New York, Jan 16 New York City is on course to run out of Covid-19 vaccine supply next week and has asked the federal government to send additional doses, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
"We will run out of vaccine next week in New York City," Xinhua news agency quoted the Mayor as saying in a statement on Friday.
"The supply should go to where there is an infrastructure to get it into people's arms. We know there is supply in this country not being used."
As of Friday, the city had under 186,000 first doses remaining.
Two of the city's largest hospitals, New York University and Mt. Sinai, are no longer booking appointments for the time being and all systems are expected to run out by the end of next week without a resupply, according to an official release.
The city has already administered more than 337,500 doses to New Yorkers, including over 42,000 second doses.
It has administered 71.3 per cent of the 175,000 vaccines it aimed to distribute by the end of this weekend, the release added.
On Thursday, the city government announced that it would open vaccination clinics in NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) developments, providing on-site vaccinations for residents 65 or older.
Clinics will open at the Van Dyke I & II Houses in Brooklyn, Cassidy Lafayette Houses in Staten Island, and Polo Grounds Towers in Manhattan this coming weekend, with plans to move to different sites across the city in the coming weeks, it said.
"Equity is the driving force of our vaccine plan, and doses must go directly to those who need them most. That's why we're meeting our most vulnerable where they are, providing vaccines to our NYCHA seniors right in their own communities," the Mayor was quoted as saying in the statement.
New York City has so far reported 25,834 coronavirus deaths and 500,632 confirmed cases.
( With inputs from IANS )
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