Rumors on the social networks of COVID-19 vaccines about to expire for sale at the Brooklyn Army Terminal have sparked a frenzy of people rushing to the site in hopes of hitting a shot on Thursday night – before the city came up with a shot. reality.
Images and messages shared on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp stated that the Sunset Park vaccination site had “more than 410 doses” that were available to “anyone in the community over 18”.
The subsequent race prompted the city to dispatch workers to disperse the crowd, said a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“There is NO vaccine available for people without consultation. That was misinformation and the notification did not come from the New York government ”, press secretary Bill Neidhardt tweeted.
“We are sending people to the Brooklyn Army Terminal to ask people in line to come home if they don’t have an appointment.”
When several people at the scene responded that a line had has been configured for walk-ins, Neidhart admitted “From time to time, there are bottles with an extra dose or someone does not come to the appointment, so the centers are ready to form lines if that happens”.
Video clips of the scene posted on Twitter around 5:30 pm it shows a long line of people queuing on the sidewalks and policemen walking between cars that filled the streets.
Shortly after 6 pm, The Post found bumper to bumper traffic for eight blocks in either direction from the terminal and hundreds of people lined up on Second Avenue.
Alexandra Frankel, 27, said she was there “since 4:37 pm … and someone related to the location, she came and said it was very reasonable that we were going to take our pictures”.
At one point, said Frankel, several police officers came and “said that everyone needs to go.”
Frankel said she stayed close by and a security guard let 10 people, including herself, through a gate – just for the police to kick them out.
“It’s frustrating because I was waiting online for two hours and I don’t even know now if this is legitimate,” she said.
Brooklyn writer Jessica Valenti also tweeted around 5:10 pm that she was “online with approximately 500 people lol”.
“As expected, they ran out, but it was worth a try!” she added about 25 minutes later.
Currently, only those 65 and older, health professionals, teachers, police officers and other frontline workers are eligible to receive vaccines in the state of New York.