FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
Mayor de Blasio provides vaccination,
schools updates during visit to Queens
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@schnepsmedia.com
@jenna_bagcal
Just ahead of his fi nal 100 days in offi ce,
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.
“Th is 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. Th e 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. Th e big-picture
reality – amazing. We’re now almost to 81
percent of adults in New York City who
have had a fi rst 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.
Th e 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. “Th is 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 Pfi zer 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-yearolds
authorized by Halloween, so we can
start providing the vaccine to kids who
need it. Th is has happening in real-time
and it’s going to make a huge diff erence
for our families,” the mayor said.
Schools
Th e mayor congratulated Schools
Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter on “an
amazing success” during the fi rst week of
school and described the “unbelievable
joy” on the children’s faces aft er 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.
Th at 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.
Photo credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
“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.
Th e mayor also announced that 1,081
city-funded aft erschool programs —
with over 200 programs in Queens —
would reopen at schools and community
centers.
“Th e goal is to reach 150,000 kids this
school year with those extended hours,”
de Blasio said. “Our aft erschool programs
are amazing because they involve academic
enrichment in addition to arts, culture,
recreation, you name it.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio during a press conference on Sept. 7.
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