The Dukes County Commissioners plan to send a letter to the state Department of Public Health, Gov. Charlie Baker and state representatives requesting more coronavirus vaccines for Dukes County.

At a meeting Wednesday afternoon, commissioner Christine Todd suggested the commissioners send a letter due to the short supply of vaccines on the Island.

“The hospital has experienced quite a bit of challenging time in getting vaccines out, not because of their process but because of their supply,” Ms. Todd said.

She also pointed to the expected increase in the Island’s population during the coming summer months as a reason for more supplies.

“We’re adding at least 100,000 to this population in a matter of months,” she said. “So, when you look at it that way, we are very underserved in the matter of vaccines that we are receiving.”

Commissioner Peter Wharton said as of last week 40 per cent of the Island’s population has received their first dose and 29 per cent have gotten their second. However, Mr. Wharton said the Island’s vaccination rate makes it harder for the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital to get more doses.

“(The vaccination rate) sounds great but it works against the shipping of what would be considered ‘excess doses’ to the county right now,” Mr. Wharton said.

“People will be coming to the Island for more than a week or a weekend that will need vaccination,” he continued. “Those numbers that look good right now won’t look so good when our population goes up four times.”

Commissioners voted to have Ms. Todd draft the letter.

In other business, the commissioners approved a request from Alchemy for outdoor dining on the Dukes County Courthouse lawn from May 1 to September 30, contingent on final approval by the town of Edgartown.

Jay Kuss, general manager of Alchemy, said they are planning on adding propane heaters and roll-out turf to their outdoor dining tents for the upcoming season. Mr. Kuss added that Alchemy is currently in the process of taking bids for the re-sodding of the lawn once the outdoor dining season is over.

“The tent was such, such a huge help to us last year, I don’t know if we would’ve survived,” Mr. Kuss said.