Students will be able to receive COVID-19 vaccination shots while in school, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday, in a move officials said could be a “game changer” in getting more children inoculated against the deadly virus.
In recent days, metrics tracking the spread of COVID-19 in New York continued to show a steady decline in positivity to lows not seen since last summer, but the pace of vaccinations has also slowed, causing the state and others to offer incentives to shot-seekers.
The city’s vaccination pilot program for Bronx middle schoolers starts Friday, and will expand to the other four boroughs in coming days and into the summer.
Giving shots to students in school will “open up a world of possibilities,” de Blasio said at his daily news conference. “We care deeply about reaching our young people in every way.”
About 118,000 12- to 17-year-old children in the city have been vaccinated against the virus, he said. That amounts to 23% of city kids in that age range. The national average is 22%, he said.
The program will extend into the summer, the mayor said, when the city plans to open summer school to all students to help make up for any learning loss from pandemic closures.
Mark Levine, a city councilman representing Upper Manhattan who chairs the health committee, said schools are ideal spots to vaccinate children since they maintain records of kids’ ages and are adept at obtaining parental consent.
“There are many families that are busy with work and family obligations, and they might not have time to travel to a vaccination site after school to get their young person vaccinated,” Levine said.
“But if you bring vaccination to them in their school buildings — well, that’s a game changer.”
De Blasio said the city plans to host vaccination block parties and other events to urge people of all ages to get vaccinated.
He also said Wednesday that he may allow parades to resume after they were canceled indefinitely last spring due to the pandemic.
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