New York City will receive about 17,000 extra doses of the coveted coronavirus vaccine starting next week under President Biden’s new push to get out more shots, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.
Biden on Tuesday bumped up the total federal allocation from about 8.6 million doses per week to approximately 10 million, in response to state and local leaders’ pleas for enough shots to keep their inoculation efforts humming.
“That means about 17,000 more doses each week for us,” said de Blasio during his daily press briefing. “That means 17,000 more shots of hope, 17,000 more New Yorkers who are safer and are feeling that confidence and that sense of peace that comes with getting vaccinated, even just the first time, and knowing that things are gonna be better.”
The city was allocated about 107,000 first doses of the two-dose vaccine this week, meaning that its new allotment will sit at about 124,000 per week.
Bill de Blasio praised President Biden’s decision to up COVID-19 vaccination distribution.Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office“I’m the first to say [that] we’re going to need a lot more than that,” de Blasio said. “But I’m also really happy to get those 17,000 new doses.”
Hizzoner also praised the Biden administration’s pending purchase of another 100 million doses each of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Once the deal is finalized, those doses are set to go into circulation over the summer, according to the president.
A health care worker prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination hub at the South Bronx Educational Complex. James Keivom for NY Post“The president’s decision to go ahead and order 200 million more doses of the vaccine to speed up this process [is] really good news for all of us,” he said.
As of Tuesday, New York City was down to just 7,700 first-dose shots on hand.
Production-side delays and the federal government’s tight leash on allocations have forced New York to postpone tens of thousands of appointments, and shutter large-scale distribution sites due to a lack of supply.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, claimed Wednesday that the Empire State could vaccinate every reisdent in a month if it had the supplies — but instread he expects it to take six to nine months for the vaccine to be available for everyone who wants it.
“The vaccine will take six to nine months by the production rate of Pfizer and Moderna. The federal government has put in the order, the federal government is buying it. The production rate is the factor that affects the federal supply,” said Cuomo. “The White House doesn’t make this in their basement.”
Cuomo went on to say, however, that New York’s economy can’t afford to wait six to nine months to begin coming back online, vowing to find ways to resume operations safely, including in New York City.
