Popular Bed-Stuy Vax Clinics To Offer Last Shots Of 2022 This Weekend

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A popular booster vaccination clinic is hosting their final two days of giving out shots for the year this weekend, and health department officials are encouraging residents to ensure their boosters are updated before the end of the year.

“Getting the updated bivalent booster is the most effective way for New Yorkers to protect themselves against serious illness or hospitalizations caused by COVID-19," a Department of Health official said. "We continue to stand up community vaccination events in all five boroughs and boosters are available at thousands of sites."

At two walk-in clinic sites in Bed-Stuy, located at the DOH's Bedford Health Site at 485 Throop Ave and the Kingsborough Houses at 1880 Pacific St., officials said the sites have had a huge turnout.

Each location is open one day a week: the Bedford Health Site on Fridays and the Kingsborough Houses site on Saturdays, and both are open from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., according to a flyer distributed in the neighborhood.

Nearly 350 shots have been given to Bed-Stuy residents since the sites opened last November, with more and more residents looking to update their boosters in recent weeks, officials said.

For ZIP code 11221, the COVID case rate and death rate are both higher than borough and city-side averages, with the case rate an astounding 95 percent higher than the Brooklyn average, according to city data, though death rates are only seven percent above the rest of the borough.

Vaccination rates in the neighborhood are on the rise, with 85 percent of residents receiving at least one dose.

11221 hit a COVID positivity rate of 18 percent on Dec. 9, well above their summer Omicron wave peak of slightly above 15 percent and well above the city average of 13 percent.

On Nov. 20, 11211 had a positivity rate of just 10%, showing a massive jump in less than two weeks.

Due to the site's success, health officials said they hope to continue operating the booster clinics in the new year but could not confirm any plans at the moment.