This post was originally published on this site
Two new mass vaccination sites will open in Brooklyn and Queens later this month, and major stadiums and arenas can start reopening for events to attendees on Feb. 23, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday.
The mass vaccination sites will be located in “socially vulnerable communities”—one in Jamaica, Queens, and one at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights, Brooklyn—and are part of a partnership between New York state and the federal government. The sites will be equipped to distribute up to 3,000 vaccine doses per day, making them the largest mass vaccination sites opened in the state thus far.
Black Americans have died from COVID-19 at twice the rate and Hispanic Americans at 1.5 times the rate of white Americans, Cuomo said at the briefing.
“COVID exposed fundamental injustices that existed across the country,” he said.
More: What to know about getting the COVID-19 vaccine in New York City
The governor was joined by members of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Equity Task Force as well as community leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called vaccination equity a matter of life and death.
“We are working around the clock to make sure people in our community know that the vaccine is safe and effective, and everyone should take it when it’s their turn,” Sharpton said.
The federal government will be issuing a 5% increase in vaccine doses over the next three weeks, Cuomo said, adding that “we suspect supply will continue to go up” beyond that time frame.
Following a Buffalo Bills playoff game in January that Cuomo called “an unparalleled success,” major stadiums and venues can begin reopening events later to attendees this month, with a 10% capacity limit for venues with capacity over 10,000. State Department of Health approval will also be required for events, as will face coverings, temperature checks, mandatory assigned and socially distanced seating. A negative PCR test within 72 hours of the event will be required for attendees.
Also see: CDC director: ‘Now is not the time to roll back the mask requirements’
The new guidelines “hit the balance of safe reopening,” Cuomo said. The Barclays Center will reopen for its first event on Feb. 23 for a game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings.
The overall statewide positivity rate on Tuesday was 4.02%—“basically flat,” said Cuomo—and there were 136 deaths. New York City’s overall positivity rate was 5.08%. “The overall trajectory is down, and that’s good news,” Cuomo said.
