#NYC COVID-19 vaccination site empty despite intense demand

As desperate New Yorkers scramble to get the COVID-19 vaccine, one Brooklyn clinic stood largely devoid of recipients Saturday morning.

A video of the vaccination hub at Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island showed plenty of gowned workers ready to jab arms and few, if any, patients.

“This is crazy. This is nuts. This is insane,” a woman can be heard saying in the video as the camera pans empty vaccination stations. It was tweeted by Councilman Mark Treyger, who said it came from a worker at the site.

A furious Treyger, who represents Coney Island, called the situation “unacceptable.”

“There is no excuse for what happened today,” he said.

The city Department of Health blamed the problem on its website not being updated “to show that there is availability,” Treyger said.

But a DOH spokesman provided a different story to The Post, saying the high school site was only open for a limited number of appointments that had to be rescheduled from last weekend when 15 hubs closed because there was no supply.

“Supply remains limited, and we will use every last dose at Lincoln through the weekend,” said spokesman Patrick Gallahue.

He did not immediately provide a number for how many people got the jabs at the high school Saturday.

The video outraged New Yorkers desperate to secure the vaccine for themselves or family members.

“I have been trying to get my 70 yo Mom and 75 yo Dad an appointment there [sic]. This is so upsetting to me,” tweeted one woman.

Others rushed to the school to see get if they could get the precious shot. About 15 mostly elderly people lined up in the cold around 3:30 p.m.

“We are counting right now to see how many they have left,” a worker came out to tell them.

Then the vaccine seekers were let in.

Charles Marine, 50, a high school teacher at St. Catherine Academy, an all-girls school in the Bronx, said he came to the school after seeing a Facebook post and after having failed to previously book an appointment online. He was able to get a shot.

“I feel like this is all backwards,” he said of the vaccination program. “They totally messed it up. There is no organization. It’s terrible.”

Linda Traister-Carbone, 72 and her husband, Joseph Carbone, 71, were initially
turned away because they had no appointment, but they eventually got jabbed. 

“They finally let us in and there was nobody in there,” Traister-Carbone said.

The DOH initially said walk-ins were not accepted at the school, then clarified that those who sought the vaccine without an appointment “may be added” to a standby list.