Searchable compilation of Press Conference Transcripts (non-COVID-related subjects deleted)
New York City Mayor de Blasio 2020-12-01 to 2021-09-16
Includes Also Brian Lehrer Show Transcripts and Q&A

2020-12-01 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. As we continue the fight against the coronavirus, we take a moment today to reflect today is World AIDS Day. We reflect on the decades – the decades-long fight of the AIDS pandemic.

So, today, we're going to talk about the moment we're in now, and it's a challenging moment. We are fighting with everything we've got against this second wave bearing down on us. But we have the tools to fight back in so many ways. And we particularly have to remember what we learned in the spring about who is most vulnerable and the special precautions that need to be taken when it comes to our seniors and folks with pre-existing conditions. So, we today are going to make very clear that new measures need to be taken to protect those who are most vulnerable. And our health commissioner will be issuing a public health notice to make clear the standards that we have to hold as the second wave bears down on us. Here to tell you about it, New York City's doctor, our Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. And what you described is indeed what we're seeing, a marked increase in cases as well as hospitalizations due to COVID-19. This escalation unfortunately follows a tragically familiar pattern, cases grow, hospitalizations follow, and, sadly, too many result in critical illness or even death. Hospitals have reported more than 1,100 COVID patients. That's twice as many as were hospitalized less than three weeks ago and the highest number since early June. Every one of those hospitalizations represents a person, fighting to recover, a livelihood interrupted, and a household distraught. I know this because I've seen it with my own eyes. I remember the concern that I felt for my own primary care patients earlier this year, particularly those who are more susceptible to severe illness. I think about my young Dominican patient with type one diabetes and my older Bangladeshi patient with emphysema. And I know that some people face a much greater risk for severe illness from COVID-19. This includes people who are older or have underlying health conditions like cancer, heart disease, weakened immunity, obesity, sickle cell disease, diabetes, and others. These factors greatly increase the risk of poor outcomes and even death. That's why today I'm issuing a Commissioner's Notice that warns at-risk New Yorkers about the growth in COVID and that urges appropriate precautions. That means stopping nonessential activities, staying in as much as possible and avoiding social activities outside of your household. We'll be working with partner agencies, with community-based organizations, doctors, and others to distribute this notice.

But there's one thing that I want to say to all New Yorkers – a risk factor does not alone determine risk. Whether or not you are a senior or have one of these conditions, COVID-19 can infect you. It can cause serious illness and sometimes long-term symptoms and could spread from you to others who are at even greater risk. To invoke the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. And with that same historic lens today, does make me take stock of another mystery virus, which a generation ago was fast-spreading and about which our understanding changed by the day – HIV/AIDS. At that time too, there were people who stepped up and changed the world. And so, on World AIDS Day, I'd like to recognize what those heroes achieved in our ongoing fight against HIV. We are close to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We must learn from that experience as we continue to hone our response to COVID-19. Foremost is the notion that it takes a whole community to beat back a pandemic. That's why the Commissioner's notice that I'm issuing today is just one step. We need you to carry the message forward to help protect at-risk New Yorkers.

I do want to conclude, Mr. Mayor with one final appeal to New Yorkers. While I am discouraging nonessential activities, medical care is essential, both for COVID – that includes testing for COVID – as well as for other conditions. Whether for diabetes or depression, it's important to keep seeking routine care and to go to clinics and hospitals when you need to. It is safe. That includes getting the safe, effective, lifesaving vaccine that we already have – the flu shot. It's still may be the most important one you ever get. Let's all roll up our sleeves for this next phase in our pandemic response. Thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you very much, Commissioner. Everyone, look, what you're hearing Dr. Chokshi say is we need you. We need you, if you're older, you have preexisting conditions to take additional precautions. We need you. We need you to go out and get that flu shot. If you haven't done it already. And we need you on another absolutely crucial mission for this city, because we need to keep people alive. And that is not only an issue when it comes to fighting the corona virus, it also is so crucial when it comes to anyone who ends up in a hospital and a moment literally of life and death and needs a blood transfusion. We need to make sure that that blood supply is there for all New Yorkers, any New Yorkers who need it in their hour of need. And people constantly ask me how they can help. I can't tell you how many times I've heard just every-day New Yorkers saying, I want to help, I want to do more, I want to help us over this crisis. Here's something everyone can do – you can get blood. And it makes such a difference. We have seen a market decrease in the blood supply, because, of course, there haven't been corporate blood drives and blood drives at colleges and all the things that used to – government offices – the things that used to make such a difference. But we have to come up with another way now, and it's going to come down to every one of you who can help, helping out. The current blood supplies down to just a few days – just a few days. This is really a very, very urgent situation. So, we need you. We need you to lend a hand, or, more accurately, to lend an arm and give blood. Everyone, the New York Blood Center is leading the way, as always, with a new campaign, Give Blood NYC, helping us to understand how important it is and how easy it is. And the goal here is to get 25,000 New Yorkers to give blood this month – 25,000 people this month so we can get that supply back up. And the good news is, not only is it the right thing to do, not only will you help save a life, and you're going to feel great inside that you did something so good, not only will you get a cookie and a juice box – one of the great fringe benefits of giving blood – but now you have an opportunity to also win some great prizes. The Blood Center is working with us and a lot of other great people to make this something that is life-saving, but also a lot of fun. And I'm talking about real good prizes, notwithstanding the travails of the New York Jets season – you could get coach club tickets – coaches club tickets to the home opener for the Jets next year. You can get a VIP tour of the Empire State Building and – Dr. Chokshi, do not listen to this prize – free Krispy Kreme donuts for a year. That is not approved by the Health Department, but the rest of us would really like that. So, anyone who wants to be a part of this great contest, you can go to nybc.org and sign up. And here to tell you about what it really means – and to talk about the extraordinary work of the folks at the Blood Center, who we depend on. They don't get the credit they deserve, but we depend on them every day. The President CEO of the New York Blood Center, Dr. Christopher Hillyer. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Hillyer. Again, thank you to you and all your colleagues. And really want to make sure people understand, there's a lot of folks looking out for us every day who we don't get to know so well, but we really need to thank the folks who work at the Blood Center who do so much for us. We're going to hear from another special guest. And she is an educator who serves our kids and if she was just here to tell you about her life of helping others and helping uplift our children, that would be powerful enough. But she's here to tell you about what it means to be someone who got one of those blood transfusions, what it means to be someone who really needs that help. And so, you can feel the impact of what you're going to do, what it means humanly to be there for your fellow New Yorker. So, my pleasure to introduce a great educator, someone we're so happy to have with us, Shatera Weaver. Welcome, Shatera. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Shatera. And thank you for telling your story, because it really is powerful and reminds people this is such a beautiful and important thing you can do for your fellow New Yorker. So, I want to thank Shatera. Thank Dr. Hillyer, everyone who's doing this good work. Thank you to all the folks who are donating the prizes, the companies and the folks who are really stepping up to make it something so appealing for New Yorkers to get involved. But really, we need you. So, we're going to start today, saying we need 25,000 people for the month of December. We're going to keep giving you updates to remind you how we're doing and how much we need. But everyone, you're going to feel so good after you give blood. Maybe not as much as spinach to Popeye – to use that great analogy – but you're going to feel good, because you're going to feel in your heart that you did something so good for your fellow New Yorker. 

