Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By Carol Tannenhauser
Mt. Sinai Hospital has cancelled all vaccination appointments from Friday, January 15th through Tuesday, January 19th — a sudden and surprising change for those who had made it onto the list. People who had appointments on those days were notified by both texts and phone calls on Thursday afternoon. Mt. Sinai released the following statement:
Unfortunately, due to sudden changes in vaccine supply, we have been forced to cancel our existing public vaccination appointments from Friday, January 15, through Tuesday, January 19. We will inform our patients when more vaccine supplies become available and reopen vaccination appointments for eligible patients. For anyone with appointments scheduled after Tuesday, we will provide updates as soon as we know more.”
Lois Wolff, 76, was “horrified” when she got the news around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. She and her husband both had appointments at Mt. Sinai this Friday morning. “We were so relieved to get them,” Wolff said. “I can’t tell you how nervous we’ve been all these months. And Mt. Sinai was very efficient! Yesterday, 24 hours to the minute, I got a text from them confirming my appointment.
”I also got a phone call about cancelling,” Wolff continued, “a live human being. I said, ‘How could you do this?’ She said, ‘Well, we’re out of them. We’ll call when we have more.’ I said, ‘What happens when you get them? Do we have to go to the end of the list?’ She said, ‘No, no, we’ll work it out.”
Mt. Sinai may not be the only hospital forced to cancel appointments. “A source at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx said the hospital has canceled recent vaccination appointments, but hasn’t offered staff a reason for doing so,” wrote the Daily News. “An official there said there are no supply issues.”
WSR has also heard through reliable sources that similar issues may be occurring at Northwell, NYU, and New York Presbyterian Hospitals. We will keep you posted.
This is an absolute disaster for us older people.
Are the federal government or state government doing a thing to right this situation? We are left in the lurch and it is becoming more and more dangerous for us.
I tried to find another site but there was no getting In Touch with any other site. What to do? What to do?
It has everything to do with trump The fed should have managed this, not the states who found themselves in competition with each other. Trump is responsible for this disaster from the beginning by not recognizing it, denying it snd doing nothing about to date.
If it was merely deBlasio and cuomo, how come the rest of our states are having the same problem getting vaccines
Trump opened vaccinations open to those 65 and up two days after 75 and up were authorized. Of course all the facilities ran out. That was another stupid thing he did just to screw us.
Wake up. Hopefully Biden will be able to get a good plan started next week.
I believe he will..
You need to stop the madness of blaming Trump for everything. The blame is clearly with Cuomo and DeBlasio. Do your research before placing blame.
Blaming Trump for city and state politician’s inability to distribute the vaccine efficiently? The last I recall under Trump/Pence, Operation Warpspeed had the vaccine in record-breaking time. Given other states successful distribution plans, doesn’t look like much of any advance planning occurred here, and yes, we the people are once again the victims of all this.
They have no vaccine to distribute
The city has almost 400,000 vaccines on hand right now.
They are averaging only 25,000 injections a day for the past 5 days. So, seems like availability is not the issue (at least not currently).
Keep dreaming that Biden will magically fix the problem of limited supply. Having personally experienced the scheduling process and getting the vaccine, I can attest to the gross incompetency of both NYS & NYC government. It has nothing to do with the Federal government once the vaccine is in the State’s hands.
Right. I have friends in West Virginia, Texas, and Kentucky who were all able to get vaccines just fine. These are people in their 30’s and 40’s because they’ve already gotten high risk groups and are moving on down. This is sooooooo not the federal government.
Kentucky has distributed 52% of the vaccines they have whereas New York has only distributed 40%.
Big surprise. Red States.
Source? Proof? Anything??
“I have friends” is not hard data
look at the numbers. kentucky has administered around 200k does. nys has administered around 370k doses.
In 1947, under a criminal self-dealing mayor named William O’Dwyer, the whole city was vaccinated for smallpox in four weeks.
