NYC Expands In-Home Coronavirus Vaccinations

NEW YORK CITY — Getting a coronavirus vaccine for some New Yorkers will be so easy they won't need to leave home.

The city is expanding its in-home vaccination program to people 75 and older or with disabilities, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

"Folks in those two parts of our community, who would appreciate the opportunity to have in-home vaccination, we'll send our teams directly to you," he said.

The effort will jump off the city's effort to vaccinate homebound seniors, mostly with the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

De Blasio said that effort run by the fire department ended up vaccinating more than 9,000 seniors and 3,000 of their family members.

He said the city's vaccination teams will take what they learned from that effort and use it for more New Yorkers.

More than 8.13 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been distributed in the city since the inoculation effort began in December.

Coronavirus rates in the city have fallen sharply as the vaccination effort took hold. De Blasio said as of Thursday the average COVID-19 positivity stood at 1.03 percent — a level the city hasn't seen since September — and continues to drop.

New Yorkers who want to sign up for the in-home program can call 877-VAX-4NYC or visit VAX4NYC.NYC.gov.