The big state-run COVID-19 vaccination sites in New York City are administering shots to massive numbers of out-of-towners — rather than Big Apple residents, Mayor Bill de Blasio charged Monday.
The mayor complained that a whopping 75 percent of the coronavirus shots administered at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens were given to people who live outside the city.
More than 42 percent of the shots the state gave out at the Javits Center in Manhattan also went to non-city residents, Hizzoner griped at a press briefing.
“The big sites don’t help us improve equity,” the mayor said. “These sites do not perform like we’d like to see.’’
He and other public officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as leaders in low-income communities, have complained for months about the racial disparity between those who are being vaccinated.
The pols have vowed to address the issue with more grassroots education outreach and vaccination sites in minority neighborhoods.
De Blasio said that while he wants “to see everyone vaccinated,” it doesn’t make sense that a large number of people getting shots at state-run sites are not locals.
City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said the inequity issue “is why it’s so important … that we get our fair share of the allocation so that we can keep it, and most importantly, get as many New York City residents vaccinated as possible.”
The state also jointly runs a vaccination center with the city at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, as well as with the Federal Emergency Management Agency at sites such as York College in Queens and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. The two federal sites are reserved for residents of those boroughs.
