Hospitalization rates continue to rise across the five boroughs and the city is working hard to help combat the stress from the influx of patients.

With over 600 people hospitalized in the last seven days and over 36,000 cases citywide, the mayor announced that $33 million will go to all safety net hospitals around the city.

The mayor says these funds will ensure that safety net hospitals, or hospitals in lower income neighborhoods, with an obligation to take patients regardless of their insurance status, along with their staff, remain equipped with the resources needed to provide accessible and fair treatment for all patients, citywide.

Local physician Dr. Ninfa Mehta of SUNY Downstate weighed in on the announcement saying, "Those are really the hospitals that have been hit the hardest. Those populations are the ones that are really suffering. They've had difficulty in obtaining access to vaccines and now boosters and testing so I would say those are the ones that have really been hit the hardest with COVID-19. Hopefully that money trickles through the hospitals to those populations that really need it."

With the city continuing to call on people to get the vaccine, the CDC is now endorsing the Pfizer booster for kids as young as 12 years old.