NEW YORK — Don’t go extinct; get vaccinated — that was the message from a person dressed as a Tyrannosaurus rex who stood outside the American Museum of Natural History on Friday, the day the museum opened its new COVID-19 vaccination site.
What You Need To Know
- A city-run vaccination site opened Friday at the American Museum of Natural History
- All eligible New Yorkers can get their shot under the famous blue whale
- Walk-ins are allowed
“Well, unfortunately because they didn’t have science back then and there are much improvements, the dinosaurs are no longer around so, this T-Rex is trying to remind people science is awesome, vaccines are awesome, and it’ll get us back to normal," said Kate-lynn Timmermans, aka Stay at Home Rex, who does not work for the museum.
But folks won’t be getting their shots among dinosaurs; rather, under T-Rex’s friend, the big blue whale, who at 94 feet long is the biggest animal on Earth. She got the biggest Band-Aid on Earth after her vaccine.
Adrian Rosario, meanwhile, got a smaller Band-Aid. Ge was first in line at the entrance in the 81st Street subway station.
“I like the museum here and I thought, what a perfect place to get the vaccine, so I came to this one," he said.
The city-run site in the museum’s Millstein Hall of Ocean Life will offer 1,000 shots per day and is for all eligible New Yorkers, but it also has appointments set aside for residents and staff of city public housing as well as District 37 members, which is New York’s largest public employee union, with members who work at New York City cultural institutions.
"We are immensely proud to participate in this crucial life-saving effort. As president of the museum — an institution dedicated to fostering scientific research, knowledge, and understanding, and to providing public access to that information — I cannot think of a more important manifestation of our mission in action," American Museum of Natural History President Ellen Futter said.
Along with the jab, those who get vaccinated under the whale also receive a voucher for free admission to the museum for a group of four.
However, appointments didn’t book up quickly. Many were still available when the site officially opened. Health department staff stood outside the entrance to offer up extra slots to people walking by.
The vaccine site is open Friday through Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. And, don’t worry: the museum is still open to learn about history while history is being made.
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