NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – People were being turned away from the 24/7 vaccination site at the Brooklyn Army Terminal Friday morning, hours after hundreds of people descended on the site following rumors that extra vaccines were available there.
A security guard told a woman who showed up for an appointment Friday morning that the site in Sunset Park was out of the vaccine and that she should have gotten an email Thursday night telling her that her appointment had been canceled.
The woman told 1010 WINS she never received that email.
1010 WINS is trying to confirm the claim that the site is out of vaccines.
It came hours after a mad dash at the site on Thursday evening following word that there were extra doses of vaccine available there. The only problem—that wasn't true.
It was only a rumor and the crowd had to be dispersed from the site, which is by appointment only. Some on Twitter claimed that about 500 people showed up.
The messages spread online claimed several hundred doses had to be given out by Thursday evening and that any adult was welcome, whether they had an appointment or not.
After word started to spread of 400+ surplus vaccine shots in Brooklyn—passed on by WhatsApp messages and screenshots—this is what *part* of the scene looks like right now pic.twitter.com/cndF7r5zzc
— Stephen Lurie (@luriethereal) January 14, 2021
Online, mayoral spokesman Bill Neidhardt said on Twitter, "There is NOT available vaccine for people without appointments. This was misinformation and the notification did not come from the NYC gov."
Staff at the site told 1010 WINS Friday morning that no vaccines were given overnight.
Even some with appointments were turned away, including one man who said, "They have no line, no waiting time. They wouldn't give me the vaccine even though I'm on at-home oxygen."
People who are immunocompromised are eligible, but the has city said it's awaiting CDC guidance as to which conditions qualify.
And then there are other issues like getting an appointment and navigating the websites of different entities to make one.
"While I think it would be wonderful if there could just be one, single system, we would never succeed at being able to change every provider's computer system," Health + Hospitals CEO Mitchell Katz said.
Meanwhile, some hospitals are running out of vaccine. Mount Sinai Hospital had to cancel appointments through Tuesday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has set a goal of 1 million vaccinations in the city in January. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said the federal government is sending 300,000 doses to the state each week.
Currently, groups in Phases 1a and 1b are eligible to get the vaccine; that includes all frontline healthcare workers, essential workers like police officers and teachers, as well as adults over the age of 65.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
