Social media rumors of soon-expiring COVID-19 vaccines that were up for grabs at the Brooklyn Army Terminal sparked a frenzy from people running to the site hoping to score a shot Thursday night – before the city showed up with a dose of reality.
Images and posts shared on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp claimed that the Sunset Park vaccination site had “410+ doses” available to “anyone aged 18 and over.”
The ensuing crowds prompted City Hall to send workers there to disperse the crowd, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
“There is NO vaccine available for people without an appointment. This was misinformation and the report did not come from the NYC government, ”press secretary Bill Neidhardt tweeted.
“We’re sending people to the Brooklyn Army Terminal to ask people in line to return home if they don’t have appointments.”
Several people on the site responded that a line had set for walk-ins, Neidhart admitted “Every now and then there are bottles with an extra dose or someone doesn’t show up, so sites are ready to form lines for when that happens.”
Video clips of the scene posted on Twitter around 5:30 pm you can see a long line of people queuing on sidewalks and police officers walk amid cars filling the streets.
Shortly after 6:00 PM, The Post found eight blocks in both directions of the terminal and hundreds of people along Second Avenue.
Alexandra Frankel, 27, said she was there “since 4:37 PM … and someone dealing with the site, she came and said it was very reasonable that we would take our photos.”
At one point, Frankel said, several agents showed up and “told everyone to go.”
Frankel said she got stuck and a security guard allowed 10 people, including her, to pass through a fence – only to have the police push them all out.
“It’s frustrating because I’ve been waiting online for two hours and now I don’t even know if this is legitimate,” she said.
Brooklyn writer Jessica Valenti also tweeted at around 5:10 pm that she was “online with about 500 people lol.”
“As expected, they ran out, but it was worth a try!” she added about 25 minutes later.
Currently, only those 65 and older, health workers, teachers, police, and other frontline workers are eligible for the New York State filming.