NYC Opens Key New Vaccine Site, Readies for More Reopenings; NJ Marks Year Since

New York City is opening another vaccine hub in a Bronx community disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 to address ongoing disparities in inoculation rates along racial/ethnic and socioeconomic lines.

One in 13 residents in Co-op City, where the new vaccine site opens Thursday, and nearby areas have been infected with the virus, which is a bit lower than the citywide rate but both numbers are likely underreported. More importantly, in this case, the vaccination rollout in the surrounding community has been lackluster compared with the overall numbers across the city and statewide, according to Rep. Jamaal Bowman. That Democrat, along with Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to address the disparity.

One in 13 residents in Co-op City, where the new vaccine hub will open Thursday, and nearby areas have been infected with the virus but vaccine distribution in the area has been lackluster compared to city and statewide data. NBC New York’s Gaby Acevedo reports.

The new vaccine site will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays and Tuesdays at 177 Dreiser Loop. Co-op City had not has its own vaccine hub until now, which made it more difficult for residents to access other sites by public transit.

Bowman says 22 percent of residents lack Internet access, which makes vaccine appointment registration more difficult to access. The Bronx has a lower vaccination rate than the citywide and statewide averages, despite continuing to have the highest positivity rate in the five boroughs.

As COVID-19 vaccine distribution expands across the country, there are growing calls to ensure it’s being done equitably and that shots are going into the arms that need them most. Available data shows Black and Latino Americans account for smaller shares of vaccinations compared with cases and deaths in those communities.

“Let’s face it, the Bronx has been very hard hit by the COVID crisis. Hospitals in the Bronx were amongst the hardest hit in the entire city. Communities felt deep, deep losses from the coronavirus in the Bronx,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier this week. “The Bronx is too often overlooked. We can’t let that happen.”

The Co-op City vaccine site will be distributing the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine after the state received about 165,000 doses, about 70,000 of which are allocated to the city. The next J&J shipment comes in about 10 days. Another Johnson & Johnson site — at 500 Brightwater Court in Brighton Beach — is expected to launch in Brooklyn on Friday, the mayor said Thursday.

Lower-than-average vaccination rates in the Bronx are emblematic of city, state and U.S. struggles to combat inequities in both vaccine access and acceptance. New appointments opened up Wednesday at the jointly city- and state-run Yankee Stadium mass vaccination site, which is dedicated to Bronx residents only.

Not sure how the process works? Or when you might be able to get an appointment? Check out our handy tri-state vaccine site finder and FAQs here

New York City and New Jersey Vaccine Providers

Click on each provider to find more information on scheduling appointments for the COVID-19 Vaccine.

New FEMA-run mass vaccination sites, the state’s largest yet, opened last week in Brooklyn and Queens, which are among the nation’s most deadly COVID counties. And four more sites under that federal partnership, which includes specially allocated first dose supply to ensure continuity, opened Wednesday in Yonkers, ALbany, Rochester and Buffalo. Learn more about vaccine appointments here.

Another dozen pop-up sites targeting high-priority communities launch this week. Half of them are in the city. See details in the image below and learn more here.

So far, New York City has administered more than 2 million total doses, including at least one first dose to 1.2 million people, about 13.9 percent of its population. Less than 7 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated, data shows.

Statewide, about 15.6 percent of the population has had at least one dose, while more than 8 percent of New Yorkers have completed their vaccination series. Updated demographic data shows whites have higher vaccination rates than their eligible population in every single one of the state’s 10 regions.

Black and Latino people…