NYC wants to offer free COVID vaccinations to all tourists

NEW YORK - In an effort to boost tourism in New York City to pre-pandemic levels, Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to offer free vaccinations to all tourists at popular attractions.

Pending state approval, vaccination vans will set up at Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Central Park, the High Line, and other locations, announced the mayor during a briefing on the pandemic Thursday.

The vaccination vans could be up and running as early as this weekend.

"The more people get vaccinated the better for all of us," said de Blasio. "It is an interconnected country. It is an interconnected world. The more people get vaccinated the better.  If people are visiting us here and we have the ability to vaccinate, it is a show of goodwill. It's a welcome. It will be helpful to us, in the long run, no matter how you slice it."

RELATED: NYC launching $30 million campaign to revive tourism industry

The city plans to administer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. There is no plan to track the vaccination status of tourists.

"The more people get vaccinated the better for all of us.  It is an interconnected country. It is an interconnected world. The more people get vaccinated the better.  If people are visiting us here and we have the ability to vaccinate, it is a show of goodwill. It's a welcome. It will be helpful to us, in the long run, no matter how you slice it."

New York City launched a $30 million campaign to bring tourists back to New York City last month after a steep plunge due to the coronavirus pandemic.