FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 11, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
COVID-19 vaccine rollout at Citi Field
brings few shots but much confusion
BY DEAN MOSES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e New York Mets’ home, Citi Field,
opened up Wednesday, Feb. 10, as a mass
COVID-19 vaccination site — but the
grand opening wasn’t a home run for
everyone.
Th is latest super center was set to distribute
a limited amount of vaccination
doses Wednesday morning. Th e schedule
will run Mondays through Saturdays,
each day allotting 200 appointments with
100 prioritized to the TLC and food service
workers.
But that didn’t stop scores of people
from showing up Wednesday morning,
buoyed by some false hope about the site
serving exclusively Queens residents; in
fact, it is designed to serve Queens residents
as well as essential workers citywide.
Amidst the line of people admitted to
receive their fi rst dose of the COVID-
19 vaccine, droves of individuals were
turned away — many of them immigrants
or seniors, or having pre-existing conditions
that make them particularly vulnerable
to the virus.
The refusals were emotional for
many; some wept when they realized
they wouldn’t get the vaccine at least on
Wednesday. One woman, about 80 years
of age could be seen arguing with NYPD
offi cers outside the stadium’s gate brandishing
medical records, begging to be
let inside.
“It says for Queens residents, I am from
Queens. I have cancer, I could die if you
let me leave,” pleaded Elba Marchena.
Confusion continued throughout the
morning as more people arrived, some
grasping what they said were proof of
appointments, only for them to also be
denied entry aft er waiting on line. One
visitor claimed to have been outside the
coliseum since the early hours of the
morning.
“I made an appointment but they can’t
fi nd me in the system. I am so frustrated,”
Carmen Ramos said. “I’ve been standing
on this line since 6:45 a.m., and they
checked in the registry and I had a confi rmation
but I just can’t fi nd it in my phone
and now I did all of this for nothing? I’m
a healthcare worker! Th is is so disorganized
and I’m very upset right now,” she
said storming away.
According to an NYPD source who
spoke with offi cials on the inside of the
stadium, the misinformation seemed to
have spread due to language barriers and
computer illiteracy.
Once hearing that the makeshift hub
would be serving solely Queens residents,
many mistakenly presumed they could
simply arrive without fi rst booking an
appointment.
Moreover, those who exhibited what
they believed to be appointment sheets
had merely registered and had yet to be
assigned a date to be inoculated.
New Yorkers can make a vaccine
appointment at Citi Field through the
city’s vaccine hub; individuals with preexisting
conditions who are under 65 can
begin seeking out appointments on the
vaccine hubs for the city and state on Feb.
14, with available times as early as Feb. 15
available.
Despite the emotional rollercoaster
ride experienced by some, those who
did receive the vaccine at Citi Field on
Wednesday felt as elated as watching a
Pete Alonso home run fl y out of the
Flushing ballpark.
Raisul Karim was the fi rst
man to receive the vaccine
within the walls of Citi
Field. He emerged, gesturing
a peace sign and demonstrating
a new sense of
safety.
“I feel like I’m the
fi rst one and it’s like
I’m safe. I’m serving
on the front
line, that’s why
I feel like it’s
a good time
to take the
shot,” Karim
said.
Karim is a
yellow taxicab
driver and since he deals with different
customers every day, including
picking up those from hotels throughout
the city, he feels better prepared to start
returning to normal life.
“I am working at front desks at hotels
with people leaving, so I feel like I am
serving on the front line so it is a good
time to take the vaccine,” Karim said.
Among the throngs of people getting
vaccinated and attempting to get vaccinated,
Mayor Bill de Blasio and fellow
elected offi cials, Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards, Council
Member Francisco Moya, State Senator
Jessica Ramos, and Mets Owner and CEO
Steve Cohen toured the vaccination
site before holding a conference
to commemorate the
day in the shadow of the stadium
itself.
“It is opening day at
Citi Field. It will soon
be opening day for
baseball, but today
it’s opening day
for the people
of Queens
to get vaccinated,”
de
Blasio said
during a
press conference
at Citi Field. “When vaccinations are
here, people will come here. If you build
it, they will come. We need to show people
that vaccinations are what will make
everyone safe,” he added.
According to the mayor, Citi Field is starting
to distribute vaccines a few days a week,
and then will be pushed to seven-day-aweek
service. Once they are able to, Citi Field
will be distributed vaccines 24/7.
“By next week, we will be able to do
4,000 doses at this site, but if we had
enough vaccine supply we will be doing
5,000 vaccine doses a day here at Citi
Field,” de Blasio said, estimating that they
could potentially inoculate 35,000 people
per week at the site.
While de Blasio says he can see the relief
on the faces of those who were vaccinated,
he acknowledged the anguish of those
who came to Citi Field Wednesday for a
vaccine, but were turned away. Still, he
said, people need to follow the process to
get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Th ere is no such thing as ‘walk up
and get a vaccination’ anywhere because
we do not want longlines anywhere,” he
said in response to Schneps Media’s question
about the rejected patients. “We do
not want people congregating together.
It’s really important that people make
appointments. We’ve been saying that for
weeks and weeks.”
City Councilman Francisco Moya has
been aiding two of the hardest hit districts
in Queens, East Elmhurst and Corona by
hosting bilingual, virtual town halls to
provide information about the vaccination
process and how to register.
“Th ere needs to be a system in place
where the zip codes that have had the highest
rates of COVID, the highest rates of
death, should be prioritized as they go or
else we have people from all over coming,
which we understand that, but we need to
have a system that will literally prioritize the
people in this community that were ravaged
by COVID,” Moya told Schneps Media. “So
for me, it’s extremely important the community
like Corona and East Elmhurst
that have suff ered from the pandemic don’t
actually get left out of this process.”
Eligible New Yorkers can make an
appointment at nyc.gov/vaccinefi nder or
by calling 877-VAX-4NYC.
Photos by Dean Moses
Elba Marchena attempts to gain entry to the stadium.
Raisul Karim was the fi rst man to receive the vaccine within the
walls of Citi Field.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that only people
with appointments will be seen at all vaccination
sites. The Citi Field vaccination hub opened for Queens residents on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
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