NYers Book 55K Coronavirus Vaccinations As Shots Open Up

NEW YORK CITY — About 55,000 newly-eligible New Yorkers rushed to reserve coronavirus vaccine appointments as the shots opened up to wider groups of people, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

De Blasio on Monday stressed patience as the city rolls out a wider vaccination distribution system and New Yorkers in category 1b — which includes people 75 and over, teachers and police — seek the life-saving doses.

The only way to get a shot and manage the still relatively-small supply of shots is by booking an appointment, he said.

“It’s really important people understand demand is going to be intense,” he said. “This process is going to build every single day. Right now, we have the doses. The problem in a few weeks is we will run out at the rate we’re going to be going.”

Eligible New Yorkers can book appointments by going to nyc.gov/vaccinefinder or by calling a new hotline at 877-VAX-4NYC. The hotline will run from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., but will expand to 24 hours soon, de Blasio said.

The website and hotline will provide ways for New Yorkers to navigate the growing number of locations where vaccines are available, de Blasio said.

The city on Sunday opened up two 24/7 “mega vaccination sites” in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Appointment slots between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. at those sites are already 100 percent booked, de Blasio said.

He said the city will open up additional mega sites in Manhattan, Staten Island and Queens this week.

“You’re going to see these big sites build out more and more,” he said.

De Blasio said the 55,000 reserved appointments run through Saturday and were booked before the city’s hotline went up.

He said the city hit 101,799 doses distributed last week, surpassing its vaccination goal. He said the city’s goal this week is 175,000 doses.

The city will amp up distributions each week to meet the goal of 1 million doses this month, he said.