New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray received a coronavirus vaccine Tuesday afternoon at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, as New York health officials attempt to address a sharp racial disparity in the deployment of his vaccine.
Ms McCray, who is 66, meets the state’s current age requirement that allows New Yorkers over 65 to be vaccinated. Her husband, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is 59, does not.
So far, black and Latino residents have received far fewer doses of the vaccine than white residents, although communities of color have been hit hardest by the virus. The city demographics is incomplete but the most recent data available shows that of the nearly 375,000 people in the city who received a dose of a vaccine and whose race was recorded, about 46% were white, 16% Latino, 16% Asian and 12% black.
Latino and black residents were particularly under-represented: the city’s population is around 29% Latino and 24% Black.
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The city’s health department has made an effort to encourage black and Latino New Yorkers to get vaccinated when they are eligible, hoping to address the reluctance to get vaccinated, in light of the history of unethical medical research in the United States. But Mr de Blasio said last week that he and his wife, who is black, will not receive the vaccine until they meet the state’s eligibility criteria, citing a desire to reassure New- Yorker that the process was fair and equitable.
“People have to see that the people they know, the people they trust and respect are getting the vaccine,” de Blasio said at a press conference. “They also need to know that priorities are being met and that those who need them most get them first.”
After receiving her vaccine, Ms McCray encouraged the eligible New Yorker to sign up for vaccine appointments – although access to those appointments, listed on dozens of disparate websites, has been l one of the obstacles to the equitable distribution of the vaccine.
“There really is nothing to worry about,” Ms. McCray said of the vaccination. “We want to do this for our families, we want to do this for our loved ones and, of course, we want to do it for our city.”
As of Tuesday, New York City had administered more than a million doses of the vaccine. Mr de Blasio had hoped to deliver that many doses in January alone, but blamed the lack of supply for the slower pace.
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