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gery centers should have been included in the ini- tial roll out. "As an ophthalmology practice, we care for a lot of elderly patients," she says. "Is that not the perfect place to ask patients if they would like the vaccine? We could vaccinate so many people." So far, close to 30% of her staff has received the first dose of the vaccine. Ms. Duffy received her sec- ond shot on January 31. "The rollout needed to be aggressive and strategic instead of distributing doses based on data in a spreadsheet," says Ms. Duffy. "New York is not a spreadsheet." Sam Romeo, MD, a general partner at Tower Health & Wellness Center in Turlock, Calif., had hoped for most of last year that the advent of a vac- cine would reduce the restrictions on elective sur- geries in his state and allow his facility to return to its normal operations. Now that the vaccines are here, his staff can't get them. "Our surgery center doesn't have access," says Dr. Romeo. "We have to wait until state regulators decide we should be on a priority list." The local community hospital has most of the available vaccine doses, according to Dr. Romeo. "From what I understand, some doses there are spoiling on the shelves," he says. "The hospital staff has gotten them, but the general public and ambula- tory surgery professionals largely have not." Dr. Romeo, who is 80 years old and has comor- bidities that make him a high-risk individual, got immunized because his son is a physician who works for a hospital. His hope is that his entire staff will soon be vaccinated. While most of his team is young and healthy, they want to be immunized to protect the patients they treat. T. Hunter Newsom, MD, is having similar issues in Florida. His staff at Newsom Eye Center in Tampa can't get on vaccination lists. He and his staff anesthesiologist finally got their first shots last month, but only after watching physicians with hos- pital affiliations get them months ago, then get sec- ond doses, while he waited. "Officials said I was in Tier 2," says Dr. Newsom. "Meanwhile, relatives of hospital employees were getting vaccinated. Private citi- zens had access to the vaccines because they're 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 The majority of the 371 surgical professionals who responded to our survey last month about the COVID-19 vaccine have received a dose or are waiting for an opportunity to get vaccinat- ed. Here's a closer look at their feedback. Are there enough vaccines in your area to distribute and administer to healthcare providers? Yes 65% No 16% Not sure 19% Have you been administered the vaccine? Yes 68% No 32% Do you plan on receiving the vaccine if you haven't already? Yes 73% No 14% Undecided 13% What percentage of your staff has been vaccinated or is planning to be vaccinated? 0 to 25% 17% 25 to 50% 19% 50 to 75% 27% 75 to 100% 20% Not sure 17% Have You Received Your Shots? READER SURVEY Northwell Health