NY Mass COVID Vaccination Sites Will Be Scaled Back

NEW YORK CITY — State-run mass vaccination sites that helped move New York City from the COVID-19 pandemic could be nearing their end.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday the state will "downscale" mass sites and shift resources toward communities with low vaccination rates.

The York College mass vaccination site in Queens will close Monday in the first phase, according to the governor's office.

"Our network of mass vaccination sites administered the biggest throughput of vaccinations in a short period of time, and thanks to their success we hit the milestones we needed to hit to get back to life as we know it," Cuomo said in a statement. "Our statewide progress has been remarkable, but we still need to get more shots into people's arms, particularly in areas that are still lagging on vaccinations. We have to go where the need is greatest, and so many of our mass sites will gradually start downscaling so that we can use our resources to target communities where vaccination rates are still low."

The state recently hit 70 percent of adults who received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. The milestone may have prompted Cuomo to end all remaining state mandates, but significant disparities remain as to where and who is vaccinated.

Park Slope, for instance, recently hit 75 percent of its adults who received at least one dose of vaccine. But it stands at 45 percent for a ZIP Code covering Edgemere and Far Rockaway, according to city data.

The Javits Center is perhaps the highest-profile state-run mass vaccination site, and one that Cuomo himself has repeatedly touted. It was not included in the first phase of closures.