‘Traveling’ vaccination program is launched

Nassau’s new traveling vaccination program, which began on Aug. 3, is providing an opportunity for businesses, restaurants and shops of all sizes to get involved in stopping the spread of Covid-19. Appointments can be booked with the county’s Department of Health, which will send its staff to a business, where they will administer coronavirus vaccines for free to the employees and their family  members. The county will administer doses of the Moderna vaccine to employees 18 and older.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran gathered outside of Cafe Baci on Aug. 4 to launch the new program. Employees from the Italian restaurant received their first vaccination that day.

“Nassau County continues to lead the way in vaccinations in New York state and the nation but we are committed to keeping up the pace and offer new initiatives to get shots into arms,” Curran said.  “This new onsite vaccination program will bring the vaccine directly to places of employment, in hopes to further increase our vaccination rates and protect our residents and the progress we have made from Covid-19.”

There is no official mandate that businesses require their employees and patrons to be vaccinated. It is up to the owners’ discretion, Curran and Nassau County Health Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Einstein said.

“I believe business owners can make this decision for themselves,” Curran said.

More than 82 percent of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine in Nassau County, which is the highest vaccinated county on Long Island.

Curran emphasized that the new program is part of the county’s goal to get all residents vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“The best way to protect yourself, to protect your family, to protect our economy, our businesses is to get vaccinated,” she said.

Eisenstein also spoke of the importance of getting the vaccine. Receiving it will help to not only prevent Covid but will also reduce the symptoms, he said. Getting more people vaccinated is the key to stopping the spread of the disease.

People have different reasons for their hesitancy to get the vaccine, he said. “People who are vaccinated are not dying and those who are dying are not vaccinated,” he said. “Without the vaccine, you’re much more likely to catch it and get sick.”

There’s new data coming out for those who are hesitant that will answer any questions they have about the vaccine, Eisenstein said.

“The more people that are vaccinated, the less disease there will be. We’re going to do everything we can to get people to understand how important getting vaccinated is,” he added.

Cafe Baci’s manager, Andy Sausmer, said that the county reached out to him a week prior requesting that the restaurant host the press conference.

“It was a no-brainer to host this press conference,” he said. “We want to do what we can to do our part as reliable business people and good citizens.”

The restaurant had employees who wanted to get the vaccine but didn’t know where to go. Sausmer said he was excited to provide the opportunity for them.

The delta variant of the coronavirus is highly contagious and is now spreading among the unvaccinated.

“As we see, the fight against coronavirus is not over,” Curran said. “The delta variant is significantly more infections than other variants of this virus, and it is driving an uptick in new cases.”

Getting vaccinated helps protect against the delta variant, Eisenstein said.

“There are always breakthroughs,” he added, referring to vaccinated people who get the delta variant. “What will happen in the future we don’t know. We think the protection with the vaccine is about eight months if not longer.”

To schedule an appointment, businesses owners can call (516) 227-9570.