7 Queens ZIP Codes Added To Coronavirus Vaccine Priority List

QUEENS, NY — Seven Queens ZIP codes have been added to the city's list of priority neighborhoods for coronavirus vaccination sites and outreach efforts, officials announced Sunday.

Kew Gardens, Woodhaven, Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park and Queens Village are now among 33 regions where New York City's Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity will focus its efforts to expand vaccine access and address hesitancy about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the mayor's office.

Residents will get priority for appointments at neighborhood vaccination sites. Eligible essential workers in priority neighborhoods will get to schedule appointments for family members on-site.

"We launched our vaccine effort with a clear commitment to provide a vaccine for all New Yorkers," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “Now we are going even further to ensure the vaccine reaches everyone, equally, with a focus on the neighborhoods we know have borne the brunt of COVID-19.”

City officials said they chose the new priority neighborhoods based on high COVID-19 mortality and case rates, high prevalence of chronic illness, presence of overcrowded housing, the number of residents experiencing poverty and other pre-existing health disparities.

Queensbridge, Briarwood, South Flushing, Jamaica, Hollis, the Rockaways and Broad Channel were the Queens neighborhoods included on the list's first iteration.

The expansion comes as data newly released by the city showed that white New Yorkers have gotten a disproportionate share of the vaccine doses that have been administered, relative to the city's population — even as officials pledged an equitable vaccine rollout prioritizing communities of color that were hardest-hit by the pandemic.

Of the New York City residents who received at least one dose of the vaccine and reported their demographic information, 48 percent were white, 15 percent were Latino, 15 percent were Asian and 11 percent were Black, according to the data.