Most vaccinations at NYC mega-sites going to non-city residents, says de Blasio

Vaccine inequity

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the COVID mega-sites have been distributing the vaccine to more non-city residents than residents.

NEW YORK - More than 4.5 million first and second vaccine doses have been distributed in New York, according to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. But his frequent nemesis, Mayor Bill de Blasio, objects to the number of non-city residents getting inoculated at state-run sites.

At the Javits Center, 42 percent of shots have gone to non-city residents. At Aqueduct Racetrack, that number balloons to 75 percent.

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The mayor says the state-run sites are not distributing shots equitably enough. A spokesman for the governor objects to that characterization.

"Our focus is on getting shots into arms as fast as possible, and we won’t let the mayor’s petty politics distract from that goal," said Jack Sterne.

Across the Hudson in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that many teachers will become eligible to receive the vaccine on March 15. Transportation workers and the homeless can also get a shot. Eligibility expands to an even wider cross-section of the Garden State on March 29.

NJ expands COVID eligibility

From school teachers to migrant farm workers, hundreds of thousands of NJ residents and workers will be eligible for the COVID vaccine beginning March 15 and March 29.