First Lady Jill Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci visit vaccine clinic in Harlem
NEW YORK - A vaccine clinic in Harlem got some famous and expert support on Sunday as First Lady Jill Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci visited.
While 52% of New Yorkers have received one dose of the vaccine and 45 percent are fully vaccinated, those rates are lower in some under-served zip codes, which is why Biden and Fauci visited.
The pair toured the vaccination site at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, which is situated in North Harlem, the neighborhood with Manhattan's highest COVID hospitalization and death rates.
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While numbers like those have plummeted since the vaccine was made available this spring, Biden and Fauci are conducting the White House's outreach to vaccine-hesitant communities like in North Harlem, where less than 40% of residents are fully vaccinated.
"We're going to end this outbreak, I'm absolutely certain," Fauci said. "And the vehicle to ending it is vaccination."
The visit comes as top state and city officials have been offering their own incentives to up the vaccination rate, from Gov. Cuomo's $5M vax-and-scratch lottery at state-run sites to Mayor Bill de Blasio's offers of free Shake Shack burgers for fully vaccinated New Yorkers, and free sports and cultural event tickets for those now getting their shots at city-run sites.