Extra Buses To Help Brooklynites Get To New Mass Vaccine Site

BROOKLYN, NY — An effort to get New Yorkers in neighborhoods hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis to take their vaccine will include extra public transportation and calls from trusted clergy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

In a visit to Brooklyn's upcoming mass vaccination site at Medgar Evers College on Monday, the governor said the facility, along with its partner site in Queens, will be essential in addressing racial inequity laid bare by the coronavirus crisis.

Both facilities will open on Wednesday as part of a state-federal partnership to target areas that were hardest hit by the pandemic.

"What we're saying as a state is, we have to be equitable in the administration of the vaccine and we have to correct for the injustice we just saw perpetrated by COVID," Cuomo said. "Not only is this the largest site ever created in the state of New York, it's special because it recognizes the equity that must be achieved."

The first step in reaching those hard-hit communities was opening up Medgar Evers College and York College facilities' appointments to only certain surrounding ZIP codes for the first week of scheduling. Many of those ZIP codes have so far have had some of the lowest vaccination rates in New York City.

The MTA will then increase bus service in those areas to make sure New Yorkers can get to the sites, Cuomo said. The increased transportation will include a shuttle from Hammel Houses to York College and more frequent B49 buses, which already stop at Medgar Evers.

The next step will be calling on local elected officials and clergy to encourage those who are hesitant to get the vaccine to make an appointment, Cuomo said.

"[There's] a lack of trust in the system by the Black community because the Black community has gotten the short end of the stick by the system many, many, many times," Cuomo said.

Cuomo pointed to endorsements of the vaccines from New York's own panel review panel, the country's top Black doctors and local elected officials and clergy leaders from the communities.

More than three dozen clergy will start phone banking to help spread the word, he said.

The Brooklyn and Queens facilities will run between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. each day and will be set up to give 3,000 vaccines per day through a special allocation of doses from President Joe Biden's coronavirus task force. The state-federal partnership also will open four sites in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Yonkers.

Eligible New Yorkers can schedule appointments through New York's 'Am I Eligible' website, by calling the state's COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829) or by stopping in in-person at the Medgar Evers and York College sites to make an appointment. The sites open Wednesday.

"This vaccine can save your life, and it can save the lives of others...but the vaccine only works if people take it," Cuomo said. "Please, please, please take the vaccine."

Read More:

• Here's Who Can Get Vaccinated At Medgar Evers College's Mass Site