Covid-19 vaccines finally reach CNY doctors offices, where familiar faces give the shots – syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. The St. Josephs Health primary care offices placed an order Jan. 11 for 1,200 Covid-19 vaccines for patients at its six physicians offices.

On Friday, the first batch of 600 doses finally arrived, and theyll all be gone by this week.

Over the past week, Central New York doctors offices have received the first shipment of vaccines to directly administer in their offices. The hundreds of doses are a trickle compared to the state-run mass vaccination sites that give thousands of shots a day, but its a big relief for patients intimidated by online signups and sprawling, busy clinics like the state fairgrounds.

This is reaching patients who want to get it from their physician directly, said Julianne Himes, chief executive officer of St. Josephs Physicians. Some of our older patients feel more comfortable having it from somebody theyre familiar with, from the nurse who always gives them their shots.

Many elderly patients also dont drive or have other transportation issues, and they are often uncomfortable going to the big vaccination sites like the OnCenter or fairgrounds.

They see them as big and daunting, and theyre worried about parking, said Himes, a physician assistant.

Doctors have been clambering for the vaccines since the first doses were released in December. The state Department of Health chose instead to funnel the vaccine to large sites capable of giving thousands of shots a day. In a 48-hour period earlier this month, the Expo Center clinic at the state fairgrounds administered more than 18,600 Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

While doctors waited for doses in February and March, Onondaga County allotted a selected number of vaccine appointments to doctors offices to get their most vulnerable patients vaccinated. The St. Josephs practice got 100 slots, so they worked the phones to schedule patients, Himes said.

Having the doses in the office gives patients more comfort and flexibility, doctors say. Marcellus Family Medicine this week got its first 100 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, and theyre already spoken for.

Its not much, but its definitely been able to allow us to vaccinate people who have not been able to get signed up, said Dr. John Alley, one of two doctors at the Marcellus practice. Its also allowed us to vaccinate some of our homebound, at-risk patients who cannot get to a vaccination center.

Alley drove to the homes of two patients to administer their shots.

We make house calls, he said.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes those house calls a little easier because its just one shot, unlike the Pfizer and Moderna, which each require two injections given weeks apart.

Giving Covid-19 shots in the office is a logistical challenge. A vial of Moderna, the vaccine being used by St. Josephs, contains 10 doses that must be used within six hours of opening. To make sure doses dont go to waste, St. Josephs created a separate area and dedicated staff to in-office vaccination clinics at its busiest locations, Liverpool and Fayetteville.

There have been a handful of no-shows, Himes said, but those extra doses were given to other patients who met the states eligibility criteria, she said.

We have pulled patients from the practice who were there for a visit with their doctor and asked if they wanted to receive the vaccine, she said. In all cases we were able to use our doses from those.

Medical practices said they dont know when theyll get more vaccines. Demand is likely to increase next week, when the state opens eligibility to all New Yorkers 16 years and older.

While family doctors are giving few shots now, they may become increasingly important as the supply of vaccine exceeds those who want or are willing to get one. Some experts fear that vaccine hesitancy the reluctance or refusal of people to get what some consider a rushed or incompletely tested medicine could slow efforts to bring the pandemic under control.

Through trusted relationships with patients, doctors can chip away at that hesitancy, said Dr. Mitchell Brodey, chief executive officer of the Family Medical Care Group.

When you go to your doctor, you trust the doctor, said Brodey, whose sprawling group started giving vaccines last week. If your doctor says do it, youll do it.

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Covid-19 vaccines finally reach CNY doctors offices, where familiar faces give the shots - syracuse.com