Dr. Anthony Fauci wants everyone to be on board.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases unexpectedly appeared at the MTA’s board meeting on Thursday and called on the agency’s workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine and recall his childhood on the track in New York City ry.
“The New York City subway system is embedded in my brain,” Fauci said in a video message, introducing himself as “Tony” and “someone who grew up in Brooklyn.”
‘I took the subway every day to get from my home in Brooklyn, to and from Regis High School in Manhattan. I would take the BMT – which was then called the West End line – when I lived in Bensonhurst, or which is also called the Sea Beach line when I moved to Dyker Heights. I would take it from there to 14th Street in Union Square, where I would catch the IRT Lexington Avenue Express to 86th and Lex would come right on 85th between Madison and Park. And so I can wholeheartedly tell you about people who played an important role in my younger days as a New Yorker. ‘
He then said he “strongly” encourages all MTA employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“This pandemic has taken so many of us, and vaccination is the best way to fight back and restore our lives,” he said.
“During the U.S. pandemic, you kept New York’s public transportation going,” Fauci said. ‘That’s why your essential workers are at the forefront of receiving a coronavirus vaccine. Make use of it, get vaccinated. ”
He added: “The sooner you are vaccinated, the sooner we can get our lives back and get our country back on track.”
Fauci’s plea comes after the virus took the lives of at least 130 MTA workers and made thousands of other people ill.
Transit workers were eligible for the shot last week according to state rules – and even get a financial bonus for receiving them – but the city’s deployment is hampered by a clumsy reporting system and a shortage of doses.
MTA chairman Pat Foye asked transit employees at the meeting on Thursday to take Fauci’s advice.
“We can not pass up this opportunity to destroy the virus. We have come too far and our employees have worked so hard to keep the region going during the pandemic, ”said Foye.