NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City will begin receiving the Johnson & Johnson single-shot coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, and Mayor Bill de Blasio believes it will be a gamechanger for homebound seniors.
This week, President Joe Biden promised there would soon be enough COVID-19 vaccines for ever adult American by the end of May.
However, Mayor de Blasio is still sticking to his timeline of having 5 million New Yorkers vaccinated by June, because of the timeframe it will take to get the vaccine into the arms of every American.
“That is a difference between being produced and getting everywhere it needs to be, there still you know a certain amount of time it takes to distribute,” the mayor said of Biden’s promise/
He’s grateful to know Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, which does not need to be refrigerated at extremely low temperatures, will be available to New Yorkers in just hours.
“If there's more and more vaccine here, we will keep building out capacity and I think demand will keep increasing as people get more, more comfortable,” de Blasio said.
The mayor said New York City is in the process of creating a plan to bring the single-dose shot to homebound seniors that are unable to travel.
“We’re going to homebound seniors of all backgrounds. The goal is to reach every homebound senior who wants to be vaccinated, is ready to be vaccinated,” he said.
De Blasio notes that the program will first focus on 33 neighborhoods in need. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be the only one offered because there is no need for a follow up appointment and it does not need to be refrigerated.
Meanwhile, the mayor says he is still worried about vaccine supply for the remainder of New York City residents.
“We still need to make sure that New York City, and cities all over the country, get their allotments from the federal government directly without state interference and can just go ahead and do the work more quickly,” de Blasio said. “That's what we want to do, want our fair share.”
The mayor says at the current pace they'll be able to vaccinate half a million people per week.
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