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Buffalo Residents Driving to Syracuse to get Vaccinated Buffalo Residents Driving to Syracuse to get Vaccinated

By Louise Rath

Image of billboard outside of the NYS Fairgrounds with a photo that says "Vaccinate New York" on the screen.
© 2021 Louise Rath

REPORTER: Onondaga county executive Ryan McMahon says it’s getting harder to fill vaccination appointments in Syracuse, and he’s certainly not the only person seeing this. People from Buffalo are driving overnight to Syracuse to get vaccinated. Some are coming specifically for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which the vaccination site at the New York State Fairgrounds offers nightly. Dr. Brian Poliner is from just outside of Buffalo, and he was vaccinated at the overnight clinic in Syracuse over the weekend.

DR. BRIAN POLINER: There was someone there that I just happened to talk with them and they had a Buffalo Bills sweatshirt on and they were they were from Buffalo too.

REPORTER: Poliner came to Syracuse specifically for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, but Jeffrey Zeplowitz plans on driving to Syracuse for the two-dose Pfizer vaccine due to a lack of available appointments in Buffalo.

JEFFREY ZEPLOWITZ: I think this was the earliest and easiest way to get the shot instead of you know, waiting until April or May.

REPORTER: I’m Louise Rath, NCC news.

Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News)  People from regions across upstate New York are taking full advantage of the large supply of COVID-19 vaccines in Syracuse.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said in a COVID-19 update on Monday that the county is having a hard time filling vaccine appointment slots.

With vaccine appointments in Buffalo filled up until April, some are driving to Syracuse’s clinic at the New York State Fairgrounds to get vaccinated.

Dr. Brian Poliner of Clarence, NY, was vaccinated early Sunday morning at the NYS Fairgrounds, and he certainly wasn’t the only person from Buffalo who made the trip that night.

“There was someone there that I just happened to talk with them and they had a Buffalo Bills sweatshirt on and they were they were from Buffalo too.”

Poliner’s main reason for driving to Syracuse was to get the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is offered at overnight clinics open from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. at the NYS Fairgrounds.

Jeffrey Zeplowitz of Amherst, NY, plans to drive to Syracuse in a few weeks for his vaccination appointment.

He is getting the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, because he would have had to wait at least another month to get vaccinated in Buffalo.

“I think this was the earliest and easiest way to get the shot instead of you know, waiting until April or May.”

 

 

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