Roosevelt Island Needs Coronavirus Vaccination Site, Pols Say

ROOSEVELT ISLAND, NY — Elected officials are calling on the city to open a coronavirus vaccination site on Roosevelt Island, where more than 11,500 residents lack a place to get the shot.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney made the request in a letter Wednesday to Mayor Bill de Blasio. Her demand follows similar calls by City Councilmember Ben Kallosand Comptroller Scott Stringer, both of whom posted tweets this week encouraging a Roosevelt Island site.

As of Wednesday, the city's closest vaccination sites were a Costco Pharmacy in Astoria, Queens and three sites on the Upper East Side — a hardship for some Roosevelt Island residents, many of whom are elderly or disabled.

"Seniors and people with disabilities who travel to the nearest vaccination site in Queens must face the risk of exposure to COVID-19 through travel and disproportionate physical difficulties in getting to distant vaccination sites, necessitating a closer location," Maloney wrote.

The residents of Roosevelt Island who have difficultly with travel deserve an accessible vaccination site.

I urge the City to open one up ASAP. https://t.co/ESkToWHxlK
— Scott M. Stringer (@NYCComptroller) January 11, 2021

Nancy Brown, vice president of the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association, called for a new site on Tuesday, telling Roosevelt Islander, "I just can't get off the island and go into the city or go into Queens."

The island also lacked its own COVID-19 testing site until one opened in mid-December.

The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Health care workers and New Yorkers aged 65 and older are among the groups that can now schedule vaccine appointments. When the week began, 160 city-sponsored sites were open across the city, and more sites are expected to open in the coming weeks.

More sites are expected to open in the coming weeks, as the city and state work to speed up a sluggish vaccine rollout.

Visit nyc.gov/vaccinefinder to find the city's sites and schedule an appointment. The state has its own registration website for its vaccine hubs, which includes the Javits Center in Midtown.