NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Residents lined up as more vaccination clinics opened at NYCHA housing sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island on Saturday.
The three sites opened at senior centers at Polo Grounds Towers in Manhattan, the Van Dyke Houses in Brooklyn and the Cassidy-Lafayette Houses on Staten Island. More sites will be announced in the coming weeks, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Brenda Brockett, a retired city schoolteacher, and her husband Julius, a retired construction supervisor, got their vaccines early Saturday morning at the Cassidy Coles Neighborhood Senior Center.
“I wasn’t nervous, but I was saying, ‘Oh, how’s the shot going to be? Is he going to be a good guy giving me the shot?’ And it was wonderful, it was just wonderful, I didn’t even feel it,” Brockett said.
Under state guidelines, people 65 years and older, along with first responders, teachers and other essential workers are eligible to get vaccinated. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that some 7.1 million New Yorkers are now eligible even as the vaccine supply from the federal government remains limited.
By 12 p.m. Saturday, appointments were already booked at the Cassidy Coles Neighborhood Senior Center.
One resident was already waiting in line to book her appointment for Sunday.
“I've already had it, I had it last spring, and I don't want to get it again,” she said of the coronavirus. “So this is something that a lot of people are looking forward to.”
Vaccinations are taking place at the sites from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
In a statement, Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez said, “Older adults trust their senior centers and the dedicated staff at the senior centers within these NYCHA developments will be reaching out to older NYCHA residents 65+ to ensure they get vaccinated and have the assistance they need to do so.”
The state opened five other sites earlier this week:
• Bronx: West Tremont Avenue-Sedgwick Avenue Area, 200 West Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10453
• Brooklyn: Stuyvesant Gardens II, 150 Malcolm X Blvd. Brooklyn, NY 11221
• East Harlem: 307 East 116 St., New York, NY 10029
• Queens: International Tower 90-20 170 St., Queens, NY 11432
• Staten Island: 230 Broad St., Staten Island, NY 10304
NYCHA residents can make an appointment by calling 1-833-SOMOSNY.
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