coronavirus new york city

Coronavirus Update New York City: NYC has fewer than 1,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Coronavirus update for NYC

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Saturday, February 20, 2021

City has fewer than 1,000 doses of first COVID vaccine

The City gets its supply from the State which says their shipments were delayed this week due to the winter storms impacting much of the country.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- New York City had fewer than 1,000 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on-hand Saturday, data from the City's website showed.

The City gets its supply from the state.

The state says their shipments were delayed this week due to the winter storms impacting much of the country.

Governor Cuomo said Friday, "Every dose that should have shipped on Monday was held back, and only a limited number of Pfizer vaccines left shipping facilities on Tuesday and Wednesday."

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he wants to cut Cuomo out of the process and get the vaccine shipped directly to the city.

The City has not stopped administering vaccines as it does have more than 110,000 second doses, which de Blasio would like to use as first doses, but state and federal officials have been resistant.

Meanwhile, people can start making appointments for two new mass vaccination sites opening on Wednesday in Brooklyn and Queens.

Appointments opened at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The sites at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights and York College in Jamaica will be run by New York state and FEMA.

For the first week, they'll only take appointments from people who live in certain zip codes hit hard by the pandemic.

On Friday, de Blasio attended the opening of a new vaccination location at the Empire Outlets on Staten Island.

His wife, New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray, toured a vaccination hub Friday at Canarsie High School where she thanked the workers for turning out in the storm.

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