And imagine, just that that few minutes of your life could save someone else's life. So, please, everyone, we need you now.

All right, let me go to our daily indicators. And again, this is another day where we have some results that are lower than recent days, meaning the number of tests that we are relying on is lower because we saw a reduction around the Thanksgiving weekend and the number of people being tested. So, we're going to give you the numbers, but with a bit of an asterisk that they're based on a lower sample size than usual. Okay. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, threshold 200 patients – today's report 132. Confirmed positivity rate, that continues to go up. We're watching that very carefully, 58 percent now. Number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average, 550 cases is the threshold – of course, far beyond that now, 1,685 cases. And number three, percentage of the people testing city-wide positive for COVID-19, threshold five percent – today's report, 5.72 percent. So, that's a daily report. And, again, based on a lower sample size, but obviously something we're very concerned about. The more important number, even though also affected by a lower test numbers recently, lower amount of tests recently, but still on number that we are really concerned about, 4.14 percent. 

Let me say a few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, we will turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: We will now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi, by Dr. Christopher Hillyer from the New York Blood Center, by Dr. Mitch Katz, and by Senior Advisor, Dr. Jay Varma.

Mayor: And by Shatera – 

Moderator: And by Shatera – 

[Laughter] 

Moderator: First question today goes to Katie from the Wall Street Journal. 

Question: Hey, good morning, everybody. How are you doing?

Mayor: Hey Katie, how are you doing today?

Question: Good, thanks. I'm just curious – I know you kind of added that asterisk to the daily indicators today. Do you know why there are – just for an explanation for those watching – why is it a smaller sample size? Is it a different methodology for taking this information? Or, what has changed, I guess, over the last few days that there's a different, smaller sample size. 

Mayor: Sure, it’s the holidays. It's from Thanksgiving Day through the weekend, just fewer people getting tested, because of, you know, being involved with family activities or whatever else it may be. So, we expect those numbers – they are starting to go back up again, but we had several days where the numbers were noticeably lower. The number of people being tested were noticeably meaningfully lower than previously we had seen. Go ahead, Katie. 

Question: Great. And my second one is just about with the hospitalizations increasing, I know the City has been prepared, I guess, for what could be a second wave at some point, but if – I don't know if someone, Dr. Katz or Dr. Chokshi wants to speak a little bit about the City's preparation, especially now that there's larger advisories to the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions – just some of the preps being done. 

Mayor: Yeah. That’s a very, very important question. We're putting a lot of focus on that. Obviously, we've been working closely with the State and the plan the Governor put out yesterday is something we were involved in over the last week working on with the State, but the City, the public hospitals, H+H have been preparing now for many weeks for this possibility. I know the hospitals in Greater New York Hospital Association have as well. So. Dr. Katz, why don't you talk about some of the ways that you have been preparing for these additional cases and what you are doing, obviously, based on the lessons we learned from the spring.

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. So. as you say, we've been working on this for the last several weeks, so that if is a major increase in cases we are prepared to handle that. Right now. people should know that Health + Hospitals, our ICU is only about two-thirds full. So. we have a third capacity, same on the regular medical surgical wards, and we're not overwhelmed at any of our 11 hospitals. I've talked with my colleagues at health through the Greater New York Association, and all of the hospitals are right now prepared to take more patients if we need to.

In terms of preparation, what we've done is first, thank you, Mr. Mayor, you made sure months ago that we had three months of supplies for all of our personal protective equipment, what people call PPE. We have more than enough ventilators. We purchased a group over the summer, so equipment is a non-issue for us at this moment. We are well-prepared. We have prepared a number of spaces to be able to take care of people who have COVID by adding HEPA filters, into their rooms, creating negative pressure rooms, which suck the air out, and thereby suck the virus out and protect the health care workers from infection. We've added cameras and audio monitors to a variety of rooms so that patients can request things from their nurses and doctors, without anyone having to enter the room. If there are things we can answer questions or provide without putting anyone at risk, we want to do so. We've learned a lot about how to take care of this disease, providing people who are short of breath steroids makes a huge difference in shortens hospitalization, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons why we are not overwhelmed despite the growth of cases that we've seen. We've learned that patients do not all need to be intubated when they become short of breath. Many people can be cared for better by giving them a high flow of oxygen and they advise saving intubation only for those patients who absolutely need it. So, it's a combination of preparing our facilities and being able to better care for patients so that we do not become overwhelmed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor: Thank you, Mitch.

Moderator: Go ahead. The next is Bob Hennelly from the Chief Leader.

