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De Blasio talks vaccination efforts, offers
updates on schools during visit to Queens
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | SEPT. 24 - SEPT. 30, 2021 15
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Just ahead of his final
100 days in office, Mayor
Bill de Blasio kicked off the
Queens edition of City Hall
in Your Borough with a press
conference on Sept. 20.
Joining the mayor at
Queens Borough Hall was
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards, who welcomed
de Blasio to a week of
“culture and delicacies” in
addition to discussing COVID
19 recovery for the borough
and student safety in
the midst of the pandemic.
“This week, we’ll be talking
about all the next steps in
our recovery, new announcements
that are crucial to the
future of Queens and you’ll
see the spirit and the energy
of the people at Queens that
are helping the city move forward,”
de Blasio said.
Vaccines
According to statistics
from the city, Queens has
1,555,305 full vaccinated people,
making it the most vaccinated
borough in New York
City. The data also showed
that over 1.7 million Queens
residents have received at
least one dose of the vaccine.
“We’ve seen really good
numbers on vaccination in
recent days, high numbers,
clearly connected to both
the incentives and the mandates,”
de Blasio said. “As
of today, 11,243,542 doses in
New York City have been administered.
The big-picture
reality – amazing. We’re
now almost to 81 percent of
adults in New York City who
have had a first dose. We’re
almost to 62 percent of New
York City residents fully
vaccinated.”
Queens is the most vaccinated
borough with 1,551,921
people fully vaccinated.
But according to Richards,
residents who live in the Far
Rockaway ZIP code of 11691
continue to have lower than
average vaccination rates,
with approximately 46.89 percent
of those residents being
fully vaccinated.
While the numbers increased
from 39 percent, the
borough president said that
there is a push for continued
vaccinations in Far Rockaway,
while other Rockaway
ZIP codes have reached a 50
percent vaccination rate.
The mayor added that
booster vaccines would be
coming following the FDA
committee vote that recommended
them to people over
65 years old as well as to immunocompromised
individuals.
He said that there are
over 1,900 sites across the city
ready to administer booster
vaccines when the time
comes.
“We have a detailed plan
to reach seniors in particular,
let them know as soon as
we know the details,” de Blasio
said. “This is a big deal.
I think it’s going to help us
move forward in a big way.
Once we know, we’re going to
hit the ground running.”
De Blasio also called on
the FDA to speed up its process
in vaccine approval for
children ages 5 to 11 following
data from Pfizer surrounding
that age group.
“We need these by the
end of October. Let’s give a
wonderful Halloween gift,
a treat for all kids. Let’s do
something wonderful, get the
vaccine for 5- to 11- year-olds
authorized by Halloween, so
we can start providing the
vaccine to kids who need it.
This has happening in realtime
and it’s going to make a
huge difference for our families,”
the mayor said.
Schools
The mayor congratulated
Schools Chancellor Meisha
Ross Porter on “an amazing
success” during the first
week of school and described
the “unbelievable joy” on the
children’s faces after learning
at home for a year and a
half. He added that the focus
for this new school year was
the health and safety of the
children and school community,
and maximizing the
number of children in school
each day to avoid further disruption.
Beginning on Sept. 27, all
elementary, middle and high
schools will undergo weekly
COVID-19 testing and change
the quarantine approach, per
the CDC guidelines.
“When there is a positive
test in a classroom, the unvaccinated
students in that
classroom will not have to
quarantine if they are masked
and three feet distant. That
will allow more kids to safely
remain in the classroom,” the
mayor said.
Porter shared that when
she visited schools in Queens
she saw that students were
wearing their masks and
following social distancing
protocols.
“As an educator, there’s
nothing more powerful than
seeing your students take
their, and other students’,
wellbeing seriously. And as
a parent myself, it was reassuring
to see the health and
safety protocols being followed,”
said Porter, adding
that changes would be made
“along the way as needed.”
She encouraged all those
who have not gotten a vaccine
to do so, and reminded
parents to submit testing consent
for their children either
online on the NYCSA website
or by submitting a hard copy
to the school.
The mayor also announced
that 1,081 city-funded afterschool
programs — with over
200 programs in Queens —
would reopen at schools and
community centers.
“The goal is to reach
150,000 kids this school year
with those extended hours,”
de Blasio said. “Our afterschool
programs are amazing
because they involve academic
enrichment in addition to
arts, culture, recreation, you
name it.”
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at
jbagcal@schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260-2583.
Mayor Bill de Blasio during a press conference. Photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
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