New York City and state officials opened a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination center in Yankee Stadium on Friday aimed at getting more shots into the arms of residents in some of the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods.
According to officials who operate the facility, the Bronx yard can handle 15,000 vaccination appointments during the first week. As of Friday morning, there were only 2,000 appointments available for the first week, officials said. According to officials, the facility will only be booked with Bronx residents.
Hundreds of residents stood outside the ballpark on Friday. Some had no discussion but said they hoped they would be added to the waiting list or that they would make an appointment later.
Josefina Rodriguez, 85, went to the stadium with her daughter for her vaccination.
They live together in the same Pelham Parkway apartment. Me. Rodriguez had to cancel her original appointment when her daughter, Rosa Estela, and son-in-law tested positive for the virus.
Vaccination lines were formed outside Yankee Stadium on Friday morning.
Photo:
Sarah Blesener for the Wall Street Journal
When Estela saw on the news about the new vaccine, she said she immediately reported her mother. Me. Estela then informed staff at her local school of the site. “I think most of them signed up for the weekend,” she said.
Both New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said they hope the site will increase the number of black and Latino New Yorkers who receive vaccinations.
Mr de Blasio, a Red Sox fan, only declared himself a Yankees fan on Friday for one day to celebrate the site’s opening.
“It’s about fairness,” he said. “It’s about protecting people who need the most protection, because the Bronx is one of the places bearing the brunt of this coronavirus crisis.”
City data released Sunday showed that nearly half of the city’s hundreds of thousands of residents who received a shot were white, more than double any minority group in the city. While city officials said the data were incomplete, preliminary findings showed that Blacks received 11% of the doses, while 15% went to Asians and another 15% to Latinos.
President Biden has announced plans to increase the addition of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to states for the next three weeks, and by the end of the summer to buy enough additional doses to vaccinate the majority of the U.S. population. Photo: Doug Mills / Getty Images (Originally published on January 26, 2021)
Mr. Cuomo and de Blasio sought to improve vaccination rates by setting up institutions in partnership with churches, health care providers and civil rights groups in minority communities.
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“When they all said about the Bronx, I just jumped.”
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They both said some black residents were reluctant to get a chance due to a mistrust in health care and government institutions over a history of unethical experimentation. ‘There are reasonable reasons for mistrust in the system. I understand that. But that is not true with this vaccine, ‘said Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference in Albany on Friday.
The Blasio and officials said the city also increased more in communities where the vaccine was more vigilant.
“It can be door-to-door, but it can also be small community groups to convince people they want to be vaccinated, and also to help people with access issues solve the problems,” said Mitchell Katz, the chairman. of the city’s public hospital system, said at a news conference Thursday.
A Navy on Friday registered people for vaccinations outside Yankee Stadium.
Photo:
Angus Mordant / Bloomberg News
State data showed that the positive percentage of Bronx for Covid-19 as of February 2 was 5.5%. Bronx has the highest death rate of any other city in the city.
Those waiting for their appointment at Yankee Stadium on Friday said they were grateful for a site dedicated solely to Bronx residents.
“When they all said ‘Bronx,’ I just jumped, ‘” said Greg Alvarez, a 50-year-old health worker living in Sedgwick Avenue. Thursday night he made an appointment. “I have to protect myself and my family.”
Write to Katie Honan by [email protected]
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