Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Citi Field will become a 24/7 mega COVID-19 vaccination site during his daily press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
The site will be run inside the stadium, located at 41 Seaver Way, by NYC Health + Hospitals, and will have a capacity to administer 5,000 to 7,000 vaccines a day. It will open in the week of Jan. 25, according to the mayor.
“This is going to be fantastic. This is going to help so many people get vaccinated,” de Blasio said, praising the Mets for stepping up and helping the people of Queens and New York City as a whole. “We welcome Queens residents. We welcome all New Yorkers. We even welcome Yankees fans. There is no discrimination.”
De Blasio said there is still work to do, but it will be a “game-changer.”
New Mets owner Steve Cohen joined de Blasio for Tuesday’s announcement.
“When we heard about your initiative, we were just so excited to participate in this program,” Cohen said. “It’s so important. We know the suffering that’s going on with COVID. Anyway the organization could help support this effort, we were going to do it. We talked about being involved in our communities and I can’t think of any way that’s more important than what this hub is going to do.
Cohen described Citi Field as the “intersection of Queens,” that can be reached by subways, trains and highways.
“The goal is to just get the vaccine in people’s arms so we can get this crisis over with and get back to living a normal life,” Cohen added.
Health + Hospitals opened its first vaccine hub in Queens at Hillcrest High School on Sunday, Jan. 10, with another on the way in Corona later in the week.
There will be three more vaccine hubs opening in Queens on Jan. 15, located at August Martin High School at 156-10 Baisley Blvd., in Jamaica; Beach Channel Educational Campus at 100-00 Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway; and Aviation High School at 45-30 36th St. in Long Island City.
There are more than two dozen sites in Queens currently administering the vaccine.
The Health Department has established the NYC COVID-19 Vaccine Finder for New Yorkers to search for nearby locations that are currently administering the COVID-19 vaccine and to set up an appointment online.
The vaccine is currently being provided to New Yorkers who are 75 and older, teachers and education workers, first responders, public safety workers, public transit workers, healthcare providers and staff with direct patient contact, emergency responders, staff at COVID-19 testing and vaccination locations, home health aides, and long-term care staff and residents.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story first appeared on our sister publication qns.com.