True that this time supply issues make that impossible but still, what a comparison.
With over a month’s notice there was no plan.
Yes this does suck, but is anyone really that surprised? Trump has all but abandoned his duties and given up. Not that the administration ever did anything positive addressing the virus in the first place. Thanks Pence. But one gets the feeling that after Jan 20th, things will really start to get organized and rolling out. Five days and counting.
You are sadly mistaken. Nothing will ever get better as long as people like you continue placing blame with all the wrong people. Pathetic.
This has nothing to do with Trump, and everything to do with Cuomo and de Blasio.
49 y.o. got my second shot on Tuesday in Fla, back in NYC yesterday, all”s well.
There are many stories of people flying into Florida for the vaccine. Congratulations Pete and thanks for the proof of how effed up the system is. We’re residents of FloriDUH and can’t get the vaccine. FYI I’m 65 and hubby is 77. So much for priority to seniors. And obviously we’re in a seriously Red state.
Re: “This has nothing to do with Trump, and everything to do with Cuomo and de Blasio.”
Oh, Really!
Care to offer some PROOF and/or EXAMPLES…or would you rather just say, as Mr. Doubly-Impeached often said, “Everyone Knows It”
Can YOU offer proof that it’s Trump’s fault? How would another President have done it according to your expert opinion?
I went through the process and got the vaccine. The scheduling and administration processes are a mess. Those processes are the responsibility of the State & City.
YES! As usual! Friends who tried to sign up for unemployment spent hours and hours on the phone for weeks! So much inefficiency and lack of accountability. Pathetic.
Well, contrary to common west side opinion, NY is not the only state in this nation. And when other states are able to administer just fine, well…
stop until you show me numbers.
nys has delivered more doses than the states you mention
“When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans”
-Washington Post, Jan 15, 2021
Trump’s hopefully final evil act is this. Alex Azar just announced that the regime had lied about supply availability. As Bill Ackman recently said, “this is a kind of genocide of the elderly.” Amen.
This isn’t true.
Your repeated attempted to tie the vaccine distribution to genocide is disgusting, frankly.
Very good information……thanks Carol.
For those lucky enough to have received their 1st shot at Mt Sinai, does this mean there is no guarantee they will receive their 2nd shot on time?
To answer my own question, according to MSH’s website:
“Per New York State guidance, we are continuing to vaccinate our eligible employees and our voluntary faculty and staff, and we will continue to honor appointments for second doses of vaccine.”
The article clearly states that only those with appointments over a 5-day period have been canceled. What’s not to understand about that? Anyone who got the vaccine already has to wait at least 21-28 days for Dose 2 which is long after 1/19.
And just an FYI: The New York State vaccine appointment website has been overwhelmed, and it’s currently inaccessible. If you are looking for spots at the Javits convention center, you’ll have to wait until they fix the website. Very frustrating.
I understand that the NYC H+H (I am an employee) vaccine web site is easier to use (fewer questions), and to my knowledge we still are vaccinating.
It is also my understanding that the best time to receive an appointment is right after midnight, when new dates open up.
Site:
https://covid19.nychealthandhospitals.org/COVIDVaxEligibility
Please post how it went if you tried it.
Thank you for posting the link, although I already had it – it will be helpful for others.
Tried at 1 AM and now just again at 3:30 AM. No dice. I’ve been trying throughout the day every day since 75+ eligibility opened. Spending hours every day on many different websites but cannot find any open appointments within a 50 mile radius.
I agree. No appointments anywhere that non-driver age 88 can get to.
I booked through H+H, and had a great experience at Lincoln Hospital.
It was an easy trip on the 2, and I left super impressed.
There’s a sign on the corner of 72nd and Amsterdam indicating that there are covid vaccines available on 71st and Amsterdam (by the vitamin store). I couldn’t get down the block because there was a group of homeless men fighting, but I saw some kind of kiosk set up. Does anyone know what that’s all about?
