Citi Field Vaccine Site Hits 'Home Run,' Gives 200K Jabs: Mayor

QUEENS, NY — The mass vaccination site at Citi Field hit a home run this week when it surpassed the 200,000 vaccination mark, the mayor said.

On Tuesday, Kamila Ocampo became the 200,000th New Yorker to get vaccinated against the coronavirus at Citi Field, announced Mayor Bill de Blasio at his Wednesday morning news conference.

After her vaccination, Ocampo was featured on the park’s jumbotron holding a jersey emblazoned with her last name and the number 200K, which de Blasio called an expression “of this triumphant moment.”

The milestone comes during a month when the city launched cash incentives and vaccine mandates in its attempts to limit the spread of the highly contagious delta variant — efforts that de Blasio suggested are working.

“Now we’re fighting [the delta variant] back, because New Yorkers have done the right thing, and so many New Yorkers have stepped up to help their fellow New Yorkers,” the mayor said, alluding to the citywide surge in vaccinations this month, following months of dropping vaccination rates.

Since it opened in February, the Citi Field vaccination site inoculated 1,200 New Yorkers a day, on average, making it the most popular spot to get vaccinated citywide, according to city data on Citi Field's vaccination effort, cited by the mayor.

94 percent of those New Yorkers vaccinated at the site — which initially opened just for Queens residents — reside in the World’s Borough, data shows.

Despite persistent racial disparities in Queens’ — and the city’s — vaccine rollout, the data also shows that just over 75 percent of people who got their first vaccine dose at Citi Field are people of color; 41 percent of whom are Latino, and 36 percent of whom are Asian.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who called Citi Field’s vaccination effort a “grand slam,” specifically praised this piece of data, noting that the ball field is on the outskirts of Corona — a neighborhood that was hit the hardest during the onset of the pandemic, and is primarily populated by Latinos and other people of color.

Richards encouraged all vaccinated New Yorkers to share the news of their vaccination status with others. “We need you to get out there and spread the word that you got vaccinated and that you’re safe and that this is not about experimentation this is about ensuring that … our communities [get] back up and running in a safe manner,” he said.

The rate of young people vaccinated at Citi Field was another piece of data celebrated by officials.

Young people ages 12-17, who are eligible for the vaccine but the least vaccinated age demographic in New York City, comprise a quarter of the vaccinations given at Citi Field since May 10, the mayor said — crediting the surge in vaccinations in part to the allure of the Mets.

“What they feel about the Mets, what they feel about Citi Field encouraged kids and families to show up and to be safe, and that’s getting kids ready for school,” he said, alluding to nearly one million students’ imminent return to public school classrooms.

De Blasio also thanked the Mets for working with the city to keep the mass vaccination site open, even through the 2021 season.

The Mets president, Sandy Alderson, on his part, said that the team is “very proud” of the partnership, and plans to stand with the city “as we get into other phases of this pandemic,” including the possible distribution of booster shots, he said.

Third doses of the COVID-19 vaccination are currently only being given to immunocompromised New Yorkers, per CDC guidance.

While many people were appreciated during the news conference, the mayor specifically thanked Mr. and Mrs. Met, the team’s mascots who have shown up at the Citi Field vaccination site, for being “very, very positive people.”

Alderson, while chuckling, agreed that Mr. and Mrs. Mets are “great representatives of the Mets” adding “we’re happy that they as well have been vaccinated.”