Question: Yes. Mr. Mayor, I just wanted to ask you why should members of Congress from districts and states poorer than New York vote for a billion-dollar bailout for New York City, New York State, and the MTA when this state has been back to Wall Street billions of dollars in rebates of a tax it’s had on its books since 1905, but stop collecting in the 1990s. I think that some have been [inaudible] estimates it's worth $19 billion a year – in that in the last decade alone, we've sent back $138 billion to the Goldman Sachs crowd? 

Mayor: Okay, Bob, I'm going to flip that. I'm going to answer it, but I just want to, I think I would order it a little bit differently. The first point is New York City and New York State send so much more money to the federal government than we ever get back, and that's been happening for decades and decades. For God's sake Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to do an annual report on how ridiculous the disparity was going back to the 70s and 80s. It continues to be an unacceptable disparity. We send so much out. We get so little back. So for the federal government, for the Congress to approve a stimulus, to help the whole country back on its feet, to help the whole country recover humanly and economically is the right thing to do. New York City is one of the leaders of the national economy, helping us back on our feet helps the entire country, and I say that again, helping us back on our feet helps the entire country. That is why the Congress should pass a stimulus. It's the right thing to do. It will spur on the economy. It will help people to survive these tough times.

Also, we deserve our fair share. We've never gotten it for half a century or more. We should get our fair share of resources, it's long overdue. But you also point out something really important, Bob – are we taxing the wealthy enough? No, the answer is simple, no. The wealthy are doing better and better during this pandemic. It's a shocking truth. You look at the stock market. You look at how the rich have literally gotten richer while everyone else is suffering. It was unacceptable, the status quo before the pandemic, it's worse now. There need to be higher taxes on the wealthy. The Stock Transfer Tax totally should be reconsidered and handled differently going forward because clearly Wall Street can afford to contribute more to New York City and New York State. So your question is very, very fair. I just think the ramifications are much broader than that one tax. I think Washington needs to help us because it's the right thing to do on many other levels as well. Go ahead, Bob. 

Question: So since the earliest days of the state's public health crisis, Governor Cuomo has urged that public hospital systems like H+H and private hospitals operate as an integrated unit. Why shouldn't that be the model going forward? Since we know that the pre-existing fractured system resulted in so many poor people falling through the cracks in terms of the care they were getting? 

Mayor: Well, Bob, again, you ask a good and big question. I'm going to turn to Mitch because he's obviously on the front line of this. Look, I think that the core of your point is right, that we need to see as much of a team effort among our hospitals and that those hospitals that happen to have more resources, should be in the work of helping patients with the greatest needs. We did see, to be fair, some amazing teamwork during this crisis. When H+H needed help, Hospital for Special Surgery stepped up, Memorial Sloan Kettering stepped up. I want to thank them for really being there and working in that team effort, and it wasn't because of an order. It was something that they wanted to do to help each other out. But I think you're right, going forward. There's more ways to think of the whole hospital system as a team effort. So Dr. Katz you want to speak to that? 

President Katz: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think it's a wonderful point that we are stronger when we work together. When we level set across all of the hospital systems and that's very much the plan going forward. We're also going to be working actively with the fire department to allow patients to be transferred across borough lines, if necessary, when a part of the challenge we had in the first wave was that Central Queens was so disproportionately hit that it was difficult to transfer patients beyond any hospital in Queens because all of the hospitals in Queens were full. So, we're looking at much more as the City as a whole resource, as all of the systems as a whole resource, and I think that will make us stronger. Thank you. 

Mayor: Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Shant from the Daily News. 

Question: Yeah. Good morning, everyone. [Inaudible] ask about the Commissioner’s notice, first of all, when you, when it said that it applies to older New Yorkers, can you put like a more specific number on the age you might be talking about? And also, can you put the notice in context, is this, you know, going to – what happens after this? Should this be interpreted maybe as leading up to broader stay at home orders like we saw in the spring? 

Mayor: I'll have the Commissioner reiterate who he is focused on, who is in greatest need right now, and most vulnerable. I think, Shant, to the bigger question, we all have to work really hard right now in every way, the most – the smallest ways like wearing a mask and practice social distancing, and the bigger ways in terms of people not hosting bigger events and really making sure to keep people safe and protecting our elders, protecting people with pre-existing conditions. We have to do all those things. We have to do them intensely. If we are not successful in driving down these numbers soon, of course, there's the real possibility of much greater restrictions. So we have to do this work individually, if we want to avoid those restrictions. Dr. Chokshi you want to go over again, who you're focused on?

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. Thank you, and thanks for the question, Shant. Specifically, in terms of age, what we know from the science is that for adults the older one is the greater your risk is so people in their sixties are at higher risk than people in their fifties. Same for folks in their seventies, eighties, et cetera. The commissioner's notice specifically refers to people above the age of 65, because we do see a significant increment in risk for seniors who are older than 65. But remember it also includes people who have other conditions that put them at risk to have the severe outcomes that we're really trying to prevent that lead to hospitalizations and more catastrophic outcomes as well. 

Mayor: Go ahead, Shant. 

Question: Yeah. Thanks for that. I also wanted to ask about testing for students. I understand that Pre-K and kindergarten students don't have to submit COVID testing consent forms. Could you and maybe Dr. Chokshi explain the rationale for that and say if there are any other measures being taken to assure the safety of Pre-K and kindergarten kids specifically? 

Mayor: Yeah. Dr. Chokshi can talk about the reality we've seen with kids that young because of obviously is different. Go ahead. 

Commissioner Chokshi: So the rationale for thinking about testing differently among younger kids is that we know the risk of transmission is lower among younger kids. This isn't to say that, you know, there aren't situations where they may need to get tested. It's still possible for a younger child to get infected with COVID-19, and if they develop symptoms you know, they should certainly get tested as well, but in terms of what we're doing with the more routine testing in schools, that's the rationale for the difference.

Mayor: Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Marcia from WCBS. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor and Dr. Chokshi. I have more questions about your directive for seniors to stay inside. I wonder are you going to provide any special services, helping seniors get food, helping seniors get to their medical appointments, anything that they might need so that they can find staying inside the safer alternative. 

