NYC Homebound Seniors COVID Vaccinations Go Citywide

NEW YORK CITY — An effort to get the coronavirus vaccine to New York City's homebound seniors goes citywide this week.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the door-by-door campaign — previously focused on Co-op City in the Bronx, Brighton Beach and Far Rockaway — will expand Monday.

"Our goal is to reach everyone homebound who wants to be vaccinated by the end of April," he said Monday.

The city's goal is roughly seven weeks away and will involve reaching up to 23,000 seniors, officials said.

Health leaders aim to use the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine in the effort because the one-dose inoculation and less potential exposure for vulnerable New Yorkers.

De Blasio on Monday tied the effort to his goal of reaching Holocaust survivors. He recounted a recent meeting Cilia Jankowicz, a 97-year-old Borough Park resident who survived Auschwitz and an encounter with Josef Mengele.

"Imagine if after everything she had been through, it was COVID that... after all of her history, COVID had come to take her," he said. "But no, because of the great doctors and nurses and community members who said we're going to reach Holocaust survivors, Cilia got her vaccination yesterday."

More than 2.82 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered so far in New York City, more than the entire population of Chicago, de Blasio said.

Homebound seniors interested in getting the coronavirus vaccine can call 877-VAX-4NYC or visit vax4nyc.nyc.gov. There is a special section on the site for homebound seniors.

Officials have said loved ones can help seniors call or fill out forms online.