Genesee County held a media briefing on Thursday afternoon, updating residents on the status of COVID-19 cases and vaccinations.
A new Vaccine Appointment/Help line phone number will be available beginning tomorrow for those who do not have internet and cannot make an appointment to get vaccinated online.
For Genesee County, residents can call 585-815-7168
For Orleans County, residents can call 585-589-3170
According to Genesee Orleans County Health Department Director Paul Petit, the vaccine rate for those fully vaccinated across NYS is 25.9%. In the Finger Lakes Region, 28.4% are fully vaccinated. In Genesee County 24% are fully vaccinated and in Orleans County 19.3% are fully vaccinated.
Petit says locally our fully vaccinated numbers are lagging behind other areas across the state. He says as of this week the vaccine supply is plentiful and now residents are not signing up to receive a vaccine.
“The vaccine is here and you can get it in your county, now is the time and we encourage you to take that step and get vaccinated. We need to get our percentage rate higher. The quicker we can get vaccinated the quicker we can get restrictions lifted by the state,” says Petit.
Petit says the benefits of getting vaccinated are prevention from getting COVID-19, being hospitalized or death.
Current cases of COVID-19 have increased in the local area since last month.
Cases are increasing due to social gatherings in the home, such as birthday parties and bonfires. There have not been a lot of cases recently at businesses due to masking and social distancing.
The 7 day percentage of cases in Genesee is at 3.2% which is up from last month at this time which was 2.4 %
The 7 day percentage of cases in Orleans is 3.0% which is up from last month at this time which was 1.7%
COVID-19 is still very prevalent in the area. “There is an upward trend in cases, especially in younger people.” Petit says.
There has also been an increase in congregate settings like jails, prisons and nursing homes.
Pop Up Vaccine sites are being planned at local businesses in the near future.
“We need our local residents to step up and get vaccinated to get back to the old normal,” says Matt Landers, County Manager.