Yankees legend Mariano Rivera showed up Friday when the home of the Bronx Bombers was transformed into a COVID-19 mega-facility.
“I love it. It’s my home. It’s great to be here in the Bronx,” Rivera told reporters outside Yankee Stadium as hundreds of residents lined up for the first gift of the coveted two-dose coronavirus. vaccine.
Rivera added: ‘You should not be afraid [to get the vaccine]. ”
“We do not understand it, we are in trouble. If we get it, we will save lives, ”the Hall of Famer said of the vaccine.
Later, Rivera, along with Yankees President Randy Levine and Yankees Manager Aaron Boone, appeared via a live stream on Andrew Cuomo’s government press briefing in Albany.
“It’s wonderful what you do. “I used to play here and save games and now it’s about saving lives,” Rivera said as he spoke from Yankee Stadium.
‘It’s bigger than baseball. We’re talking about hundreds and millions of people, ‘the baseball series continued. ‘I see so many smiling faces, that’s what it’s about. Hope is now the name of the game. ”
Levine said that encouraging Yankees ‘trinkets’ to “encourage locals to come out and get vaccinated.”
‘It’s bigger than baseball. This is a bigger goal than baseball. We are so honored to work with you, ‘Levine told Cuomo.
Cuomo applauded Rivera for showing his support for the vaccination effort.
‘The words you just used played in that stadium and now save your lives – true words were never spoken. This vaccine does save lives, ‘said the governor.
“This vaccine can save their lives and your presence today is going to bring home the message to many people because they trust you and respect you.”
The stadium’s mass vaccination center officially opened at 8 a.m. Friday – through a partnership with the city, the state, the Yankees, SOMOS Community Care and the New York National Guard – after weeks of delays due to shortages to vaccines.
Appointments to be trapped at the site are reserved for residents of Bronx – the city with the highest coronavirus positivity in the city.
Officials say the site can handle 15,000 appointments in the first week.
Shortly after noon Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio also visited the site and spoke to reporters outside Rivera, Levine and Boone.
“This is an important moment. It’s about equity. It is about fairness, ”said de Blasio. “The Bronx is one of the places bearing the brunt of this coronavirus crisis.”
“The Yankee Stadium means so much to New Yorkers,” he said. “Today it is a place of healing, a place of protection for the people of the Bronx.”
The mayor, a well-known Boston Red Sox fan, even donned a Yankees cap for the occasion.
“Only for one day will I declare myself a Yankees fan,” Hizzoner said.
Meanwhile, de Blasio said the planned mass vaccination center at Citi Field Stadium in Queens will arrive within a few days.
“We need [vaccine] supply, ”said de Blasio. “I want people to understand at the moment that New York is giving a third of the vaccinations we could have if we had supplies.”
“It’s very worrying to me that we can do 400,000, 500,000 vaccinations a week, and that we can’t get stock,” he said. “I say to the federal government: you have to get the rest of the pharmaceutical industry in this fight.”
Hours earlier, Spike Lee paid a surprise morning visit to the stadium and chatted with locals waiting in line to get the COVID-19 vaccine.