NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday evening deflected criticism over data that shows racial disparity among New Yorkers receiving COVID-19 vaccines.

After the city released data Sunday that show Black and Hispanic New Yorkers getting vaccinated at disproportionately low rates, de Blasio during his weekly "Mondays with the Mayor" interview on Inside City Hall said the lack of supply was mostly to blame for this inequity.

"60% of the vaccination sites that we have started are in the very same communities of color that were identified as high priority by our task force on racial inclusion and equity," he said in his interview with Inside City Hall anchor Errol Louis. "So we did the geographical selection to achieve prioritization, but there wasn't supply to go with it."

And while he acknowledges that there is also a trust problem in communities of color, he claimed that, as the rollout continues, more New Yorkers will know somebody who's been vaccinated and that will boost their own confidence.

In addition, he urged the federal government to intervene so more pharmaceutical and biotech companies get involved in vaccine production.

De Blasio: 'State of New York Owes Us $2.3 Billion' for Schools

During the interview with NY1, de Blasio also responded to a report by the Wall Street Journal that some city schools are being asked to send money back to the Department of Education because of the decline in enrollment.

De Blasio said that in order to provide relief to these schools, the state of New York needs to give the city $2.3 billion from the aid it received from the federal government as part of the latest COVID-19 stimulus package.

"We believe the state of New York owes us $2.3 billion from that funding. We have about 60% of the Title I kids in New York state. By that formula, we should get $2.3 billion to help us address all the vast costs we've had in keeping schools open in the time of COVID," the mayor said.

Additionally, he emphasized the need for more financial assistance from Washington.

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Watch the full "Mondays with the Mayor" interview above.

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