NYC To Tourists: Give Us A Shot And We’ll Give You A COVID Shot

NEW YORK CITY — Come to New York City — visit the Empire State Building, see a Broadway show, eat a slice of pizza and grab a coronavirus vaccine.

Call it a spin on “vaccine tourism.”

The city plans to lure back visitors by offering them Johnson & Johnson vaccine shots at iconic tourist spots, Mayor de Blasio said Thursday.

“We want to go the extra mile, make it easy for tourists,” he said. “If they're here, get vaccinated while you're here. It makes sense to put mobile vaccination sites where the tourists are.”

De Blasio said the city hopes to set up mobile vaccination sites at Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Central Park and the High Line.

The only catch is state officials have to sign off on any plan to offer coronavirus vaccine doses to out-of-towners, de Blasio said.

He publicly asked for state permission and said the city can start vaccinating tourists as soon as this weekend.

“We think this is a positive message to tourists coming here: it’s safe, it’s a great place to be and we’re going to take care of you,” he said.

The city’s tourism industry took a massive hit during the coronavirus pandemic. Only 22 million domestic travelers visited the city in 2020, compared to 66 million the year before.

De Blasio and tourism officials hope a $30 million marketing campaign helps draw 36 million people this year, and more to follow.