NY Residents 50+ Eligible for Walk-In Vaccines in Select Locations

New Yorkers aged 50 and above will no longer need to make an appointment prior to showing up at a vaccination site. The city announced on Saturday that more than 30 vaccination sites will offer free walk-in appointments, in hope of encouraging people to get their shot by removing the confusing sign-up system.

“Starting TODAY, New Yorkers 50 and older can walk into any City-run site and get vaccinated. No appointment necessary,” Mayor de Blasio tweeted. The vaccine is free for all New Yorkers.

Previously, all adults 75 and above were able to receive a vaccine without an appointment, the New York Post reported.

The city aims to vaccinate 5 million residents by June, and has already vaccinated more than 2 million people fully and 3 million people with at least one dose. On Friday, April 16, the city set a record of 106,527 shots distributed in one day.

City Councilman Mark Levine, the chairman of the council’s Health Committee, told the Post that the city has reached the point where supply outstrips demand, and the city now must focus on outreach to people who are uncertain or frightened to reassure them the vaccine is safe and that the sooner everyone is vaccinated, the sooner life can return to the way it was prior to the pandemic.

“We really hit an inflection point this week where we’re really in a new world,” he said. “We’re going to have to work harder to get vaccinations to people where they’re at — in their buildings, in their neighborhoods…we need to pivot to a new phase in which we are doing much more to promote vaccination among people who are on the fence and doing more to build trust.”

The Brooklyn sites are:

• Coney Island YMCA
• Teachers Prep High School
• Starrett City
• Flatbush YMCA
• Bushwick Educational Campus
• Event Space at City Point
• Brooklyn Army Terminal

The Queens sites are:

• Modell’s – Queens Center Mall
• Korean Community Services
• Beach Channel Educational Campus
• Long Island City Vaccine Site (Plaxall)
• Queens Public Library – Flushing Library
• Queens Public Library – Ozone
• CitiField

The Manhattan sites are:

• Ford Foundation
• NFL Experience Times Square
• Yeshiva University
• City College
• Essex Crossing
• Fulton Senior Community Center / Hudson Guild

The Staten Island sites are:

• Former Babies R Us – Staten Island Mall
• Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
• Empire Outlets
• St. Thomas St. Joseph’s School

___

smarcus@hamodia.com