NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City is getting five sites ready to vaccinate city workers in anticipation that the state will soon allow them to receive the vaccine.
At his briefing, de Blasio renewed calls for the state to extend eligibility to people in Phase 1b, including people over 75 and many frontline essential workers like first responders.
Under current guidelines from the state, people in Phase 1a who are eligible for vaccinations include health care workers; residents and staff in group living facilities; medical examiners and coroners; funeral workers; and frontline, high-risk public health workers.
De Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been in a back-and-forth this week about who should be eligible for the vaccine, with the governor saying hospital workers need to remain the utmost priority, primarily because of the more contagious U.K. strain that has overwhelmed hospitals in Britain and has been found in New York state and Connecticut. De Blasio said he believes the state should expand those who are eligible so vaccines can be distributed more efficiently.
“I’ve got to believe at some point the state of New York’s going to hear us,” de Blasio said. “So we’re going to be ready on Monday for sites specifically for city workers—to help our frontline essential workers, to help firefighters, police officers, correction officers.”
De Blasio said five new sites, one in each borough, will get ready to open Monday in anticipation of state approval of Phase 1b. The sites would vaccinate frontline essential workers, daycare workers, firefighters and police and correction officers, among others.
The locations are: X410 Taft High School in the Bronx; George Wingate High School in Brooklyn; Brandeis High School in Manhattan; John Adams High School in Queens; and Susan Wagner High School on Staten Island.
The sites will be staff either by members of the FDNY or SOMOS Community Care.
“This department is ready, wiling and able to start on Monday, and we’re hopeful that more and more of our fellow New Yorkers can receive this vaccine and it will help us end this terrible plague,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at de Blasio’s briefing.
De Blasio said the city is still “on track” to do 1 million vaccine doses and have 250 vaccination sites up and running by the end of January.
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