Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Councilmember
Robert Cornegy are demanding greater transparency from state and city officials
on how the vaccine will be distributed to communities hit hardest by COVID-19.
The first batch of the Pfizer vaccine is expected to arrive
in New York on Dec 15, as long as it is approved first by the FDA. State
officials say nursing home residents and staff will receive it first.
Adams says it must also become accessible to minority
communities in the city that are underserved.
"We saw what the pandemic did to our communities, how
it ravaged our NYCHA developments, how it ravaged minority communities. We have
a responsibility to go back and educate and make accessible the vaccine,"
he said Saturday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said that a campaign will be launched
to give New Yorkers information about the vaccine, in hopes of boosting public
trust.
Adams says he is looking to hold a town hall in the next
several days with other community leaders to figure out how to get information
to the public about the vaccines.
He's hoping that once they are available, anyone who wants
to get vaccinated will be able to do so.