Mayor de Blasio: More than 600,000 people vaccinated in NYC, more doses needed to reach goals

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city has vaccinated more than 600,000 people so far, but will most likely fall short of its goal of administering 1 million vaccines due to a lack of supply in doses.

News 12 Staff

Jan 25, 2021, 7:17 PM

Updated 1,412 days ago

Share:

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city has vaccinated more than 600,000 people so far, but will most likely fall short of its goal of administering 1 million vaccines due to a lack of supply in doses.
De Blasio says New York City will receive a little over 100,000 vaccine doses this week, which he says is not enough. It that means they will have to continue rescheduling appointments.
The mayor is once again calling on the federal government to allow New York City to use the second doses in reserve for those who still need a first dose.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’s not opposed to the concept, but would want a promise from the federal government that those second doses will be replaced in time for when they’re needed by the person they were originally reserved for.
De Blasio says it looks like the city is getting closer to having new vaccine available from Johnson and Johnson. The timeline isn’t confirmed, but the mayor’s office say it could be available in New York City as early as late February or early March.
Health officials say the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is especially important because it requires just a single shot and brings another vaccine into the supply.
Mega vaccine sites that were scheduled to open in Yankee Stadium and Citi Field this week have been postponed due to lack of supply.
The mayor also gave an update on the city's daily coronavirus indicators. There were 240 new hospitalizations, 4,743 new hospitalizations on a seven-day rolling average and a coronavirus positive rate of 8.44% on a seven-day rolling average.