While the cases of COVID – 19 in the Big Apple they run at high speed in a wide highway, the vaccination plan continues stuck on a slow path that this Wednesday began to clear when the State Health authorities gave the green light so that workers who care for the sick and elderly at home, as well as officials of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and correctional facilities, be immediately incorporated into the immunization program.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, assured that he also encourages the New Yorkers older than 80 years and all essential workers, including teachers, are added to this first vaccination phase , reserved in the prot ocolos for high risk personnel of the hospital system and interned in nursing homes.
“We need the freedom to vaccinate because with that flexibility, we can reach much more people “, said the Mayor who insists on the goal of one million immunizations before 31 from January.
The municipal president confirmed that he received authorization to incorporate into the first stage a category of high priority people, such as home care workers and troops of the Uniformed who attend emergency calls to 911.
It is calculated according to the latest records that exist in New York City 110, 000 home caregivers , of those who ales more than 70% are from the Hispanic and African American minorities.
“This is a big step. I want to go even further with people who do crucial work for our families. Please get vaccinated immediately ”, De Blasio pointed out.
Since this week, around 30, 01 NYPD staff members are eligible to be inoculated with the new drug. The City estimates that approximately 04, 000 officers are already immunized for next Sunday.
! Let’s vaccinate the elderly!
According to data from City Department of Health (DOHMH) for the past 30 days show alarming trends with cases and hospitalizations in adults older than 75 years. He 58% of the deceased in this period of time belong to this age group that shows a 12% infection positivity rate.
“That is why we are convinced that New Yorkers of 75 years or more should be eligible for the vaccine as soon as possible. Several states have already prioritized this issue. As a City, we are increasing our access points to the doses, doing everything possible to expand our response if we are self-serving ”, highlighted the Dr. Dave Chokshi DOHMH Commissioner.
Elected leaders condemn slow plan
Precisely in view of the controversies generated by the “slowness” of the vaccination scheme, elected leaders of the city of New York this Wednesday they stood before the State and City Health authorities so that they speed up the march and change the roadmap regarding the groups that should start immunizing as soon as this week.
“Home care workers for the elderly, supermarket employees, ‘deliveries’, labor of the city’s transportation system, New Yorkers older than 75 years and residents of the neighborhoods with the zip codes hardest hit by the pandemic, which are coincidentally the poorest, should also be placed first in the ranking. list ”, demanded Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President at a demonstration in front of a testing center of NYC Health + Hospitals in Inwood.
The application that was signed by the presidents of all the counties of the city of New York, a group of assembly members and councilors and the Ombudsman, underlines that the vaccination process is hindered by a bureaucratic fight between the Government and the Mayor’s Office while Communities “continue to suffer economically and emotionally the punishment of the virus.”
The elected leaders condemned that the Big Apple for three weeks has received 340, 01 doses of the new drug and to date they have barely injected 110, 000 New Yorkers.
“The positivity rate is already at 9% and deaths continue to increase, while we have a slow and imprecise vaccination program. We need from the Health authorities a clearer action guide and that immediately incorporate other groups of New Yorkers also exposed to COVID – 19 ”, said
Look at poor neighborhoods
In the same way, the councilor
- Ydanis Rodríguez described as an important advance that homeworkers who offer services to the elderly and sick can soon be part of this immunization process, but considers that it is necessary “to take other leaps” in favor of the neighborhoods most affected by the pandemic.
- 25 access points , spanning community clinics, urgent care sites, and Health + points Hospitals and emerging DOHMH clinics joined the immunization strategy in the Big Apple this week.
- 100, 000 inoculations is the goal that the City has set for itself this week.
“We must concentrate on the postal zones corresponding to the poorest localities where the majority are Latinos, Afro-Americans and Asians, as well as how it was possible to expand the test plan that did not exist by any means last spring, “said the Dominican politician.
Meanwhile, the Quisqueyano Eleazar Bueno , president of the community board 10 of Upper Manhattan, advocates that Health authorities use data from zip codes ranging from 10032 until the 10040, belonging to Washington Heights – Inwood, where the highest number of victims and infections to establish immediate immunization priorities.
“Here the virus continues to rage. We must be in priority if we really want to stop the pandemic and thus recover the economy “, argued the community leader.
Steps in NYC:
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Pair For more detailed information about the phases, appointments and doubts about the vaccination plan in New York City see: nyc.gov/covid19 / vaccine