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NYC vaccine shortage
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city only had 7,700 doses of coronavirus vaccines as of Tuesday morning. He continues to call on the federal government to release more doses being reserved.
NEW YORK - More than a dozen community vaccination sites in New York City remain closed because not enough vaccine doses are available to go around. The mayor on Tuesday repeated his call for the federal government to approve releasing the supply being held as second doses so more people can at least have some protection.
"We could be doing so much more. Right now, I need hundreds of thousands' more doses per week," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "I know that in February we can reach a level of half a million vaccinations per week — per week — if we had the supply."
The mayor said almost 100,000 doses are being saved for second doses. He wants those to be used as first doses for New Yorkers who are still waiting.
"Just put those second doses into play, particularly when we know the Biden administration is going to move manufacturing of the vaccine more quickly," de Blasio said, "particularly when we know the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is coming, could just be weeks away."
New York City delays mass vaccination sites due to shortages
Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city's health commissioner, said the city is expecting about 107,000 more first doses on either Wednesday or Thursday and will be able to honor appointments through this week.
"If we have more supply, we would be able to schedule additional appointments beyond what we're expecting for this week," Chokshi said. "But for the planning purposes that the mayor has described, we really need to know that for a far longer timeframe, to be able to plan out, prepare, and schedule appointments accordingly."
De Blasio said he has spoken to the White House's COVID-19 pandemic coordinator and is "very, very convinced" that President Joe Biden's administration will have a positive impact on the situation.
"Every person we vaccinate is another person who's not going to get this disease and that's what's going to move this city forward," the mayor said. "So, every day we're looking for every way to speed this up, open up more sites, bring it to the people and that's essential."
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Mega Sites Won’t Open Yet
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Citi Field and Yankee Stadium will not open as vaccination sites until enough supply of the coronavirus vaccine arrives,