Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is raising concerns over the distribution of vaccines at the newly opened Genesee Community College COVID-19 vaccination site. Of the 3,500 vaccines allotted to the site, less than 25% of those vaccines were given to nearby residents living in Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming counties. Vaccination rates in these three counties collectively have lagged behind the 16.2% state average, as combined their vaccination rate is 13.8%.

“This statewide free-for-all for vaccines is leaving rural New Yorkers behind, and is causing people from all throughout the state to come to our community to use up the small allocation of vaccines our community desperately needs,” said Hawley. “We need to be smarter about ensuring vaccines given to a community stay in that community, rather than allowing a statewide scramble for shots which keeps doses out of the arms of those who need them most in rural areas.”