reopen ny

Mayor Bill de Blasio unveils city's 2-phase COVID-19 vaccination plan

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Mayor unveils NYC's two-phase vaccination plan

Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled NYC's two-phase COVID-19 vaccination plan.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio talked about the city's two-phase vaccination plan on Wednesday.

"The vaccine will be a crucial part of our rebirth and open the economic bridge to our recovery," Mayor de Blasio said.

Before revealing the plan he said that the city does not have an exact date of when the phases would happen, as it is dependent on vaccine approval, but "it will be sooner rather than later."

The mayor said that in Phase 1, there will be a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine to start.

In this phase, health care personnel, frontline and essential workers, and vulnerable groups will be prioritized.

The city will enroll providers in the Citywide Immunization Registry.

They will also make sure providers are educated on the vaccine.

During Phase 2, efforts will be expanded and the vaccine will be increasingly available to the general public.

The city will ensure adequate cold storage.

They will continue to recruit and prepare community providers including pharmacies, urgent cares, private and public hospitals and COVID testing sites.

New York City Health Commissioner Dr. David Chokshi also spoke about the vaccine plan which includes:

- Tracking the science of the vaccine

- Enrolling and educating doctors and clinicians

- Adapting databases

- Detailed plans to physical distribution and storage.

WATCH: Eyewitness to a Pandemic

It overwhelmed the health care industry, it put millions out of work, it drowned social services in an ocean of need and threatened the food supply Americans had long since taken for granted. At the apex of the crisis and for the weeks that followed, no part of life, or even what followed life, was spared.