This story was originally published on January 21, 2021
New York City has brought a number of new vaccine hubs and facilities online as it ramps up for mass vaccinations after a rocky early rollout of the process. But even robust infrastructure won't help the city if it runs out of doses of the scarce vaccine — which it is expected to as early as the end of the week.
A new 24/7 vaccine site opened last week alongside Brooklyn Army Terminal, a former military supply base that is now used as a commercial hub. One of the first such facilities in the city, it was originally constructed for COVID-19 testing but has been retrofitted to vaccinate up to 2,000 people per day when fully operational. Each borough will have a similar facility with an additional mega-site expected to open at Citi Field in Queens within the week.
Patients receiving their vaccines on the first few days of operations didn't seem to mind the series of steps involved, including a mandatory and somewhat complicated reservation system, a wait in line, and registration.
Jennifer Weyburn, an educator, said her friends and colleagues walked her through the appropriate steps to register.
"I mean it wasn't intuitive, but you figured it out," she said.
Authorities hoped the reservation process would keep lines from forming or crowds from gathering. Still, wait times were hours long at facilities in Staten Island over the weekend, according to SILive. Patients at the Brooklyn site reported quick wait times by comparison.
Rebecca Wexler, a teacher, said the entire process took her about an hour and 15 minutes from start to finish.
"It was flawless for me. I'm surprised and happy to say," she said.
There was also a consistent flow of curious New Yorkers without appointments wandering up to inquire about the shot.
"It's by appointment. And we're trying to reiterate that, but of course, people are used to using our testing sites as walk-in only," said Dr. Jonathan Jimenez, medical director of community testing and vaccination sites with NYC Health + Hospitals.
Once inside, patients are escorted to one of 23 pods, where they will meet with a nurse practitioner to receive their injection. Brooklyn Army Terminal offers the Moderna vaccine, which, according to the CDC, is 94.1 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 illness. After they receive the shot, patients are herded toward a waiting area, where they are observed by medical professionals for any reaction to the drug. The CDC recommends 15 to 30 minutes of observation, depending on medical history.
After receiving her first dose of the Moderna vaccine, Weyburn said she was elated to receive the shot earlier than anticipated. But she wasn't ready to let her guard down yet.
"I guess the big thing is not to get over-elated and to keep on doing social distancing, and wearing masks," she said.
Especially as more New Yorkers become eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, facilities like the one at Brooklyn Army Terminal will play a crucial part in New York City's strategy to ramp up vaccinations. But Mayor Bill de Blasio said shortages of doses could impair those efforts. The city already canceled or rescheduled some 23,000 vaccine appointments due to inadequate supply, exacerbated by a delivery delay of the Moderna vaccine, the Associated Press reported.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he expects doses across the state to run dry within days.
Close to 908,000 people across the state have received their first dose of the vaccine, and 136,500 have received their second dose, according to New York state's COVID-19 tracker. Even so, the pressure is on officials to continue the rollout uninterrupted as hospitalizations creep up to levels not seen since the early days of the pandemic.
This story was photographed and edited by Douglas C. Murray
President Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time this year. Biden and Putin spoke for two hours about the massing of Russian troops and materials near the Russian border with Ukraine. Various outlets have reported that the U.S. has intelligence that Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine in the next few months. Both countries said the call was productive, but the situation remains tense.
Hagar Chemali, foreign policy expert and host of "Oh My World!" on YouTube, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll indicated that Hispanic voters are up for grabs for the upcoming midterm elections, with 41 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Democrats and 44 percent for Republicans. Bryanta "Bre" Maxwell, a Democratic Strategist, former political director for Jaime Harrison's senate campaign, and principal and CEO of Indigo Consulting, LLC, joined Cheddar to break down the numbers and to dive into what this specific electorate is looking for as the balance of power in Congress hangs in the balance in 2022.
Vice President Kamala Harris received impressive amount of media coverage in January for making history. However, the media attention waned significantly and some are now even saying she has almost disappeared from public view. Reecie Colbert, founder of BlackWomenViews Media, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more.
If you thought you heard the last of the Mueller report back in 2019, you'd be wrong. While the bombshell report was the biggest story in Washington for years, much of the report remained redacted. Our friends at BuzzFeed News weren't satisfied, so they sued to have certain passages unredacted. They notched another win when a federal appeals court ordered ten passages from the report to be released.
Matt Topic, BuzzFeed's attorney in the case, and Jason Leopold, reporter at BuzzFeed News, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The U.S. reported its first confirmed case of the omicron variant in California on Wednesday. Scientists and health officials are racing to understand the variant, with the WHO saying it's still too early to determine whether it's more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Omicron has pushed members of the WHO to commit to start talks over a "gobal pandemic treaty" for future pandemic preparedness.
Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Wednesday was not a good day for those who believe in abortion rights in this country as the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the court appears poised to roll back abortion rights, and the questions from the conservative justices seemed to indicate the law for nearly 50 years is likely to change.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss Wednesday's hearing.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has been busy since completing his prison sentence in November. He's getting into the NFT space, selling his federal prison badge and the original manuscript of his book "Disloyal" as NFTs. Cohen joined Cheddar to discuss his latest venture and why he thinks there is still much to be revealed about his case.
Jonathan Adler, Law Professor at Case Western Reserve University, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Tuesday's ruling and provide legal context to recent battles over vaccine mandates.
Carlo and Baker wrap up the week talking about the Biden economic boom that no one seems to notice, a verdict in the Jussie Smollett case, the first Starbucks union in America and the pleasures of the "dude nod."
