Javits Led Nation In Coronavirus Vaccinations, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — The Javits Center's first weekend as a 24-hour-a-day mass COVID-19 vaccination hub literally set the pace for the nation's effort to inoculate against the coronavirus.

"This weekend the Javits Center did more vaccinations than any place in the United States of America," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday during an event at the Manhattan convention center.

But Cuomo didn't give specifics on exactly how many vaccinations that was and reporters didn't immediately have a chance to clarify.

He didn't take questions from reporters who were no doubt primed to ask about his growing sexual harassment scandal and erstwhile allies' calls for him to resign.

The governor's office later sent out a release stating that Javits distributed 13,431 doses over a 24-hour period on Saturday and Sunday, and 13,713 doses over an identical period on Sunday and Monday.

Cuomo, for his first in-person news conference after fresh sexual harassment accusations, focused on the state's growing vaccination capacity and — flanked by a contingent of clergy — encouraged Black New Yorkers to get the vaccine.

The state set up vaccination sites at 48 houses of worship across the state where more than 40,000 doses have been administered, officials said.

Cuomo said he encouraged his own mother and daughters to receive the vaccine. He noted that prominent Black clergy members encourage their flocks and wider swaths of New Yorkers to do the same.

"This vaccine can save your life," he said. "This vaccine can save your mother's life, your grandmother's life, your sister's life, your brother's life. It literally is a matter of life or death."