Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that two new mass vaccination sites will open in Brooklyn and Queens on February 24 in hopes of expanding access to vulnerable minority communities. (February, 10th)
Video transcription
ANDREW CUOMO: And these sites are unlike anything we’ve done before. The federal government will provide a special dosage allocation for these locations. And they will be composed together by the federal government, federal army personnel, among others, and state personnel, National Guard, among others.
So, these sites will be very large. These are complicated operations. But they will meet a dramatic need to get the vaccine to the people who need it most.
AL SHAPTON: Access is one thing. But as you know, we also have a big challenge with skepticism in our communities about the vaccine. Many in the African American community do not trust vaccines because the past abuses them, like the Tuskegee experiment. Let’s put it ahead, like the shameful treatment of Henrietta Lacks, like the forced sterilization of women in Puerto Rico, in the south.
But this vaccine is different. And we had to go out there and say that we are working around the clock to assure people in our community that the vaccine is safe and effective. And everyone should enjoy it when it’s their turn, because that’s how we get everyone back to work and we’ll see our families and friends safe and together.
ANDREW CUOMO: Any major stadium or arena, hockey, basketball, football, soccer, baseball, music shows, performances, any major arena can open on February 23.
Your plan must be approved by the State Department of Health. It is 10% of the capacity for arenas 10,000 and above, which is what it is, a negative PCR test, with face coverage, with social distance, and then mandatory seating assigned. It is not where people can sit wherever they want. But it does strike the balance of safe reopening.