NEW YORK — New York City has just 7,710 first doses of COVID-19 vaccines on hand, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference Tuesday morning.
He again called for the city’s stockpile of shots reserved for second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be allowed to be distributed for first doses. He said the city has about 100,000 doses on hand that are reserved for second-dose appointments that are at least two weeks away.
“I’d rather give more people some protection than fewer people full protection,” de Blasio said. “Just put those second doses into play.”
De Blasio and top city health advisers cited recently updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that say that second doses of the COVID-19 vaccines can be given up to six weeks after the first date a person is eligible to receive them, and still receive full protection.
“Why on Earth would we hesitate?” de Blasio said Tuesday. “And we know it’s safe even if they have to wait a bit for the second [dose].”
De Blasio has consistently praised the administration of President Joe Biden on its plans for increasing the production of the COVID-19 vaccines. On Monday, Biden said that the U.S. would soon be able to vaccinate 1.5 million people per day.
Yet the federal government determines how many vaccine doses states receive each week, and how many of those are earmarked for first and second doses. De Blasio said that he spoke with the White House’s COVID-19 czar, Jeffrey Weiss, early Tuesday about the city’s vaccine supply, but did not reveal the specifics of the conversation.
“I’m always encouraged by those conversations,” de Blasio said. “I’m very very convinced that the commitment is there, and we're gonna see a lot of impact from the Biden White House.”
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Though the city is facing dwindling vaccine supply, it has not canceled further appointments. The city is expecting 107,000 first doses to be delivered Tuesday and Wednesday, covering first-dose appointments that were canceled at the end of last week and rescheduled for this week, according to Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner.
Chokshi said the city will know either Tuesday or Wednesday what its total vaccine allocation will be for next week, but added that to most effectively schedule new appointments, the city would need to learn its allocation amount farther in advance.
In response to a question from a reporter, de Blasio said he did not regret expanding eligibility for the vaccine, even though the number of people who can now receive the vaccine far outstrips how many doses the city has been able to give out. De Blasio cited the early hesitancy of front-line health workers as a major reason for opening up the vaccine to more people.
“Meanwhile we had seniors who felt literally that their lives were in danger,” he said. “I am absolutely glad we fought for the freedom to vaccinate.”
The mayor also said that he supports Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to keep indoor dining in the city closed as long as the positive test and hospitalization rates and concerns about the more infectious U.K. variant of the coronavirus remain high.
“We’re gonna be really careful and smart about when we let people get back together in close proximity with their masks off because they're eating and drinking,” he said. “When the numbers come down, and were confident they're staying down, that's when we’ll reconsider it.”
He said that he would consider eating outdoors Tuesday evening, in a show of solidarity with restaurants against Tuesday’s winter storm.
“If I can't stay, maybe I can get some takeout or something,” the mayor said, referring to the city’s takeout-focused Restaurant Week. “I encourage everyone to have a winter adventure tonight.”