NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio says New York City could administer 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses a week if it had enough supply, but instead has been forced to put off opening mass vaccination sites as it waits for vaccine production to speed up.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The Democratic mayor said at his daily coronavirus briefing Monday that the city has “megasites like Citi Field and Yankee Stadium ready to go” as 24-hour operations, but doesn’t have the supply. City officials had set a goal of 300,000 vaccine doses last week but were only able to give 200,000 shots, de Blasio said as he urged President Joe Biden’s administration to use the Defense Production Act to spur vaccine production.
De Blasio said it will be “a game changer” if U.S. officials approve the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use because that vaccine requires just one dose, unlike the two vaccines that have been approved in the United States.
De Blasio said the city had 19,000 doses designated as first doses on hand as of Monday and expected to receive 107,000 more in the next few days. That’s not nearly enough to supply all of the city’s planned vaccination sites.
He said 628,831 doses have been administered in the city since the beginning of the vaccination effort last month.