Jones Beach Vax Site

Jones Beach mass vaccination site closes

The mass vaccination site at Jones Beach, along with three other New York state sites, shut down in July.

The Wantagh vaccination site ceased operations on July 19. The makeshift sites at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls, Plattsburgh International Airport and SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica also closed that week.

The closures came roughly one month after then Gov. Cuomo announced restrictions would be lifted for residents after 70 percent of New Yorkers had received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Cuomo said that additional sites would shutter as part of the effort prioritize local vaccination efforts.

“We are continuing to target communities that have lower vaccination rates and using every tool at our disposal to make the vaccine accessible to every New Yorker," Cuomo said in a news brief.

In Nassau County, at least 80 percent of adults had received their first jab as of mid-August. According to the State Department of Health, Nassau had the highest percentage of adults with at least one dose among all counties in the state with a population greater than 200,000.

Some 2,109 Wantagh residents and 1,818 Seaford residents had tested positive for Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, as of midAugust, according to data from the Nassau County Department of Information Technology.

As the contagious variants of the coronavirus emerge, like the Delta variant, County Executive Laura Curran encouraged residents to get vaccinated.

“This virus has not disappeared,” Curran said. “Getting vaccinated remains the single best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from getting sick or dying from Covid. The county is keeping a vigilant eye on the numbers and external developments, and we continue to encourage eligible residents who haven't gotten their shots yet to roll up their sleeves.”

When the Jones Beach site first opened in midJanuary, doses were limited, and some residents struggled to schedule an appointment. The Herald previously reported that vaccines were often administered the day that they arrived at the Wantagh site. As vaccines became available in the area, though, appointments became more accessible.

Christina Daly/Herald Top photo: A symbol of New York State's reopening, the Jones Beach stateoperated vaccination site closed down in July.