Mayor: I’ll start and turn to Dr. Chokshi. Marcia, look, food right now, absolutely – we've had that from the very beginning, any senior who cannot get food themselves or have someone bring it to them and needs it delivered, we will do that for them for free. All they have to do is call 3-1-1 – that has been from the very beginning of this crisis. I've said we will not let any New Yorker go hungry, will not let any senior go hungry. Even if it means delivery right to their door, we'll make it happen.

In terms of medical appointments. I've spent enough time around Dr. Chokshi to know he's going to say one of the only exceptions to what he's saying is to make sure that people get the health care they need, and that is something sacred to make sure folks stay in touch with our medical professionals, and we will do anything we can of course, to support seniors and folks with pre-existing conditions, who need that help connecting with health care. Go ahead, doctor. 

Commissioner Chokshi: That's exactly right. Mr. Mayor, let me just take a step back to emphasize that the Commissioner's notice is specifically about avoiding non-essential activities. That means that essential activities, whether it's you know, someone going to the grocery store occasionally or as the Mayor said, you know, someone going to their medical appointments, which are very important those can and should continue. But it's nonessential activities that we really want to see curbed and curtailed as we see cases and now hospitalizations, you know, starting to increase. With all of that said, yes, we need to do everything that we can as a city, but also as neighbors, as family members to support people who are more at risk. So that includes, you know, the food delivery programs that the city has set up earlier, and that continue throughout the pandemic. 

There are ways to ensure that you have support, whether it's for transportation or getting a medications delivered to you, or are prescribed in a more convenient way. You can call 3-1-1 for assistance with those services as well, and then the final thing that I'll just say is that another essential activity is getting care for COVID-19. So if you are feeling symptoms you should get tested as quickly as possible, and certainly if you're feeling even worse you should seek care with your doctor or at an emergency room. 

Mayor: And one other obvious point, which has really changed a lot, Marcia, in the course of this crisis is the use of telehealth and Dr. Katz, I'd love you to jump in here. I know that it's something obviously helping the hospitals he was before, but we've seen in the crisis many new ways of using a telemedicine much more willingness of your patients to engage it. This is also a crucial way you can help seniors and folks with pre-existing conditions without them having to leave their homes. So, Dr. Katz, you want to speak about that? 

President Katz: You're absolutely right, Mr. Mayor. I see many of my primary care patients these days who televisits, especially if they're older or have co-morbidities, and we've learned a lot about sending people blood pressure cuffs, sending them oxygen saturation meters, sending them home with glucose testing kits so that people can actually do [inaudible] parts of the exam, and I know that it's not just Health + Hospitals that’s seen this explosion, that providers all over New York City and all of the hospital systems are prepared to see people in televisits with just the telephone. So people, if you're worried that, oh my goodness, I don't know how to use a laptop. I couldn't possibly that's okay. The phone works quite well in most cases. But for people who have the ability to use a laptop we can also do televisits. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Marcia.

Question: So, Mr. Mayor, a few weeks ago, you predicted that December 1st would be the day that – the demarcation of when there might be more orange zones or red zones or yellow zones, actually in New York City. I know you've seen the numbers continue to rise, the numbers are rising today. Do you have any prognostication about whether once the Thanksgiving numbers come in the next seven days or so whether you'll see more mini clusters zones and restrictions in New York City. 

Mayor: Look, this is something I've been talking to the Governor about. Our teams are talking constantly. The State obviously is focused on, you know, a micro-cluster approach. That's had a lot of impact clearly, and it's been effective in many cases. So I think what we're going to see is the state looking at the different areas in a targeted way. You look at the ZIP code data for the city that we put out. We see very different realities and very different parts of the city, but I certainly think there will be some more restrictions coming. If we continue to see these numbers, I don't have any doubt about that. I can't tell you exactly how and when, but I, you know, expect more to come, and again, if I know, I don't even have to say if – I know New Yorkers want to avoid more stringent restrictions, we all have to do everything we can do right now to do the hard work, to avoid those restrictions. That includes getting out there, getting tested, wearing a mask, all those things that Dr. Chokshi has been telling us to do. People have to be really devoted to that now or else we are certainly going to see more restrictions going forward.

Moderator: The next is Reuvain from Hamodia. 

Question: Good morning. It was the Mayor. I would like to follow-up with a question about special-ed students. You said yesterday on CNN that the middle and high school would not be opening until the new year. There are – I know District 75 will we opening soon, but there are a special-ed classes in these schools, but not a District 75. Are they students going to have to wait until the new year or will the special-ed classes be opening earlier? 

Mayor: It's a very important question. I appreciate it. I can tell you this much with District 75, we made the decision to do the opening across all grade levels. So, I want that to be really clear because everyone agrees all of our stakeholders, the State, the city, everyone agrees that kids with special needs, the in-person support is absolutely crucial. So, District 75 schools will be open across all grade levels. Your point is a very good one and we are looking right now at how quickly we can reach special needs kids at the middle school and high school level. I don't have an answer for you on that today, but we'll come back with that soon. I also want to emphasize our goal is to open up middle school first, as quickly as we can. But I think realistically, as I've said, that's not in the next few weeks, but I do think that's in January, and then after that to go to high school as well, but we need the testing capacity since we're much – at a much higher level of testing under our new plan, we need to make sure we can do that first properly for District 75, Pre-K, 3-K and K-to-5, and then we can build out to middle school next and then eventually to high school as well. Go ahead, Reuvain. 

Question: I have a question for the doctors, I've asked in the past about antibodies when they might be recognized as a people being immune and perhaps giving allowances to these people, just as if they had a vaccine. Generally, the answers I received or that, you know, we don't have complete information, we're eight months into this pandemic, I'm wondering, is there some point at which we might have some more information and people with antibodies might be treated like people with the vaccine eventually will be treated?

