NEW YORK – Yankee Stadium opened as a mass vaccination site for COVID-19 on Friday by officials trying to raise inoculation rates in neighborhoods near the Bronx, hard hit by the pandemic.
The New York Yankees home is being restricted to residents of the New York City neighborhood with the highest percentage of positive coronavirus test results. Mayor Bill de Blasio called it “a different kind of opening day” hours after a long line formed outside the stadium on a wet morning.
“It is about protecting the people who most need protection, because the Bronx is one of the places that has suffered the most from the coronavirus crisis,” he said at a news conference next to the stadium. “The Bronx suffered.”
De Blasio, a Red Sox supporter, donned a Yankees cap to thank the team and declared himself a supporter of the Boston archrival “just for one day”.
The site established with the help of the city and the state registered about 13,000 of the 15,000 consultations available in the first week, officials said. At first, it will be open seven days a week, from 8 am to 8 pm. Officials encouraging people to get vaccinated have summoned former Yankee star substitute pitcher Mariano Rivera to help. The Hall of Fame said it wanted to support the people who have supported it for so many years.
“We saved a lot of games here,” said Rivera, “but now it’s about saving lives.”