaccine location may be set up. There are reports of East End folks traveling way upstate or deep into New York City for their vaccine shots. When asked about his view on when, or if a convenient location will be available soon in East Hampton, the Supervisor offered this, “Pop-up PODS are happening at various locations being administered by the state, county, pharmacies, and medical centers. I remain optimistic that all of our efforts to put together a dedicated vaccination site will greatly improve our resident’s chances for receiving vaccine.”
As far as how effective and long the vaccine will be in arresting the negative and perilous effects of this deadly virus, well that is the riddle whose answer contains our future. Dr. Geoffrey Kaplan said during a phone call, “The problem with the short testing period is there is no accurate way to determine the length of the effectiveness of the vaccination. When you do a five-year test, you get more accurate long-term data across the board.”
The general consensus seems to be to get as many vaccinated as safely and quickly as possible, arrest the spread of the virus, and then hopefully plot the best paths to contain the virus for as long as possible.