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi, do you want to start? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sure. Thanks for that question, Reuvain. I would reiterate, you know, what we've said about this in the past. The science has not changed with respect to being able to say that someone who has had a positive antibody test should act any differently than someone who has not had a positive antibody test. The way that we think about antibody tests is they are tests of exposure and not necessarily tests of immunity. So most importantly, continuing to do the things that you would otherwise do, wearing your mask, making sure that you're distancing, washing your hands frequently, et cetera, those things all continue to apply. I do hope there will come a point where we understand more about immunity to COVID-19, where we can say things with more certainty about who is and is not protected. But with a vaccine on the horizon, I think that is the most likely destination, the most likely point at which we will be able to say that with more certainty. 

Mayor: Dr. Varma, you want to jump in on this? 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: I guess the only other point I would make is there was a question about the timeline and I just want to make the point, we are all impatient and would love to have valid information right now, but eight months when it comes to understanding a new disease is actually a relatively short period. So we would love to have definitive information, but it is almost certainly going to take more time. 

Mayor: Dr. Varma, I think you would actually do a service to everyone because we're all still trying to recognize reality. We never heard of this disease a year ago, basically. What is the typical timeline just to give people some perspective? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah. You know, what we're seeing right now is science moving at an incredibly fast pace and even though we're all impatient, this would normally take years to answer this type of question, and even then there would be still some uncertainty. And that's because of the simple fact, when we want to say how long are you protected? You can't speed up time. And the studies that you do in laboratories really don't give you a sense of how the body is going to maintain its immunity over time. We’re still learning things, for example, about measles which is a virus that we've had a vaccine for since the 1960s. 

Mayor: Very, very important point. Thank you, doctor. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is David Cruz from Gothamist.

Question: Hi, good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing?

Mayor: Good, David, how you been?

Question: Good, thanks for taking my questions. So, on the first question is the Archdiocese of New York filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that the city is violating State law by not offering Catholic schools the same free COVID-19 testing provided to public schools. So why did the city file the appeal if there's a state law on the books that would grant Catholic schools the same access? 

Mayor: We believe the law is clear that it is not the city's obligation to provide the actual testing service. Our lawyers have looked at this carefully. Law Department has handled this from the beginning. Look, I've spoken to a Cardinal Dolan about this, it's something I fully understand the fact that folks in other school systems are urgently trying to protect their kids. I appreciate that. I know they are dealing with all the challenges we are. They have limited resources, but our obligation right now is to continue the process of having New York City public schools be open and healthy and safe. We're - we've got a huge number of kids to serve. We need all the resources that we have right now. What we're describing now, this weekly testing is going to take a huge amount of resources. It's the right thing to do. It's taking our gold standard we started with in terms of health and safety in our schools and adding even more and it's what's going to sustain us, but it takes an immense amount of resources. So, the law is clear that our obligation is to ensure that the facilities we run we're providing the testing to. For the types of schools, they have an obligation, but we'll help them. The Department of Health has been there for them the whole way through. We'll help them get the free test from the state. We'll help them learn the best ways to implement it. We'll give them a helping hand to every time we can. Go ahead, David. 

Question: And then your office hasn't released a racial demographic data of students who've opted for hybrid learning. So when can we expect to see that data? 

Mayor: If that data is collected in that fashion, I don't know the history, honestly, of Department of Education providing demographic data, but if they have it, we'll make sure it gets released soon. But again, I want to be careful because I'm not sure how that is handled in generally – excuse me, in general. But look, the bottom line here is remembering that our school system is about 80 percent kids of color and obviously in comparison to private schools and religious schools, New York City public schools overwhelmingly provide support for more kids who are working class and lower income. More immigrant kids, obviously a huge number of kids who tragically are in temporary housing. When we put the open opportunity out there for parents from the original surveys and the summer on through to the different opportunities to engage blended learning, it has been an absolutely available choice to all parents. And I want to emphasize this, I care deeply, my whole public life has been focused on the issue of fighting disparities, but I also want to really respect each parent's choice because I'm a parent too, I understand our public school parents, we many times have said the parents, this is what you feel is right. Whatever you want to do is what we will support. And we've made that open opportunity available from the beginning and obviously with the most recent opt-in period. And I think everyone who cares about disparity also has to respect the individual choices of parents who know what's best for themselves and their kids. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Abu from Bangla Patrika.

Question: Hello?

Mayor: Hey Abu can you –

Question: Hi, how are you? 

Mayor: Hey, Abu, how you doing?

Question: Good how are you? 

Mayor: Good.

Question: Okay. My question is the –

Mayor: Wait, we need a lot more volume. Can we get our volume up there? 

Moderator: Abu, can you speak a little bit closer to the microphone please?

Mayor: Abu, can you hear us? I think we're going to have to come back unless –

Moderator: We may have lost Abu for now, we’ll have to come back.

Mayor: We’ll have to come back in a moment. Okay.

Moderator: The next we will do Arthur from FOX5.

Mayor: Good morning, everybody. Mr. Mayor. I was wondering since you've been collaborating with the Governor on approach here, what can you tell New Yorkers about the original plan of 10 days above three percent or five percent everyday? I forget what it was, but needing those 10 days before some more severe restrictions, is that still currently the plan, or could there be a scenario where the numbers go up so quickly that that plan is set aside and those those restrictions have to go into place more urgently? 

Mayor: Yeah, Arthur, I mean, obviously it's important you ask the State directly. We've had a number of conversations with them over the last few days. Everyone's focused on health and safety and also obviously focused on people's livelihoods. We're really aware of how much pain folks have gone through this year and how, you know, many, many families are struggling, working class families, low income families that need employment and small business owners, so we're trying to balance all these factors. As I said, the State obviously has focused on a micro-targeting approach. I think that's where they're going to be continuing to focus. As to the numbers again, that 10 consecutive day number is something they've used up to now. I'm not sure that's how they're going to continue to do it but we're going to continue to talk to them to figure out the best way to balance all these pieces. Go ahead, Arthur. 

