New York City and state officials opened a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination center at Yankee Stadium on Friday that aims to get more shots into the arms of residents in some of the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods.
The Bronx site has the capacity to handle 15,000 vaccination appointments in the first week of work, according to the officials who run the facility. On Friday morning, only 2,000 appointments were available for the first week, officials said. The facility only accepts reservations from Bronx residents, and shots are by appointment only, officials said.
Hundreds of residents lined up for the baseball field on Friday. Some didn’t have a reservation, but said they hoped to be put on a waiting list or to get an appointment at a later date.
Josefina Rodriguez, 85 years old, went with her daughter for her vaccination appointment at the stadium.
They live together in the same Pelham Parkway apartment. Mrs. Rodriguez had to cancel her original appointment when her daughter, Rosa Estela, and son-in-law tested positive for the virus.
Lines for vaccinations were formed outside Yankee Stadium Friday morning.
Photo:
Sarah Blesener for the Wall Street Journal
When Mrs. Estela saw the news about the new vaccination site, she said she immediately signed her mother up. Ms. Estela then told staff at her local school about the location. “I think most of them signed up for the weekend,” she said.
Both New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo said they hope the site will increase the number of black and Latino New Yorkers receiving vaccinations.
Mr. De Blasio, a Red Sox fan, declared himself a Yankees fan for just one day on Friday to celebrate the site’s opening.
“This is about fairness,” he said. “This is about protecting the people who need the most protection, because the Bronx is one of the places to bear the brunt of this coronavirus crisis.”
City data released Sunday showed that nearly half of the hundreds of thousands of city residents who received an injection were white, more than double that of a minority group in the city. While city officials said the data was incomplete, the preliminary findings showed that blacks received 11% of the doses, while 15% went to Asians and another 15% to Latinos.
President Biden announced plans to ramp up the supply of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being sent to the states over the next three weeks and purchase enough supplemental doses to vaccinate most of the US population by the end of the summer . Photo: Doug Mills / Getty Images (originally published Jan. 26, 2021)
Messrs Cuomo and de Blasio have sought to improve vaccination coverage by setting up facilities in partnership with churches, health care providers and civil rights groups in minority communities.
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“When they said all the Bronx people I just jumped on the line.”
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They have both said that some black residents were reluctant to have a chance due to a distrust of health care and government agencies over a history of unethical experimentation. “There are bona fide reasons for mistrust in the system. I get it. But it is not true with this vaccine, ”said Mr Cuomo at a news conference in Albany on Friday.
The city has also increased its reach in communities where there is more caution around the vaccine, Mr De Blasio and officials said.
“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 problems solve those problems,” said Mitchell Katz, the chairman of the the city’s public hospital system, said at a news conference Thursday.
A Marine registered people for vaccinations outside Yankee Stadium on Friday.
Photo:
Angus Mordant / Bloomberg News
State data showed that the Bronx positivity rate for Covid-19 was 5.5% on Feb. 2. The Bronx has the highest death rate of any other neighborhood in the city.
Those who waited for their appointment at Yankee Stadium on Friday said they were grateful for a site dedicated only to Bronx residents.
“When they said all the Bronx people I just jumped online,” said Greg Alvarez, a 50-year-old health worker who lives on Sedgwick Avenue, who made an appointment Thursday night. “I have to protect myself and my family.”
Write to Katie Honan at [email protected]
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