Yankees legend Mariano Rivera contributed on Friday when the Bronx Bombers’ house was transformed into a COVID-19 vaccination mega-facility.
“I love it. It’s my home. Being here in the Bronx is huge,” Rivera told reporters outside Yankee Stadium, as hundreds of residents lined up to receive the first injection of the coveted two-dose coronavirus vaccine.
Rivera added, “You shouldn’t be afraid [to get the vaccine]. “
“We don’t understand, we are in trouble. If we succeed, we will save lives, ”said the Hall of Fame about the vaccine.
Later, Rivera – alongside Yankees president Randy Levine and Yankees manager Aaron Boone – appeared via live broadcast at Governor Andrew Cuomo’s press conference in Albany.
“It is wonderful what you are doing. I used to launch here and save games and now this is to save lives, ”said Rivera while speaking at Yankee Stadium.
“This is bigger than baseball. We are talking about hundreds and millions of people ”, continued the great baseball player. “I see so many smiling faces, that’s what it’s about. Hope is the name of the game now. “
Levine said that to “encourage” cariocas to come and get vaccinated at the Yankees stadium, “trinkets” will be distributed.
“This is bigger than baseball. This is a bigger purpose than baseball. We are very honored to partner with you, ”said Levine to Cuomo.
Cuomo applauded Rivera for showing his support for the vaccination effort.
“The words you just used, that saved games in that stadium and are now saving lives – more true words have never been said. This vaccine saves lives, ”said the governor.
“This vaccine can save your lives and your presence today will carry that message to many people’s homes, because they trust and respect you.”
The stadium’s mass vaccination site officially opened at 8 am on Friday – through a partnership with the city, state, Yankees, SOMOS Community Care and the New York National Guard – after weeks of delays due to lack of vaccines.
Schedules for an on-site bite are reserved for residents of the Bronx – the neighborhood with the highest rate of coronavirus positivity in the city.
Authorities say the site can handle 15,000 inquiries in the first week.
Shortly after noon on Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio also visited the site and spoke with outside reporters, alongside Rivera, Levine and Boone.
“This is an important moment. It is about equity. It is about justice, ”said de Blasio. “The Bronx is one of the places that has suffered the most from this coronavirus crisis.”
“Yankee Stadium means a lot to New Yorkers,” he said. “Today, it is a place of healing, a place of protection for the people of the Bronx.”
The mayor, a famous Boston Red Sox supporter, even put on a Yankees cap for the occasion.
“For just one day, I’m going to declare myself a Yankees fan,” said Hizzoner.
Meanwhile, de Blasio said the planned mass vaccination center at Citi Field in Queens “is coming in a matter of days.”
“We need [vaccine] supply, ”said de Blasio. “I want people to understand right now that New York City is giving a third of the vaccines that we could get if we had supplies.”
“It is deeply worrying to me that we may be doing 400,000, 500,000 vaccinations a week, and we cannot get supplies,” he said. “I’m telling the federal government, you have to put the rest of the pharmaceutical industry in this fight.”
Hours earlier, Spike Lee paid a surprise morning visit to the stadium and spoke to residents waiting in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.