Latino Doctors Call For COVID Mega Site In Upper Manhattan

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — A widespread network of Latino doctors on Tuesday called for the immediate construction of an Upper Manhattan mega-testing site in response to Anthony Fauci's recent comment that the New York City coronavirus variant likely started in Washington Heights.

SOMOS Community Care urged city, state, and federal officials to immediately partner with Upper Manhattan doctors to help build and equip a vaccination mega-site with enough supplies to vaccinate 10,000 neighborhood residents a day.

The call also recommended employing Spanish-speaking doctors at the new mega-site who can "build trust with diverse local residents and get shots in arms before the variant spreads."

Additionally, the network of Latino doctors recommended providing the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine to community doctors, so Inwood and Washington Heights residents can be vaccinated within their family doctor's office.

"Our community is among the hardest-hit in the country and it is entirely unacceptable that the government knew of a dangerous variant in our neighborhood since November and there's still no mega-site to vaccinate a community that has lost thousands of residents to COVID-19," said Dr. Ramon Tallaj and Dr. Henry Munoz, both members of the SOMOS network of physicians.

The doctors are referencing a new form of coronavirus called B.1.526 which was first seen in NYC in November and now accounts for roughly one in four viral sequences appearing in a database shared by scientists, according to the New York Times.

The new variant carries a mutation similar to the variant first seen in South Africa that allows the virus to somewhat evade vaccines.

A Columbia research team said that the majority of the patients it found carrying the new variant were "found in neighborhoods close to the hospital, particularly Washington Heights and Inwood."

However, as doctors conducting the research stated, the elevated number of Washington Heights and Inwood residents found carrying the mutation could be due to the research team's location at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center on West 168th Street.

This was followed up on Monday by Anthony Fauci, the famed director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"Well, we certainly are taking the New York variant, the 526, very seriously," Fauci said, speaking to White House reporters. "You know, as you know, it started off in what is likely in the Washington Heights section, and then has gone through multiple boroughs, and is now gaining."

Read More:

• New COVID Strain Prevalent In Upper Manhattan, Researchers Find
• NYC Coronavirus Variant Likely Started In Wash Heights: Fauci