Question: Another question is on street safety, there was a car after midnight on Monday in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn that went through a red light and slammed into a car. I don't know if you saw the video, the woman in the backseat of the Uber that he T-boned, the car was hit so hard that she ended up outside the vehicle being ejected from it. The driver, as is often the case, was not cited for anything and allowed to go home. Police say that they're investigating it. Given the fact that she's in critical condition in the hospital that he was seen on video camera speeding, going through a light and hitting that car, do you think in a year where we're seeing 15 percent more traffic related fatalities that this – there's a better message to send to drivers who drive recklessly in our streets and leave other New Yorkers in critical condition, if not worse? 

Mayor: Look, first, I want to be clear. I want to make sure I get the exact facts of what happened, but the broader point you're making is something I feel very strongly about. There's not clear enough, strong enough consequences in the law for drivers who hurt their fellow New Yorkers, or even killed their fellow New Yorkers. The law is still – I'm talking to all law, City, State, federal, everywhere, it's still too deferential to the automobile and the automobile driver. And especially if someone's under the influence and they harm someone, there needs to be real penalties for that. So I don't know the specifics and I'll find out right away, and if that something wasn't handled right here, we're obviously making sure that that's addressed immediately. But I think the bigger point is, I think we need stronger laws, harsher penalties, honestly, and it's something I've worked on with the NYPD. I want to see them NYPD constantly improve its enforcement and follow through that. Been a lot of good work by NYPD to make Vision Zero come alive. It never would have worked without NYPD but there's still more that we can do to tighten up enforcement, I'm quite clear about that. Go ahead. Do you have Abu back?

Moderator: We're going to go back to Abu.

Question: Hi, how are you?

Mayor: Good, Abu.

Question: Okay. Sorry that it was interrupted. So my question is you know, the South Asian community their involvement - the COVID is increasing [inaudible]. Hello? 

Mayor: Yeah, Abu, you're skipping in and out, but keep talking. Let's see if we can hear you.

Question: Hello, can you hear me?

Mayor: Yeah keep talking.

Question: Okay. Yeah so they're - every Friday at the mosque has a lot of congregations, the Muslim community they're coming in the mosque, they are praying. So do you have any kind of guidelines for them, because of the [inaudible] increasing the disease and when people are coming to the mosque and, you know, some people there are expressing their concern. Do you have a suggestion for them? 

Mayor: Yeah, no, it's a very important question and thank you. I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, but just say everyone needs to be mindful about the precautions we have to take, especially indoors, especially in colder weather where more people are indoors and it all begins with the use of masks, especially this is such a crucial piece of the equation, but I want you to reflect on what Dr. Chokshi said today, that if someone is older or has those pre-existing conditions, being really, really careful not to do anything they don't have to do. And if they can worship at home or worship separately, there are so many virtues in that. So, Dr. Chokshi you want to speak that? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thanks, Mr. Mayor, I think you covered the major points. I'll just add a couple of first, you know, I want to acknowledge that COVID-19 has affected South Asian communities in New York City significantly, particularly in parts of Queens, which is where where I live in Jackson Heights and where we know there are significant numbers of neighborhoods with many, many people of South Asian descent. Part of this is related to the topic of this morning, which is that COVID-19 has more severe effects on people who have chronic conditions, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, these are things that we know occur more frequently among South Asians as well, and that's why it is so important to follow the precautions that we've been talking about. I'll just reiterate the ones that are the most important, wearing your mask at all times, particularly indoors. If you do choose to to worship in a mosque or a temple, it's important to keep your mask on when you're doing that. It's also very important to six feet of distance and practice good hand hygiene. And then most importantly you know, for people to stay home if they're not feeling well, because that is how we know this virus spreads among people. 

Mayor: Go ahead, Abu. 

Question: And second question is the president said the vaccine for distribution by December, but as he mentioned that New York will not get the vaccine because of his kind of [inaudible]. Do you think it's going to be impact on the New York State and city people, because of the president’s decision? 

Mayor: Abu, that's a really important question and I'll let Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Varma speak to the conversations they've had with their health care colleagues on the federal level. I would remind you that President Trump even before he lost the election, constantly threatened New York City and other cities, you know, he said he would send in a federal troops and officers, that didn't happen. There would be these massive ICE raids, that didn't happen. He would cut off our funding, that didn't happen. Sometimes the court stopped them. Sometimes it was just words and campaign bluster that went nowhere. I do not believe that the responsible elements of the federal government are going to not send the vaccine to the biggest city in America and the place that was the original epicenter of the crisis. I just don't believe it. I think people are bluntly starting to transition right now to the new administration and doing what is the right thing to serve people and not listening to the evermore desperate voice of President Trump. So I think that's reality, but let me have the doctors speak to it because they are closer to the situation. Go ahead. 
Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. I agree with your statement. You know, stated simply, I believe that New York City, as well as New York State, will get the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time that others around the country will get it and that's once the FDA has has determined that it passes muster, that it's authorized, that we do have a safe and effective vaccine. Our conversations with our federal counterparts, both at the CDC, as well as the federal Department of Health have all been very productive. They occur very frequently, certainly on a weekly basis, sometimes even on a daily basis. And similarly, we're in close contact with our State counterparts as well. And so everyone at all levels of government are working closely together to ensure that once we do have a safe and effective vaccine, which we hope will be within weeks, that that is delivered to New York city as soon as possible.

Mayor: Dr. Varma, you want to add? 

Senior Advisor Varma: I only just to echo exactly what Dr. Chokshi said and that we also are professionally colleagues of many people who were on the COVID task force to the president-elect team, and can reassure you that these are all the highly seasoned to expert professionals who are fully committed to making sure that New York City not only gets the vaccine, but distributes it as quickly as possible.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Everyone, as we conclude, look I'm going to just end where I started, very, very poignant day, World AIDs Day, but also a day that reminds us of the power of people to fight back and reminds us that the voices that people matter so much here.

