No 'Emergency Response' As NYC Rolls Out New COVID Vaccine Boosters

NEW YORK CITY — A new COVID-19 vaccine booster tailored to fight coronavirus variants is in New York City, but a massive, government-run rollout isn't in the cards, the city's top doctor said.

The bivalent booster will be available at just seven city-run walk-in clinics, in addition to 11 public hospitals, health officials announced Friday.

Hundreds of pharmacies and health care providers will instead shoulder the vaccination drive, according to information released by the city's health department.

Indeed, the city's role in the rollout is significantly stepped down from past COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, which saw large-scale sites where people lined up for shots, as health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan acknowledged Thursday.

"I will say clearly that we have seen a pullback of congressional emergency funds, so don't expect to see an emergency response with popup tents and mass vaccination sites," he said.

"We are leaning on our healthcare system. We are leaning on primary care providers, we are leaning on our hospital systems, and chain pharmacies as well."

The updated boosters are recommended for all New Yorkers ages 12 and up who had their last COVID-19 vaccination more than two months ago, officials said.

Vasan said the boosters — which protect against the BA. 4 and BA.5 omicron subvariant, in addition to the original strains — will help blunt the impact of future COVID-19 waves and protect against severe illness and death.

Federal approval for those boosters came a week ago, but city health officials were slow to offer information about them.

Huge Ma, who started the popular TurboVax vaccine finder site, tweeted Wednesday that "there's really no info at all."

"I want to get the new booster but have no idea if/when I'll be eligible," he tweeted.

Seconding this—there's really no info at all

I want to get the new booster but have no idea if/when I'll be eligible https://t.co/fPs4Ok8tBw
— Huge Ma (@turbovax) September 7, 2022

Officials finally released information Friday on the new boosters, which showed only a relative handful of city-run places where the shots are available.

NYC Health + Hospitals will offer the boosters to existing patients at all 11 hospitals and several Gotham Health clinics as supplies arrive, officials said.

Seven Health + Hospitals sites will begin offering updated boosters to the general public next week.

Walk-ins and appointments for the public will be available Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at:

• NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, 462 1st Avenue, Manhattan
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, 79-01 Broadway, Queens
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, 1400 Pelham Parkway South, Bronx
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, 686 New York Avenue, Brooklyn
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, 234 East 149th Street, Bronx
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, 82-68 164th Street, Queens
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Vanderbilt, 165 Vanderbilt Avenue, Staten Island (schedule may vary at this site)

About 200 health care providers across the city also will receive the updated boosters, officials said. More than 550 pharmacies, including 300 chain locations, will offer them as well.

New Yorkers who are homebound or at least 65 years old can sign up for in-home booster vaccinations here. And unsheltered people in the city can receive boosters through eight mobile units, officials said.

Check NYC Vaccine Finder online for locations that offer booster shots.