New Yorkers could
start getting some free rides on the subway if they get vaccinated at certain
locations in the city.
Those who get
vaccinated at select subway stations can receive a free seven-day MetroCard.
Anyone traveling
on the Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North can get a free roundtrip ticket.
The goal of the
initiative is to vaccinate 300 people a day.
No appointment is
needed at the stations, and those getting vaccinated will receive the
single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
says they are trying to get creative with ways to get people vaccinated, and
get the vaccination rate up again.
In order to get
the message out there, the MTA says it has been advertising on more than 12,000
screens and onboard buses and trains.
A man visiting
from Colombia says he saw the ad on the subway and decided to come out to get
vaccinated.
“My country is very
hard to get the vaccine,” he says.
There are eight
sites that opened today, including in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
At the East 180th
Street station, vaccinations occur from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Coney Island
subway station offers vaccinations from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the Broadway
Junction subway station will be administering vaccines from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Some other
stations where the vaccine is available are Grand Central and Penn Station.
The sites will run
through Sunday.