Rich NYers Must Be Stopped From Jumping Vaccine Line: Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — Rich New Yorkers won’t be allowed to wield their privilege to get the coronavirus vaccine before they’re due, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged.

De Blasio made this promise Wednesday during a briefing in which he and other officials detailed plans for distributing the life-saving vaccine.

New York City hospitals will receive the first shipments of a Pfizer-developed vaccine starting Dec. 15, pending federal approval, officials said.

But when a reporter asked about President Donald Trump and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani recently receiving literally-special treatment for their coronavirus cases, de Blasio cast a knowing smile to Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi. De Blasio said when it comes to getting vaccine shots that the distribution priorities set by federal and state health officials will be followed strictly.

“We will not allow people who are privileged to jump the line,” he said.

“Anyone who thinks that their privilege puts them ahead of other people in greater need, that’s not going to happen in New York City,” he repeated.

Front line health care workers and nursing home residents will be the first to receive the vaccine, followed by other high-risk New Yorkers in a sequence that is still being hashed out, Chokshi said.

He said preparations have been underway to receive the vaccine, which requires special handling and ultra-cold storage. Fifty-four hospitals will be receiving vaccine deliveries straight from a Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he said.

Those deliveries could depend on Food and Drug Administration vaccine approval, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo said is expected to happen Thursday.

Chokshi said New Yorkers who want to know more about the vaccine can visit a new site at nyc.gov/COVIDVaccine.