De Blasio Pledges ‘24/7’ Coronavirus Vaccinations Going Forward

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged the COVID-19 vaccine’s slow drip rollout in New York City needs to speed up.

De Blasio on Monday doubled down on his previously-announced pledge to reach 1 million doses by the end of January. He promised the city will move toward a “24/7” approach toward distributing doses.

The city deliberately took a slow and steady approach in the first days and weeks after vaccines arrived, he said.

“Now is the time to sprint,” he said during his daily briefing.

Hizzoner’s pledge follows growing concerns, both nationally and in the city, that the pace of coronavirus vaccinations is going too slowly.

Council Member Mark Levine highlighted those worries in a widely-shared tweet less than a day before de Blasio’s briefing.

“Vaccination in New York City is basically only occurring during regular business hours,” Levine wrote. “Very little on weekends. Almost none on holidays. We are in a war-like situation. We need to be vaccinating TWENTY FOUR-SEVEN. We are losing precious time.”

Health workers administered about 110,000 vaccine doses so far in the city, according to data.

Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, said starting this week that the first New Yorkers will receive their second and final doses of vaccine.

He said public hospitals will start distributing the vaccine seven days a week. The city’s health staff and medical reserve also will operate three new vaccine hubs newly-slated to launch this coming weekend, he said.

There will be at least 250 vaccination sites across the city by the end of January, up from 125 currently, he said.

“We all need these bold goals and to pull out all the stops in order to reach them,” he said. “I know it won't be easy for us or anyone else. I know that this is going to be an intense month as we scale up capacity to meet both eligibility and supply even as we continue fighting back the second wave.”

Chokshi called on the federal government to pick up the pace on vaccination supplies. He also said the city is working with the state to roll out vaccinations to New Yorkers aged 75 and up.

De Blasio announced a new slate of eligible groups encompassing a wide swath of New Yorkers from testing site workers to dentists will be eligible to receive the vaccine this week.

New groups will be eligible to receive the vaccine starting next week, de Blasio said. Those will include home health care workers, hospice employees and additional nursing home staff.

De Blasio said he hopes that essential workers — from police officers to teachers — will be given permission to receive the vaccine as well.