NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A popular Bronx restaurant has become the first eatery in the five boroughs to offer on-site COVID-19 vaccinations, its owner says.
Boca Restaurant & Lounge is hosting a mobile vaccination unit outside its building at East 188th Street and Webster Avenue, owner Emmanuel Carela told 1010 WINS.
Patrons and passersby alike can get vaccinated at the site, which has been up and running since Tuesday thanks to a partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals.
"The city provided us with this, and I'm proud and excited to be part of this initiative as the first restaurant," Carela said. "Every day we're getting more and more people vaccinated."
The eatery's goal, he said, is to assure New Yorkers that the vaccine is safe — and important.
"It's been a good experience, because I have my staff involved. I think that's the key for this whole thing," he explained. "The customers trust us. We have a loyal base."
"A lot of skepticism is around this whole thing of getting vaccinated, because there's not a lot of human touch — it's just whatever you see online, or whatever you hear somebody that doesn't believe in the vaccine, whatever they tell people," he added. "But when you [get] people involved, when you put [out] good answers, good information, there's that trust factor that's shared among peers, and that's what gets the job done."
Staffers have been encouraging customers to get vaccinated — and fielding questions about the vaccine itself, he noted.
"The fact that they're getting their questions answered, and they have a familiar face… they see the same faces, they know our staff by name," he said. "I know a lot of the customers, so there's that trust that's being engaged."
The mobile site will offer its next round of vaccines between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 16, Carela said.
