2 other CVS sites on Long Island to offer COVID-19 vaccines from Friday

Thousands of Long Islanders will be able to get their COVID-19 vaccine at CVS pharmacies starting Friday.

The vaccines will be distributed to 32 CVS sites across the state, including stores in Bethpage, West Sayville and Manorville, as part of a federal program.

The Manorville location offered the photos, but appointments are full.

At present, the drugstore chain uses about 20,000 doses per week in these stores, and all appointments are already full.

CVS spokesman Ed Campbell said they plan to open additional locations and will have more appointments as soon as the government sends out more doses.

“There is no doubt that the demand for the vaccine outweighs the supply, so we are asking people to be patient,” says Campbell.

As part of the program, vaccines will also be administered at other large pharmacies such as Walgreens.

Suffolk County Director Steve Bellone says the additional distribution sites will help, but the biggest bottleneck is still supply from the federal government.

“This week we’re going to give 3,200 people the shot in our county pods,” Bellone says. “It will continue to increase as we move forward, but our capacity is much greater than that.”

Tony Mangiaracina, 79, regularly shops at Bethpage CVS. When he tried to make an appointment for a vaccination, he found himself in a bind.

“We’ve tried a lot, my wife and I, on the web,” he says. “If you can find the site, it just says no appointments are available.”

A pop-up vaccination site will also open at 9 a.m. Friday in Wyandanch, as part of an effort to protect minority communities, which have been hit hard by the pandemic.

MP Kimberly Jean-Pierre says these appointments have also been swift.

“It happened in just two days, not even, maybe a day and a half, not even two full days,” she says. “The number of people who want to get vaccinated, we don’t have the vaccine for.”