So, we're going to keep making those investments and we intend going forward to show this country and this world, what it looks like to have a city that is focused intensely on public health and to be that public health capital of the world, the place that not only experienced this pandemic at the epicenter in this country, but also took the lessons, built upon them, and now can teach others how to fight back and to avoid these kinds of challenges in the future. That's going to be so much of the mission of New York City in the future. So, we've got a challenge right now with a second way bearing down on us, but we will defeat it. We will have that vaccine soon. And then we get to the work of this city recovery and this city becoming an example to everyone else of how to persevere and prepare for the future. Thank you, everyone.

2020-12-02 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well, good morning, everyone. This crisis has been tough on New Yorkers in so many ways. And we’ve really got to reflect now on the toll is taken not only in human lives – most importantly human lives and the health of our people – but also, people's livelihoods. So many folks have been struggling to make ends meet and are feeling the challenges now as a second wave is bearing down on us – particularly concerned about so many of our small businesses, mom and pop stores, neighborhood stores, multi-generational stores, places that we really cherish and we need them. We need them for the jobs they provide, all that they provide to our communities, the sense of identity. So much of what we feel about our city is really about our neighborhoods and our neighborhood stores. So, right now, we're focused on how we can help save these stores in this moment and help them through to the time we get the vaccine and we get past the coronavirus. And it's really part of the bigger discussion we need to have in the city about what our future looks like, what an equitable future looks like, what it looks like to learn the lessons of this crisis, to understand what the disparities that have been shown to us mean and what we need to do differently. 

So, we will recover. We will build back, but we will not repeat the status quo. We can't. We have to think differently, and that includes right down to the grassroots with our small businesses, because, in truth, a lot of businesses are struggling right now and folks who own those businesses are wondering if they can keep going. A lot of them, in fact, [inaudible] made the decision that it doesn't work for them anymore, but it may work for their employees to keep the business going. In many cases, it does work for their employees to keep the businesses going. And this is an option we have to turn to more and more in the city and all over this country, because employee-owned businesses create a tremendous reality of equity and fairness, of buy-in, of opportunity to create capital and have an ownership stake that changes the whole reality, particularly for working class folks and particularly in communities of color. This has been a real concern of our Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity and a focal point of how we can create a more just future for New York City. And so, today, we're launching Employee Ownership NYC. And I like when we announced something and you can tell immediately what it means. Employee Ownership NYC, this is going to be a systematic effort to ensure that employees have an opportunity to own. And that particularly in communities of color, we shift that painful reality where there hasn't been enough ownership and enough capital built and maintained in communities because of structural racism. We do something about it by literally changing the rules of the game, and the City right there, supporting this effort every step of the way. And we know what it means is that working people have more control over their lives. Consistently means that businesses can thrive, because the workers are fully invested, but they also get a better share of the wealth that they create. This is something I think is very powerful. We've got a video here to introduce this new concept. Let's look at the video. 

[Video plays in background] 

Mayor: What a powerful testimony and what a beautiful example of what it can mean for the folks who do the work to have that opportunity to own. And, again, remember they are invested in the business and making it work. And sometimes an owner or the family that owns a business has gotten to a point where it doesn't work for them to continue. But for the employees who feel it, who for whom it's so important to keep that business going a whole burst of energy and passion comes forward – you just saw it there – and good things happen for working people. 

Now, someone who has been working on this – literally his lifetime – this is a labor of love for him, for sure. And I've heard him over decades tell me about the power of employee ownership. And now, he is taking this model and making it come alive here in New York City, Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson.

Deputy Mayor Phillip J. Thompson, Strategic Policy Initiatives: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As we all know, many businesses have closed as a result of COVID-19, workers across the board have been hurt by this, but workers of color have been especially hard hit. Closures due to COVID-19 come on top of a looming wave of potential closures coming from aging business owners who want to retire. 85 percent of these aging business owners did not have a succession plan and 80 percent of those wanting to sell their businesses can't find a buyer. There's a real chance that these businesses will simply disappear and even more people will lose jobs.

Mayor: All right, everyone. Let's talk about something else that's absolutely crucial to not only in our present, but our future and our recovery, and that is our public schools. As everyone knows, we're bringing back public school instruction in-person, starting Monday for our K-to-five levels, K-to-five grades. We're coming back with a pre-K and 3-K, we're coming back with District 75 special needs programs. And we're going to keep going from there. But what I want to emphasize right now is the importance of everyone understanding how we're going to make this work as we bring school back. And, again, bring school back and then keep it back in session, because the model we're now working with is a sustainable model that will take us all the way to when the vaccine is here and we've been able to widely distribute it. So, crucial to this equation are the testing consent forms – we've talked about that a lot. I know the Department of Education is sending the information over and over to parents. Again, you go to mystudent.nyc if you have not yet signed up for your child to be tested. Testing is the key to keeping everyone safe in the school community. It's going to be weekly from now on, but we need every student to be signed up for testing or have a proper medical exemption. We need that now, because when we get to the first day of school, we're going to be having school for kids who are signed up for a testing. If they're not, the school is going to reach out to the family and say, you’ve got to rectify this right now or your child isn't able to attend school. I want to be very straightforward about that. Equally, we need the kids in school who are signed up for in-person learning and any family that signed up for in-person learning and does not actually intend for their child to be in school, we respect that, we want you then to be placed into the all-remote education approach so we can free up seats. We've talked about this many times, want to say it really clearly to all parents – if you are holding a seat in in-person learning, remember, we want to convert that now in as many schools as possible, as quickly as possible, to five days a week – five days a week, wherever possible, and as quickly as possible. Some schools that's going to take longer, some it'll take shorter period of time. Some schools will get to five days a week across the board. Some schools will have to do some kind of mix where some kids, the most needy kids, will get five days a week. Other kids will get as many days as possible. There will be a clear system of priority based on need to make sure the kids who need the support get the most get the most days. But it all hinges on this – parents, next week, if you're in one of those schools that's open. Your child is expected to be in school on the days that they are programmed to be in school. If in the course of your week your child doesn't show up, what the school is going to say to you is, this is your last chance, you have to show up during this week or have a legitimate excuse or communicate with the school what's going on. If you don't, the school is going to let you know that your child will be moved to all remote. So, I want to say this in a very straightforward way to parents. These seats are precious. Kids need these seats. A seat should not go unutilized. So, everyone, this as an opportunity to just declare your intentions and live by them. If you want your child in the school, your child needs to show up in school. If you don't want your child school, you want them in all remote – that's great, we can do that too. But, by the end of next week, we want to resolve this as much as humanly possible once and for all so we can then finish up reworking our schools to maximize the number of schools in five days a week and the number of kids who get to benefit from five days a week, or as close to it as possible.

