Chirlane McCray speaks with community leaders after receiving the Pfi zer vaccine
at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
City’s fi rst lady, Chirlane
McCray, gets the Pfi zer
COVID vaccine
COURIER LIFE, FEBRUARY 12-18, 2021 3
BY BEN VERDE
First Lady Chirlane McCray
received her fi rst dose of the coronavirus
vaccine on Feb. 9 at Kings
County Hospital.
McCray, 66, received the Pfi zer
jab from nurse Christine Elleston
alongside two community leaders:
Jean Alexander of the New York Caribbean
Center and Jeanette Rivera
of St. Mark’s Methodist Church.
“It was so easy,” the fi rst lady
said after receiving the shot.
“Kings County Hospital staff are
so warm and welcoming, and made
it so easy for us to do this.”
McCray encouraged all New
Yorkers to get one of the available
COVID-19 vaccines once eligible.
“There really is nothing to be
afraid of,” she said. “We want to
do this for our families, we want
to do this for our loved ones, and
of course we want to do it for our
city.”
The city has made efforts to
encourage those in Black and Latino
communities to take the shot,
where distrust in the federal government
has made some more hesitant
to receive the shot. Part of
that strategy includes prominent
Black leaders, like the fi rst lady,
taking the shot and encouraging
others to do the same.
Speaking the following day,
Mayor Bill de Blasio lauded his
wife’s vaccination, saying it was
an “incredible feeling of relief.”
“My wife Chirlane got vaccinated
yesterday at Kings County
Hospital in Brooklyn, and Chirlane
wanted to send a message to
folks who are hesitant, to folks
who are unsure about the vaccine,”
Hizzoner said. “That’s the
spirit that we want to get across
to everyone here, that by going out
there, getting vaccinated you’re
going to help move us all forward,
but especially protect yourself,
protect your family. So, Chirlane
is someone who has dealt with
some real health challenges over
the years. She told me it was an incredible
feeling of relief to get that
fi rst vaccination, and she wants
people to know it’s safe. It’s the
right thing to do. She also was really
appreciative to everyone at
Kings County Hospital and everyone
at Health + Hospitals for the
way that they treat everyone that
comes there with compassion, and
support them, and answers their
questions, lets them know that,
you know, they will be supported
and helped throughout.”
SLOWLY
as cases remain high
leaving open the possibility
that offi cials may
need to slow down the
growth trends of distribution.
President Joe Biden’s
Administration, however,
gave New York
leadership a glimmer of
hope, promising to boost
supply by some 5 percent,
which — when paired
with other recently announced
allocations —
marks a 26 percent total
increase in vaccine
allocation over the past
three weeks.
That news follows
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s
announcement that
New Yorkers with comorbidities
and underlying
health conditions
— such as cancer, high
blood pressure, and severe
obesity — will be eligible
to receive the vaccine
beginning on Feb.
15 with a doctor’s note.
The rush to inoculate
as many people as
possible comes as virus
case counts remain
high across the Five Boroughs.
In Brooklyn, the testing
positivity rate sat
just under 8 percent, and
1,141 people have tested
positive per day over the
seven day span ending
on Feb. 7.
The southern half of
the borough has been
hit particularly hard, as
the 11235 zip code covering
Brighton Beach,
Manhattan Beach, and
Sheepshead Bay saw the
most cases of any in the
city with 364 during the
fi rst week of February.
Five of the top 10
city zip codes seeing the
most cases per day are in
Brooklyn — 11235, 11208,
11230, 11229, and 11223.
Yet, even as cases remain
high, Cuomo has
loosened up many restrictions
meant to enforce
social distancing
— including allowing
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
a return to indoor dining
on Feb. 12, and permitting
arenas like Barclays
Center to open at 10
percent capacity on Feb.
23.
“Any large stadium
or arena — hockey, basketball,
football, soccer,
baseball, music shows,
performances — any
large arena can open on
Feb. 23,” Cuomo said at a
press briefi ng.
For his part, Mayor
Bill de Blasio, at a press
conference on Feb.
10, pinned his hopes
squarely on vaccines to
quash the pandemic.
“Look, vaccination is
the key to recovery,” he
said. “Vaccination is the
key to bringing us back,
and it’s also crucial to
having a recovery for all
of us.”
To make a vaccine appointment
in New York
City, head to www.vaccinefi
nder.nyc.gov or call
1-877-VAX-4NYC.
/www.vac-cinefinder.nyc.gov
/www.vac-cinefinder.nyc.gov
/www.vac-cinefinder.nyc.gov
/nder.nyc.gov