It was a tent for covid testing, not vaccination.
The availability IS a political issue.
Read the latest NYTimes article
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/15/nyregion/vaccine-supply.html?campaign_id=44&emc=edit_ur_20210116&instance_id=26088&nl=new-york-today®i_id=70256288&segment_id=49477&te=1&user_id=833c7d95515653b70aa92d082215571d)
in which the Governor states:
“There was not enough vaccine for most of them. Mr. Cuomo on Friday again blamed the federal government for its slow delivery of vaccines, adding that the Trump administration’s recommendation to expand eligibility had exacerbated frustrations and shortages.”
“They increased the eligibility,” the governor said. “They did not increase the supply.”
““All of this has to do with New York State getting a limited supply of doses from the federal government,” he said, adding that, “I have much more demand, and much more capability to deliver doses, than what we’re receiving at this time.””
This one is the fault of a man that I idolized previously, Gov. Cuomo. When Mt. Sinai called to inform me that my vaccination the next day was cancelled, I asked the reason. The lady confided that vaccines were diverted by NY State from Mt. Sinai to public vaccination centers being set up at Javits Center and other places.
So the governor is padding his resume on this? Very disappointing, and dangerous for those of us in our 80’s and 90’s. It’s not an easy trip to the Javits Center, and there were no appointments when I tried it.
I was cancelled by Mt. Sinai less than a day before my appt. luckily, got dose elsewhere today. Adieu Mount Sinai
Neither zocdoc nor MyChart emailed, called or texted to cancel my appointment Friday 1/15. At 4:30 pm I trekked from UWS to 17th and 1st only to learn I was screwed. Shame on Mt. Sinai’s lousy communication system.
DO THE NUMBERS…
So far the feds have distributed about **25 million doses** of vaccine. And there are about 25 million persons aged 75 and over, and another 31 million between 65 and 75.
OF COURSE THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH DOSES AVAILABLE.
I have heard that the problem for Mt. Sinai was that the Gov. redirected their supply of vaccines that they had counted on went, instead, to the Javits Center. A site under the auspices of the Gov. That way he would get credit for the numbers that went their to receive the vaccine. This info is from a VERY reliable source who spoke with Mt Sinai staff.
You mean the same Javits Center that Trump turned into an emergency medical facility run by the US Army? If I remember correctly, Cuomo barely used either that facility or the USNS Comfort Hospital ship.
Made appointments on Monday 1/11 & got email confirms later in the day. On Thurs evening 1/14, got emails cancelling both my appointments (for 1st and 2nd shot). From what I was told from someone at Mt. Sinai, they knew they didn’t have enough vaccine on Tues. 1/12 & some people got calls then to cancel. By the time I was notified on 1/14, I could not get appointments at 7 places I tried, including Javits. Someone has a lot of explaining to do.
I am 85 and my Wife is 76.
We were very excited to be scheduled
On Sunday January 17 at 3:45 and
6:45, but then very disappointed when we got the call from Mr. Sinai to cancel our appointments.
Please let us know when you will have the Vaccine.
For all those blaming Di Blasio and Cuomo, your anger is misplaced. For the last 2 weeks or so, the state received 300,000 doses. Last week it was cut to 250,000. This is what is expected for the next few weeks. The strategic reserves that Azar and trump promised don’t exist. I also believe this is trump getting even with Cuomo for standing up to him. My husband and I had our Mt Sinai appointments cancelled. Our second appointments are also cancelled. Presbyterian/ Weil Cornell and Northwell also have no vaccine We are extremely upset.
Unfortunately, you have misunderstood the situation with the “reserve” of vaccines.
The supply chain is ramping up as expected. The only thing that has changed was that feckless politicians expanded eligibility so much that demand is no where near the supply. So, blame them for not understanding the consequences of their decision.
Besides, even if this reserve still existed this week, they would be gone next because Biden promised to get rid of them.
