New York opens 24-hour centers to vaccinate against covid-19

New York, Jan 5 (EFE) .- New York announced this Tuesday that it will open five centers to administer vaccines against covid-19 that will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in an attempt to speed up inoculations, which so far they are going at a slower rate than expected.
The objective of the Big Apple is to have the capacity to put up to 100,000 doses a week in these places, which will be distributed among the five districts of the city and which will be added to the dozens of additional vaccination points that are being opened throughout the city.
The first two of these five large centers will be operational this weekend, according to the mayor, Bill de Blasio, who also asked the state and federal governments for measures to speed up vaccinations.
According to data this Tuesday, only 118,000 people have been vaccinated so far in New York, even though the city has received more than 480,000 doses.
The Christmas holidays have contributed to a lower rate of vaccination than expected and that, if it continues, would take four years to cover the entire population, according to local authorities.
Officials also attribute the slowness in administering vaccines to the rules on who should receive them first, as some hospitals in particular are taking more time than previously thought to vaccinate their employees.
On Monday, state governor Andrew Cuomo threatened to fine centers that do not expedite vaccinations up to $ 100,000.
De Blasio, meanwhile, asked this Tuesday for more flexibility to administer vaccines to people who are not in the priority groups and thus be able to combat the delays that are being seen.
“We have to end the bureaucracy and have as many pricked arms as possible,” the mayor said in a statement, in which he insisted that this is a “race against the clock” in which “flexibility” is needed to vaccinate. ” to the greatest number of people in the shortest time possible. “
De Blasio said in this regard that the five large-scale vaccination centers that will be open continuously will allow “a dramatically increased rate of vaccination.”

–