March 6, 2021Mayor Bill de Blasio: Alright. So, everyone, every day I""m going to talk to you about a recovery. I""m going to talk to you about how New York City""s going to come back. And I""m going to talk about recovery for all of us, every neighborhood, every borough, every New Yorker – a recovery that is fair, a recovery that includes everyone. To do that we have to vaccinate, we have to vaccinate people all over the city. Our goal is five million New Yorkers fully vaccinated by June. We can do that quicker. We""d like to do that even quicker, but that will be the beginning of this incredible New York City comeback story and a lot of the story is going to happen right here in the Bronx. Bronx is going lead the way, lead the way and the recovery of New York City. And to make sure the Bronx comes back, make sure New York City comes back, we need to reach everyone with the vaccine. The best way to vaccinate people is right in their own neighborhood, right? Right in their own neighborhood. There is a place for the big sites, of course, but what I like on the sites right here where people live, and right here in Co-Op City is a great example. Here in Co-Op City, you see the amazing site that""s been set up in a matter of days. Now we are finally getting some more supply the vaccine. When this site reaches full strength, right here in Co-Op City, a thousand people will be vaccinated every day. A thousand people a day, here in Co-Op City for this community, and what a difference maker that will be. I want to emphasize this is one of the places we""re also doing the homebound senior vaccinations. Now that we have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we can finally reach our homebound seniors because it is a vaccine that is so much easier to work with, it does not require the same refrigeration. It""s one shot. It""s one shot and you""re done.So, already here in Co-Op City, 50 seniors, 50 homebound seniors have been vaccinated and lot more will be in the coming days. And I want to thank everybody at Co-Op City who has been doing this work, I know it""s a labor of love. Everyone who makes this community great, who""s helping this to happen for your neighbors, thank you. Now I talked to some of the folks being vaccinated and I""ll tell you some very, very quick vignettes. A woman named Geraldine, senior citizen, I said, were you worried about the shot? She said I was, but I knew it was going to do it and I""m really happy, she said I""m ecstatic to being getting the shot, and I said why? She said because I can finally get only one shot and I""m done. I heard the same from William, retired police officer, he said he knew the history, he reflected on his community, he reflected on his own community. He knew the history of discrimination against African Americans, he knew about the Tuskegee experiments. He had his own questions and hesitation. He said the more he saw as millions and millions of people got vaccinated, the more confidence he had. And he also wanted to make sure when the time came it would be one shot only. That""s what he wanted.We talked to Milagros and Samuel in their 80s, and they were worried, and they acknowledged to me worries about the vaccine, but they said they are much more worried about catching coronavirus. They were much more worried about what happened to their family if they were not healthy, and so they wanted to be vaccinated and they were happy they were here today. That""s what we heard and that""s why this is so important.
I""m going to introduce a few of my colleagues in just a moment but let me say a few words in Spanish.[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]Now, to be a city for everyone, we need great leaders in every part of the city. You""re going to hear from a few of them. I want to acknowledge the others, a very special thank you to State Senator Jamaal Bailey, to Assembly Member Michael Benedetto. And also, a special thanks to our Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi. Media star Dr. Dave Chokshi, so – where is Dave? Yeah, I call him media star, yeah – there he is, he""s like, what? He""s turning to his good side.So, now, I like to give credit when credit is due, this is something that is so important. Who makes things happen? And the person who reached out to me with passion because everything he does is with passion, Congressman Jamaal Bowman said we need a site Co-Op City. He has been fighting to get us the supply we deserve for the whole city. He said, I""m fighting for supplies, I""m going to get you more supply, but I tell you what we need in our community, we need a site right here in Co-Op City. And I said Congressman we will make that happen in a matter of days, and here we are, my pleasure to introduce Congress Member Jamaal Bowman.[…]Thank you, wanted you to hear from the leading voice defending the interest of the people of the Bronx, and again I said our recovery is going to begin in so many ways right here in this borough. Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr –[…]Now, our newest local leader, Council Member Kevin Riley.[…]Alright. Everyone, as we conclude, a simple point. One of the things I heard when I talked to people in there, they heard from other people in their life, they got confidence from watching other people vaccinated. I want everyone to spread the word. I want everyone to know about this site in Co-Op City, I want it to be full all the time, and it""s that word of mouth, that human personal testimony that is going to make all the difference, but I know we""re going to be able to make the people of the Bronx safe. With centers like this, you""re going to see a lot more of this in the weeks and months to come and this is how we come back. Thank you, everyone.