Coronavirus Update New York: Vaccination sites open on Long Island amid supply crunch

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Vaccination sites are opening on Long Island Monday, as inoculations continue in many New York City locations despite supply shortages.

The state is opening a vaccination site at Grace Cathedral International in Uniondale, and on Martin Luther King Day, Nassau County begins a pop-up campaign in disproportionately affected neighborhoods with a pilot at Union Baptist Church in Hempstead.

NJ Burkett reports on Long Island with the latest on the new vaccination sites.

The Stony Brook vaccination site, where 20,000 people signed up last week using an unauthorized sign-up web link and had their appointments voided, opened Monday as well.

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Lauren Glassberg has the latest on the vaccination sites in NYC and who is next in line for the shot.

Meantime in New York City, there are many signs designating the Brooklyn Army Terminal as a mass vaccination site, but it is not open.

It remains closed, as it has been for the past three days, due to lack of vaccine supply.

But vaccination efforts continue in other places in the city, including Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, which opened Sunday and is open again today by appointment only.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo blasted the Trump administration Monday for pushing states to increase eligibility while promising additional doses to cover that demand. However, those doses never arrived.

Now, with more than 7 million New Yorkers eligible, the state is getting just a quarter of a million vaccines per week.

At that rate, it will take seven months to clear the backlog before anyone else is eligible for the shot.

So Cuomo on Monday, said that he exploring the possibility of purchasing the Pfizer vaccine directly from the company for New York State.

"They are headquartered here, and I sent a letter asking if New York could buy directly from Phizer," Cuomo said.

So far, the pharmaceutical company has not agreed to sell direct to the state. Usually, vaccines are purchased by the federal government and then distributed to states.

"It would be a first. Look my job as governor of New York is to pursue every avenue and that's what I'm doing," Cuomo said. "If Pfizer would agree to sell, then we would have that conversation, but first they have to agree to sell."

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On Saturday, 500 seniors were vaccinated at NYCHA complexes.

Getting shots in arms in black and brown communities continues to be a goal of the city as officials target the communities hit hardest by COVID-19.

At Abyssinian on Sunday, lines stretched around the block.

READ MORE: Vaccination site to open at Manhattan church amid supply shortage

Appointments have been booked solid as new COVID-19 vaccination sites open up around New York City, but distribution is just one part of the battle.

Governor Andrew Cuomo estimates it could be until April before the vaccine supply reaches a critical mass.

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