Mayor Pledges Permanent Vaccine Site In Northeast Queens

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday pledged to open a permanent COVID-19 vaccination site in Northeast Queens, after a weeks-long campaign by local officials and advocates protesting the lack of vaccine options in the area.

Testifying before the state legislature during a virtual hearing on the New York State executive budget, de Blasio promised that New York City would open a vaccination site there and said he would provide lawmakers with a timeline "in the course of the next few days."

The mayor's comments came in response to questions from Assembly Member Edward Braunstein, who represents Bayside, about Northeast Queens' vaccine desert.

"Let me say very directly to you, there will be a site in Northeast Queens, and, ultimately, I hope, multiple sites," de Blasio told Braunstein. "I guarantee that to you."

To date, the region's only vaccination site was a two-day pop-up this week at Korean Community Services in Bayside, although some local pharmacies are beginning to offer vaccine appointments for seniors. The 500 appointments available at the pop-up were snapped up almost immediately.

"Northeast Queens has been conspicuously left out of having a permanent vaccine site," Braunstein told the mayor. "People would have to travel several miles to find the nearest permanent vaccine site."

Braunstein and other officials have pointed to Northeast Queens' large senior population in arguing for the need for a permanent vaccination site nearby. Before this week, the closest sites were in Flushing.

"We have some of the highest concentration of senior citizens in the city, who have a difficult time traveling long distances," Braunstein said.

The mayor acknowledged Thursday that the city's "neighborhood-based system" to administer COVID-19 vaccines is "still not fully built out," which he blamed in part on the lack of supply.

Northeast Queens lawmakers have argued that the city should plan ahead by choosing and setting up sites while awaiting shipments of more vaccine doses.

"While we understand that vaccine supply is limited and more locations are slated to open in the coming weeks," lawmakers wrote to the mayor in January, "it is critical that we get sites up and running to ensure ease of access as the vaccination rollout continues."