Mayor Bill de Blasio made a resolution Thursday to administer 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine across New York City in January.
De Blasio called on the state and federal government for assistance with the vaccine campaign, saying it is time to step up the urgency as he said the country's vaccine roll out has been slower than anticipated.
The mayor says the city will lead the way to getting the vaccine out faster and help achieve President-elect Joe Biden’s goal. Currently, 88,000 New Yorkers have received the vaccine.
That's not enough, he said, as he's working with agencies and organizations to get 1 million people vaccinated by the end of January.
De Blasio said the plan includes setting up 250 COVID-19 vaccine sites around the five boroughs. These include hospitals, community centers, urgent care clinics and test and trace sites.
De Blasio added that the 1 million vaccination goal can't be accomplished alone.
"This is going to be a massive effort. This is going to be part of the largest single vaccination effort in the history of New York City. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take tremendous urgency and focus, and we will need help from the federal government," de Blasio said.
Mayor de Blasio also urged people to not attend large New Year’s Eve gatherings as the 7-day positivity rate climbed to 8.87%.
The city said to achieve the goal, they'll need more comprehensive guidance in advance from the state and federal governments to expand the number of New Yorkers eligible for the vaccine to ensure the supply of the vaccine is consistent. The city added that it will need to work with private partners to increase the ability to vaccinate more people each day.
De Blasio said as the criteria begins to expand for people to get the vaccine later in 2021, the distribution will be based on equity and fairness to ensure people are not cutting the line and taking the vaccine before those who are being prioritized.
De Blasio also said the first COVID-19 death happened on March 14, 2020, so a day of remembrance will be held on March 14, 2021. De Blasio said the day of remembrance will be held annually citywide.