New York City still has over 400,000 vaccines in its possession.
Trump, his administration and the lying GOP boasted of vaccine stockpile during the campaign. It never existed. LA County will get 250,000 doses maybe, thats an iffy maybe and were expecting 2 million doses next week. Bad everywhere nut over 65 in LA County are pushed back because of the overload of cases and all medical personnel of course come first
I booked on Mount Sinai’s website for the a vaccine at 10th Ave and another at Mount Sinai for the b vaccine at Union Square. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be a problem.
Thank you guys for your incredible help in letting us know where we could get this done!
There were no vacancies at 10th Ave. to get them both done at the same place .. Just hope it won’t be a problem. No way to reach them by phone unfortunately.
I did the same and after getting Dose 1, I went to the other location to find out if I could get Dose 2 there. They firmly told me that they will not give me Dose 2 at a different location. It has to do with how the doses are allocated to prevent an imbalance.
India today began innovating 1.300,000,000.Yes. What is wrong with America?
What does beginning even mean in the context of this discussion? Every geographical area is beginning.
I was beyond just upset. I am 78 and was so thrilled to be getting the vaccine so soon. I felt that I would finally feel protected and when I got the email canceling my appointment I felt angry and depressed! I live alone and spent so much time by myself early on during the pandemic and had great difficulty getting out due to an accident in June. I’ve had several covid tests which were negative but hoped that the vaccine would give me an
extra boost . I fault the government for their poor planning and distribution of the vaccine.
My heart goes out to those who had their appointments at Mt Sinai cancelled. I am a health care worker who was vaccinated early at my health care center and I would have been devastated had that happened to me.
However, I was always dubious about these early Mt Sinai vaccine appointments for the general public. As far as I knew, Mt Sinai was the only private hospital in Manhattan and maybe all of NYC offering the vaccine to the public in the very fist days of the 1b rollout last week. Why only them? What was different about Mt Sinai? I have a feeling this debacle is Mt Sinai’s fault. The other hospitals like NYU and Weill Cornell have waited to offer it to outpatients and still have not rolled out their programs fully. Maybe they knew something that Sinai chose to ignore?
The same exact thing happened to me. I think that the important point is for Mt. Sinai to help all the people in this situation obtain new appointments. This is the right and fair thing to do. I hope that the administration follows that path.
So, this is interesting. NY State has a vaccine tracker. According to that tracker, NY has received about 1 million first doses, and distributed about 750,000 of doses.
https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/covid-19-vaccine-tracker
HOWEVER, CDC claims that NY has received 1.8 million doses, and only distributed about 750,000. Which is true?
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
Since NO STATE, according to the CDC, is doing very well administering these doses (the top state is WV, with only 65% distribution), including FL (40%), which is giving doses to basically anyone who shows up, I have little faith in CDC’s numbers.
i was cancelled for appointment on January 16….no-one will answer regarding the ability to re-book appt………..HELP? please
My parents are 87 and live in Manhattan. My dad has a heart condition. Tried countless places throughout nyc, Westchester and Long Island nothing available. Can’t check main website b/c it lists they already received vaccine yesterday and won’t let me clear it. How can I get them an appointment ASAP/
Look Trump is a very mentally sick man and thank god he is leaving stop even mentioning him waste of time and energy. Let’s just focus on getting vaccines
My Mount Sinai Primary Care Physician, Dr. Jennifer Weintraub,called me at 2:40 PM, Wed., Jan. 20, to tell me that vaccinations were ongoing in the lobby of Mount Sinai Hospital, 1190 Fifth Ave. I took a taxi there in 10 minutes, waited on line for 1 hr & 25 minutes and then got my Pfizer vax. Without my WONDERFUL doctor, after 2 weeks of trying everywhere I was about to give up. The best part is that Dr. W. is also an Upper West Sider. She’s the B – E – S – T!