NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A new COVID-19 vaccination site will be opening at the Queens Center Mall, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday.
It's one of several sites launching across the five boroughs this week.
The Queens hub comes following complaints about a lack of inoculation locations in the borough.
Congresswoman Grace Meng and other lawmakers recently wrote a letter to the mayor and the governor asking for a mass vaccination site to be brought to western Queens, including the neighborhoods of Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale, and parts of Ridgewood and Woodhaven.
"We have heard from many local stakeholders regarding vaccine access issues for communities west of Woodhaven Boulevard. Due to the limited number of vaccination sites in this area, we are urging your office to establish a mass vaccination site in this underrepresented region of Queens County," Meng wrote.
"In light of many mass vaccination sites being established across the five boroughs, and an increase in vaccine supply, our constituents in Western Queens must have a more local vaccination site to continue our City’s battle against COVID-19," she added.
The Queens retail facility is located in Elmhurst and is the borough's largest shopping mall.
According to the city's vaccine tracker website, the clinic located at the former Modell's will offer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot, which is in short supply due to a mix-up at a Baltimore plant that ruined millions of doses.
"Obviously we've seen some issues with the Johnson & Johnson supply and that's going to be a problem in the weeks ahead but overall supply has been growing, we need it to keep growing," de Blasio said.
More sites will be opening this week in the Bronx at the Stevenson Family Health Center, Lehman College and Northeast Bronx YMCA; in Brooklyn at Lasante Health Center, Brightpoint/Sun River Health Center, and Rambam; on Staten Island at the former Babies R Us at the Staten Island Mall; and in Manhattan in Times Square.
The Times Square site will administer shots to those in the film and television industry, in addition to the those in the theater community.
"We want the film and TV community to be part of our vaccination effort so we're going to welcome them to join the vaccination center in Times Square," de Blasio said. "We want to make sure that the film and TV industry comes back stronger all the time, vaccinations will play a key role. We want to make it easy for the actors, and producers and the crews."
"Hamilton'' creator Lin-Manuel Miranda joined the mayor Monday at the grand opening of the Times Square vaccination site.
"We want to gather again, and we want to tell stories in the dark,'' said Miranda. "We cannot do that if we don't feel safe and if you don't feel safe. So the first step in that process is getting our vaccination shots, and the next steps will follow.''
So far, the city has administered more than 5 million doses.
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