Plans to convert Yankee Stadium and Citi Field into large-scale coronavirus vaccination sites have officially been postponed indefinitely — while 15 existing city inoculation hubs will remain closed as New York continues to struggle with a supply shortage, officials said Monday.
The setbacks are the latest blows to New York’s problem-plagued vaccine rollout, most recently hampered by a lagging supply of shots from the federal government and manufacturer Moderna — forcing the city to reschedule tens of thousands of appointments when it became clear there weren’t enough jabs on hand.
“We want to get those to be full-blown, 24-hour operations but we don’t have the vaccine,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio of Yankee Stadium and Citi Field during a Monday press briefing.
Hizzoner did not establish a new opening date for the venues, instead saying it was tied to when the city receives ample vaccine supplies to support the operations.
Meanwhile, 15 vaccination hubs spanning all five boroughs that were closed due to the supply shortage last week will remain shuttered until Thursday, City Councilman Mark Levine, the head of the Council’s Health Committee, revealed in a tweet.
Plans to convert Citi Fields into a large-scale coronavirus vaccination site have been officially postponed indefinitely.Ellis Kaplan
Those sites were previously shuttered last Thursday — tentatively through Jan. 24 — when Moderna’s weekly shipment didn’t come through in time. The appointments that were scrapped at the sites are supposed to go ahead this week, starting Thursday.
The lack of sufficient shots from the feds follows earlier issues on the state and city end, including onerous Albany restrictions on who could receive the vaccine and a complicated online registration process that confounds many seniors.
