(Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
Feb. 18, 2021 By Allie Griffin
New York City is scheduling fewer COVID-19 vaccination appointments this week since a shipment of the life-saving shots has been delayed due to winter storms.
Snow storms across the country have delayed the arrival of a vaccine shipment that will replenish the city’s supply, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.
The shipment is days late, de Blasio said at a press briefing today, which has forced the city to reduce the number of appointments that can be scheduled.
He said that 30,000 to 35,000 appointments will no longer be able to be scheduled this week.
New York City typically receives its weekly shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday or Wednesday, but has yet to receive the shots this week, he said.
The mayor said he is hoping to get the vaccine shipment delivered Friday, but further delays means it may not come until Sunday.
“We now think we might not get our new first doses for this week until Sunday…,” de Blasio said. “In fact, a vast majority of the resupply we expected for this week has not shipped from the factories yet.”
The delay has led to the city postponing the opening of a vaccination site in Queens Village until Sunday, which was supposed to open today.
“Hopefully, this weather will pass in the next couple of days all over the country and that’s going to allow things to get back on track,” de Blasio said.
The mayor also wants to see more of the vaccine in shipments to the city. He has repeatedly called for a greater amount of the vaccine to be sent to the five boroughs.
“We do not have enough vaccine coming from the manufacturers, the federal government, the State government,” he said. “We’re not getting what we need [and] it’s holding us back.”
The city has administered roughly 1.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since beginning vaccination efforts in mid-December.
“We could make that number move a lot quicker if we could get the supply we need,” de Blasio said.
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