The vaccine started shipping from a Kentucky warehouse on Monday, with an initial 3.9 million doses expected to arrive at destinations across the country within 24 to 48 hours.
The state of New York expects to receive 164,800 doses this week, this as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the opening of a new vaccination site at Co-op City in the Bronx.
The site will open at 131 Dreiser Loop Thursday, the mayor said, with operating hours set for Thursdays through Tuesdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
It is part of the city’s ongoing effort to get more vaccine into the arms of New York City residents, particularly in hard-hit low income areas.
De blasio announced the city has surpassed 2 million vaccinations, a pace that’s expected to pick up with this week’s rollout of the third vaccine.
The mayor says he will take the J&J version when available, as medical experts seek to quash any notion it’s less effective.
Clinical trial numbers were lower, but Pfizer and Moderna were not tested against variants that have emerged over the last few months.
The mayor also called on the state to open up vaccine eligibility to include sanitation workers, lifeguards, attorneys and court personnel, NYCHA workers and inspectors at various city agencies.
Meantime, the state announced a pilot program that was first tested last week at the Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center — an app-based pass that displays a QR code with vaccination status or proof of a negative COVID test, which is required for entry to large performance venues.
On Monday, de Blasio took aim at Governor Andrew Cuomo over the operation of state-run vaccination sites.
He cited new data showing 42% of all vaccinations at the Javits Center are going to New Yorkers who live outside the city, and at the Aqueduct Racetrack site in Queen, the percentage of non-city residents getting vaccinated is as high as 75%.
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“These big sites do not actually help us improve equity and fight disparity, unfortunately, unless they’re targeted properly,” de Blasio said. “In terms of New York City, these sites do not perform what we hope to see, which is more and more focused on equity.”
Mayor de Blasio has a goal of getting five million city residents vaccinated by June. As of Tuesday morning, he said just over 2 million New Yorkers had received at least one dose.
The developments in New York City came as the director of the Centers for Disease Control warned of another possible COVID surge.
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