NYC Getting 465K Coronavirus Vaccine Doses This Month, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — The cavalry is coming, Mayor Bill de Blasio told New Yorkers long waiting for a vaccine to end the war against the coronavirus.

It'll likely arrive soon — on Dec. 15 — in the form of a Pfizer vaccine, de Blasio said. The city expects to receive roughly 254,000 doses of that vaccine by the end of December, de Blasio said.

Another shipment of vaccine, this time from Moderna, is expected starting Dec. 22, he said. By the month's end, the city will have received roughly 211,000 doses, he said.

A total 465,000 vaccine doses are expected by the month's end, and city officials are preparing to distribute the potentially life-saving doses.

"The effort to vaccinate millions of New Yorkers in the months ahead will be, in a word, 'big," said Dave Chokshi, the city's health commissioner.

The vaccine announcement adds hard, New York City-based numbers to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's recent statement that the state likely will receive 170,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 15.

Shipments are dependent on federal approval of the two vaccines, which appear imminent, barring major safety issues.

But the twin announcements by Cuomo and de Blasio struck confident tones and aimed to reassure New Yorkers in the city and state that the machinery of government will shift toward a smooth, yet massive distribution of vaccines.

Chokshi said the first doses in the city will go toward frontline health care workers and nursing home residents and workers.

The city is currently preparing specialized freezers necessary for the Pfizer vaccine, and its vaccination registry to track who received doses, he said.

De Blasio said the vaccine distribution going forward will aim to get doses to communities hardest hit by the virus.

"We're going to throughout this process work on the fastest, most effective distribution because the faster we can move, and the more we can educate people, the more we can get people involved, the more people who will be safe," he said.

But until the doses reach larger swaths of New Yorkers, de Blasio said current coronavirus numbers show the need for "maximum precautions."

The city's average coronavirus positivity rate is 5.19 percent, with an average of 1,962 new cases a day, he said.

"It's quite clear at this point that this second wave unfortunately is right upon us," he said.

Patch is interested to know if its readers plan to get vaccinated. Click here to fill out a survey.