Mayor de Blasio Said that Boro Park was Among Hardest Hit Neighborhoods

By Yehudit Garmaise

    This morning Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged during his press conference that “Boro Park is a place that had a very tough time with the coronavirus.”

    Although previously members of the community wondered why several hard-hit Jewish neighborhoods were not included in the 27 neighborhoods that New York City has said were “hardest-hit” by the COVID-19 pandemic, this morning, the mayor pointed out that a mass vaccination site is now up and running at the Brooklyn Armory Terminal in Sunset Park, which is 1.7 miles from Boro Park.

    “We want to make sure as many people in Boro Park as possible get vaccinated,” Mayor de Blasio told Boro Park 24. “You know I represented Boro Park in the city council. I want to say to everyone in Boro Park, if you are over 75: go get vaccinated.

     “We have sites in and around the community… go out there and get vaccinated.”

    Right now, the mayor said, “The number one group we are concerned about is are our elders.”

     Mayor de Blasio expressed his excitement this morning that the state today has begun to vaccinate the next group of eligible New Yorkers against COVID-19, just one day after new vaccine hubs opened in New York City, and are taking reservations to avoid long lines and the further spread of COVID.

    New Yorkers who are older than 75 should first reach out to their primary care physicians to determine where to best get vaccinated, said Dave A. Chokshi, MD, Commissioner of Health of the City of New York, who added that New Yorkers can make appointments to get vaccinated by calling (877) VAX-4NYC, which is available from 8am to 9pm, or by going anytime online to vaccinefinder.nyc.gov, where as people become eligible, they can put in their addresses to determine the closest vaccination sites.

    Dr. Chokshi, who said the city has already booked 55,000 vaccination appointments this week, also mentioned that the Department of Health would be “doing proactive outreach,” such as making robocalls to seniors to guide them to the places they can go to get vaccinated and to give them instructions on how to sign up for vaccination appointments.

    Once the eligible New Yorkers, such as frontline essential workers and seniors arrive at the vaccination sites, Dr. Chokshi mentioned that “navigators,” will be present to assist anyone who needs help or has questions.

   “We want to serve everyone, over time, we want to vaccinate everyone,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said, who reiterated his goal to vaccinate 1 million New Yorkers in January.

 Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.