It's a sense of relief for health care workers getting some of the last doses of the COVID-19 vaccine left in the city.

“I’m so happy,” said health care worker Donna Kaufman after she received hers. “This is a must-have, most in-demand thing of this season.”

What You Need To Know

  • City is all but out of vaccines with fewer than 20,000 left Monday morning

  • Roughly 630,000 first shots had been given out by Monday

  • With just 100,000 doses expected this week, ramping up to the goal of inoculating a half a million New Yorkers a week will be impossible

The location on Worth Street is one of the last few city vaccination locations still providing the COVID-19 vaccine. 

“We pretty much don’t have any appointments in the book right now for this week because we have almost no vaccine this week at all,” said Dr. Neil Calman, CEO and president of the Institute for Family Health.

The non-profit provider with 30 community health centers has administered a few thousand vaccines at one location in Harlem and two in the Bronx. Dr. Calman says it hasn’t had to cancel any appointments because it only takes them for vaccines in hand. The organization focusses on communities of color in the city.

“We have thousands of patients who have been using us for primary care. They would love to get their vaccines through us, but they can't really do that right now because we don’t really have the doses," he said.

"Please help us get the supply,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Monday, addressing that request to the federal government.

Because the city is receiving less vaccine from the feds than anticipated, the 15 vaccination hubs run by the health department are closed through Thursday.

Citi Field was to become the first mass vaccination site this week. That’s now delayed.

The city public hospital system’s 11 sites are at reduced capacity. It's had to cancel thousands of appointments.

The state-run sites at the Javits Convention Center and Aqueduct race track are still operating.

"Supply, supply, supply," said de Blasio. "It’s all about getting more supply and getting it quick."

“It’s not the only problem, but right now it’s our biggest problem," said City Councilman Mark Levine.

In addition to supply woes the mayor explained, many say the systems for distributing the vaccine and registering for a shot are too complicated.

“What remains in a city with 2,500,000 people who are eligible to be vaccinated and only about a hundred thousands doses per week is an intense competition, often a chaotic competition, for the few appointment slots that are available,” said Levine.

Levine says the city should create a website like Kayak.com, which scans airline reservation systems to provide customers with a list of the cheapest flights. Levine envisions a site scanning all the vaccination centers and listing available appointments.

“The city needs to create a smooth, simple interface that any New Yorker can use regardless of whether you have tech skills or hours to spare. That’s gonna be a big win for equity,” he said.

The mayor acknowledged it needs to be simpler and said that’s what he’s working on. No plans or timeline has been announced for that.