Oneida County expands vaccine waiting list to age 18-49 group

UTICA, N.Y. —Oneida County has expanded its excess-vaccine waiting list to include everyone age 18-49.

County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. said the county is now accepting registration from residents age 18-49 who want to be notified when excess vaccine doses are available at county-operated pods. Those who apply will be put on a waiting list and contacted for an appointment regardless of state-eligibility requirements (only age 50-plus individuals are currently eligible in New York unless they have a comorbidity or work in a certain profession). Waiting-list registrants will be contacted by Oneida County by email, text, or phone if an extra vaccine dose becomes available.

“The key to pushing through to the other side of this pandemic is to vaccinate as many people as possible,” Picente said Wednesday in announcing the waiting-list expansion and another effort to vaccinate more than 100 homebound residents in the county. “Whether it’s expanding the eligibility to more of our community [or] reaching more people who have limited access to dosages … we must move Oneida County forward.”

The waiting list can be accessed here.

Picente said more than 100 county residents who are homebound due to a disability or mobility impairment are being vaccinated this week by the Oneida County Health Department. Last week, nearly 400 home residents were vaccinated through a partnership with Upstate Family Health Center.

Those who would like to be considered for future homebound-vaccination appointments can call (315) 798-5439.

More than 70,000 Oneida County residents, or nearly 31 percent of the total population, had received at least one vaccine dose, as of Thursday morning, according to state data.