Mayor de Blasio Announces NYC Administers More than 2 Million Vaccines, Aims for 5 Million by June

By Yehudit Garmaise

    New York City has administered more than two million “shots of hope,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio this morning before he repeated his goal to vaccinate 5 million New Yorkers by June.

    “[That we have already vaccinated 2 million New Yorkers] is further proof we are on target, that we get can it done, as long we get that supply,” said the mayor, who urged increased help from the state government, the federal government, and the pharmaceutical manufacturers, “to help us get it done.”

   The mayor said that the state could help more New Yorkers to be vaccinated by droppings its many regulations as to who can get vaccinated and when.

  “Free us up to vaccinate,” the mayor asked the state. “Cut the red tape. Give us local control: this is the way forward.”   

    The federal government, the mayor said, could do its part to accelerate the vaccination process by “using the Defense Production Act even more.”

  But it is the pharmaceutical companies, the mayor explained, that can help the city most to accelerate its vaccination efforts by doing everything they can to produce more vaccines, which are still in short supply.

   “Three pharmaceutical companies only is not the way to defeat this virus,” insisted the mayor, who has called on every American pharmaceutical company to get involved in the effort to manufacture vaccines.

   For instance, the mayor explained that after Merck & Co. was not successful in producing its own vaccine, the giant pharmaceutical company appeared to move on to other projects. 

   However, a few weeks ago, Mayor de Blasio asked Merck to help mass produce the Johnson & Johnson” vaccine, which was successful in receiving FDA approval and shipped out yesterday.

    “Today the White House is announcing that Merck will cooperate and partner with Johnson & Johnson to greatly expand their production capacity so we can get more vaccine, so can get what we need: supply, supply, supply,” the mayor proudly announced.

  “This is an example of getting it right. As a result of this partnership now, the projection is a 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine available nationwide by June. What a difference that would make.”

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.