Hundreds of spots available for Covid vaccine clinic Monday in Ridgeway

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 April 2021 at 9:43 am

Orleans currently has lowest vaccination rate among 62 counties in state

Photo by Tom Rivers: Ridgeway Fire Hall hosted a vaccine clinic last Thursday on Route 104.

RIDGEWAY – There are hundreds of appointments available as of this morning for a Covid-19 vaccine clinic on Monday at the Ridgeway Fire Hall.

The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments will be administering the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. The clinic is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. To register, click here. As of 9:42 a.m., there were 454 spots available.

The Health Departments are targeting Orleans and Genesee residents with the clinic, but is open for any New York State individuals who reside, work or study in the state.

Paul Pettit, the public health director for Orleans and Genesee, urges residents to get vaccinated.

“The vaccine is here,” Pettit said during a conference call this week with local elected officials. “We have open spots. There is no reason we can’t improve our rates.”

Orleans County currently has the lowest vaccination rate among the 62 counties in the state. In Orleans, 25.6 percent of the residents have had at least one vaccine shot. Bronx County is the next lowest at 25.9 percent, with Fulton at 26.6 percent, Tioga at 26.7 percent, Allegany at 26.8 percent at Kings at 27.4 percent.

Orleans is behind the state average of 35.1 percent and trails the 37.2 percent in the nine-county Finger Lakes Region, according to the state’s Vaccine Tracker.

Neighboring Genesee County is at 32.8 percent, and Wyoming County is at 29.7 percent. Wyoming is similar in population to Orleans, 40,612 in Orleans and 40,085 in Wyoming. But Wyoming has about 1,400 more residents with at least one vaccine dose – 11,891 in Wyoming compared to 10,414 in Orleans.

The clinic in Ridgeway on Monday is open to anyone 18 and older. Those who get the vaccine on Monday need to commit to returning for the second dose 28 days later.