NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York City will deploy pop-up vaccination sites to public schools and hold youth block parties as a way to encourage kids 12 to 17 to get vaccinated.
The mobile vaccine pilot program begins this Friday at four schools in the Bronx, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at his Wednesday briefing.
Vaccination sites will expand to schools in all five boroughs over the next few weeks, including one site each in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn on Monday. The two-dose Pfizer vaccine will be used at the sites.
“We want to make sure schools are a place where kids can get vaccinated,” de Blasio said. “We’re going to start this in certain schools around the five boroughs. We’re going to see how it goes. We’re going to get the most done we can between now and the end of school later this month.”
Councilmember Mark Levine, who chairs the Council’s Committee on Health, said it may be hard for families to find time to travel somewhere for their kids to get vaccinated.
“But if we bring vaccination to them, in their school buildings, well, that’s a game-changer,” Levine said. “Schools really are a great place to do this, because they’ve already got records of how old kids are. They are very good at getting parental and guardian consent. And they have relationships and trust with families.”
The city is also holding youth vaccination block parties in all five boroughs as part of “NYC Youth Vaccination Week,” de Blasio said.
The NYC Mobile Vax Bus will be stopping at the following locations until June 7 as part of the initiative: Corona Plaza, Rockaway Beach, Jackson Heights, Coney Island, Orchard Beach, Brooklyn Museum, Marcus Garvey Park, Fordham Plaza, Lower East Side/Van Gogh exhibit, Tappen Park, Travers Park and Crotona Park. The full schedule can be found here: nyc.gov/nycmobilevax.
At his briefing, de Blasio also announced another incentive for young people and their families to get vaccinated: a new pop-up site with the two-dose Pfizer vaccine is opening at the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn.
The aquarium site opens Wednesday for people 12 years and older. Families can walk in or schedule an appointment at 877-VAX-4NYC or by visiting vax4nyc.nyc.gov.
Those who get vaccinated at the aquarium get a free ticket for a future visit, just like at the Bronx Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History.
“Getting vaccinations wherever kids are—whether it’s the New York Aquarium or the Bronx Zoo or in the classroom—we’re going to reach kids everywhere and make everyone much, much safer,” de Blasio said.
De Blasio said the city is outpacing the nation when it comes to getting young people vaccinated.
So far, 118,000 New York children 12 to 17 have been vaccinated, representing 23% of kids in that age range in the city, the mayor said. The number surpasses the national average of 22%.
“From the moment we got the announcement that 12- to 15-year-olds could get vaccinated, we saw a surge in interest. We saw parents bringing their kids out right away,” de Blasio said.