City opens COVID-19 vaccine site for the elderly in Red Hook
Mayor Bill de Blasio tours the new vaccination facility 120 West Ninth St. in Red Hook on Feb. 21
Photo by Dean Moses
Elderly New Yorkers can now head to the Red Hook Neighborhood Senior Center, where the city has erected a new COVID-19 vaccination site, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“This is about equity. It is about creating recovery for all of us. When I say recovery for all of us, that means we are not here to just replace the status quo that was before the pandemic. We are here to change that. And that means making sure that something as precious as the vaccine goes to the communities hardest to get, making sure they get the priority they deserve,” de Blasio said. “It’s just a beautiful thing when you hear people say now they can start to feel they’re going to be okay we’re going to be safe.”
Expected to give those who qualify 80 to 100 per day, elected leaders discussed a disproportionate distribution of the vaccine that has largely proven to have left out people of color, thus far since the first batches arrived in New York in mid-December.
“If we – the city and the nation – do not address the systemic and structural inequality that we have seen in every aspect of our society. We cannot crush the virus unless we target those mostly impacted by the virus: frontline workers who have no luxury of being able to stay home and work at their computers,” Velazquez said. “But it is just morally wrong that only 2-to-3 percent of people of color have been able to get the vaccine.”
Located at 120 West Ninth St., the de Blasio administration expects this site to provide vaccine access to the New York City Housing Authority residents in Red Hook East and Red Hook West.
Both de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have raced to set up mass vaccination sites in recent weeks with a major one getting rolling at Citi Field and another promised for Staten Islanders. But said growth also has coincided with logistical fiascos in delivering the vaccine to states due to inclement whether this month.
The average seven-day positivity rate in New York City was reportedly 7.31 percent, according to the de Blasio administration. Statewide, the governor reported 2.99 percent positivity — the lowest since since Nov. 23.
To book an appointment, go to www.vaccinefinder.nyc.gov or call 1-877-VAX-4NYC.
This story first appeared on amNewYork.
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