#NY state to open five COVID-19 vax sites including Javits Center

ALBANY — Five new state-run coronavirus vaccination sites will open this week to administer shots to eligible New Yorkers — including a reactivation of Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Center, which served as a COVID-19 field hospital during the pandemic’s start.

Javits, along with the Westchester County Center in White Plains and the New York State Fair Expo Center in Syracuse are slated to open Wednesday at 8 a.m. for people who have already made appointments. 

Two additional locations — one at Jones Beach and SUNY Albany — will follow, opening Thursday and Friday.

“New York State is rapidly expanding our networks and capabilities to get as many New Yorkers vaccinated as fast as our supply allows,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a statement.

“The new vaccine sites across the State will expedite our distribution to get our most vulnerable New Yorkers vaccinated efficiently. Our greatest hindrance continues to be federal inaction.”

An additional 15 sites will be announced within the next several days, in conjunction with private doctors’ offices, county health departments, pharmacies and federally-qualified health centers, according to the state.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier Wednesday that a new 24/7 covid-19 vaccination hub will open at Citi Field at the end of January with the capacity to administer 7,000 shots daily. 

The city plans to more ’round-the-clock sites in Gotham. On Tuesday, it opened one at 125 Worth St. in Lower Manhattan, and over the next several days new locations at NYC Health + Hospitals Gotham Health on Staten Island, a yet-to-be-disclosed site in Corona, Queens, and another at the Empire Outlets on Staten Island.

Since mid-December, 665,172 coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the Empire State out of roughly 1.1 million doses delivered, as allocated by the federal government, according to state data.

Cuomo and the state Health Department have been criticized for being slow to get jabs into the arms of New Yorkers more quickly.

Hospital and frontline healthcare workers, along with nursing home residents and staff, were the first eligible to get the shots, but over the last week the eligibility requirements have been loosened to include essential police, firefighters, teachers and the elderly.

As of Tuesday, all New Yorkers age 65 and older are now able to request appointments for the coveted jabs.