By: Dean Foley
Mayor de Blasio announced in the Bronx’s Co-op city that New York City’s goal is to fully vaccinate 5 million New Yorkers by June, then announced his goals to inoculate all the Big Apple’s homebound senior citizens against COVID-19 using Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved single-dose shot over the next two months.
“We’ve been creating a plan to reach them, but what we really needed was the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” de Blasio said during a City Hall press briefing.
“Think about someone who cannot get out of the house, think about their loved ones and the fear and anxiety that they have for them — and they just want them to be protected,” said Hizzoner. “Finally, we have a vaccine that can do that in one shot and a vaccine that’s actually flexible enough that we can use, even going door to door in a building.”
“This effort is going to continue across the five boroughs very rapidly,” de Blasio said as he explained that this week, homebound seniors will be vaccinated in the Bronx, Coney Island, the Lower East Side, East Harlem, Jamaica and the North Shore on Staten Island.
“Our goal is to reach all homebound seniors — all homebound seniors in this city who want to be vaccinated — between this month and next month,” de Blasio said. “Over the next seven weeks or so, we believe we can reach every single one.”
There are between 14,000 and 23,000 fully homebound residents in the Big Apple, the NY Post reported.
“Bronx is going to help lead the way, lead the way in the recovery of New York City,” the mayor said when he initially rolled out the vaccine goals.
When the Co-Op City site reaches full strength, de Blasio says 1,000 will be vaccinated every day in the community. “What a difference maker that will be,” he said.
According to the mayor, Co-Op City is one of the first places to do homebound senior vaccinations.
“Now that we have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we can reach our homebound seniors,” he said.
The number of New Yorkers vaccinated is now over 3 million, according to ABC 7.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine approved last Saturday; doses began to arrive in New York during the week. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one-shot only, making it easier to get people rapidly vaccinated.