Okay. Let's talk about our daily indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, threshold is 200 patients – today's report 146, with a 48.34 percent positivity level. Now, this is an example of an indicator we've been using for a long time. I'm going to say at the outset today, our health care team is looking at these indicators, looking at the way we present information given this second wave that's been bearing down on us. We're going to come back with an updated set of information – indicators and other information, going forward, because, obviously, the situation is changing rapidly. So, I'll go over this today, but I want to provide people a sense of that's coming soon. So, that's, again, number one in terms of hospitalization.

Number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average threshold 550 cases, today's report 1,809 cases. And number three, percentage of people testing positive citywide for COVID-19, threshold five percent, today's report 4.76 percent is the daily. And then on a seven-day rolling average, 4.08 percent. So obviously these numbers have changed a lot very rapidly. We need to address that with everything we're doing in terms of protecting people, but we also need to address it in terms of how we present information and help people understand it and make sense of it. Okay, a few words in Spanish, and this goes back again to how we're going to support working people. 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that let's turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Hi all, we'll now begin our Q and A, with us today as Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson, Small Business Commissioner Jonnel Doris, State Senator Jamaal Bailey, First Deputy Commissioner of Health Torian Easterling, and Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. With that we'll go to Andrew from WNBC. 

Question: Hi, good morning everyone on the call. With regard to the schools and Mayor you said on Sunday and you reiterated today that you would like as many schools as possible to go to five-day in-person learning. We are hearing from principals at various schools across the city saying they just don't have the capacity and they're essentially going to stick with the same blended model they had before you closed down. Can you quantify at this point how many schools are going to go to five-day and whether it's realistic for parents to expect that to actually happen? 

Mayor: Yeah, look, I respect our principals for sure, but again, we're dealing with a policy of the City of New York and Department of Education. So I don't know what individual principals have said, but we are going to make sure that everyone's working from the same playbook here, Andrew, this is the decision of where we're going. Clearly most schools can get there because we just – we know how much space is available and we know how many kids have been actually showing up. That's why the week of December 7th is so important to once and for all resolve exactly which kids are planning to be –which families are planning to have their kids in the classroom and which are not. That's going to lead to a number that we fundamentally believe will be manageable in some schools, again, across the board, five days a week. In other schools, some kids will get five days a week, some kids might get less, but that will be done on the priority basis according to need. But what you're going to see in most schools is the presence of five-day-a-week education. I think most will have it for all kids. Some will have it for some kids, but it's going to become more and more the norm. Go ahead, Andrew. 

Question: Okay, the second question has to do with your seven-day rolling average which is now approaching five percent. I know that originally when the city had that three percent trigger to the schools, it was much more aggressive than the States trigger which was I believe nine percent, but the state has said five percent is a warning sign. Do we still – is there still a threshold at which despite your hope and intention to reopen schools, that it gets too high and you're not going to be able to do it? 

Mayor: Right now, we have seen the schools as the safest places in New York City. I mean we just have the evidence of it. So we'll follow State guidance for sure, but this is a new approach. As I said, we've talked about the previous three percent standard back in the summer, that standard made sense, but then we saw what actually happened in the schools. They became extraordinarily safe because the hard work of the entire school community, we saw extraordinarily low levels of positivity in testing in the schools. We're now adding even more testing and very obviously have a very rigorous situation room standard. So, this is what we're going to be doing for the duration, we'll follow any State guidance for sure, but I feel very confident about our ability to keep people in the school community safe. 

Moderator: Next is Nolan from The Post.

Question: Hey Mr. Mayor, how are you?

Mayor: Good Nolan, how you doing?

Question: I'm good. I want to follow up on Andrew's question. He asked if you guys had a tally of the number of schools that could go to five-day learning and you didn't provide a number, so I'm wondering, do you have one? 

Mayor: Again, Nolan that's – we're going through that right now with principals, we need to know the final count in some cases. There are honestly right now schools that are already able to be five-days on Monday. There are other schools that need that final count to get clarified. That's what we're going to get in the course of the next week when we see exactly every tile that shows up and we make very clear to parents, and I'm saying it very clearly to parents, DOE will be saying it clearly to parents, this week and next week, if your child doesn't show up next week, we're saying to you we're about to move your child into remote, unless you have a specific excuse or you make clear to us what's going on. And we respect, again, a lot of parents prefer remote. That's great. And the parents who prefer in-person, that's great, but you can't be betwixt in between. You have to choose. And so we'll know next week, once and for all what that number is going to be, and that will help the schools that still need to make those final decisions to have the exact numbers they need. Go ahead, Nolan. 

Question: It is there no tentative count ye? And on the question of remote learning, the Fairfax school system in Virginia said that they've seen the number of kids getting failing grades doubling year over year. They attribute that mostly to remote learning. We aren’t doing grades this year in the city public schools, but have we seen similar drop-offs in learning? And if so, should the city have invested more and its remote learning system? 

Mayor: Again, Nolan, I couldn't be clearer and the Chancellor couldn't be clearer that for so many kids, in-person learning is absolutely necessary and we know it's a challenging year. We know kids are not getting everything we could give them if everyone was in school, but we're going to provide the best possible education in person for those who choose it, and its hundreds of thousands of kids, which makes it, you know, right there one of the biggest school systems in the country, just the kids will be in-person, New York City, it would be one of the biggest school systems in the country alone, and we're constantly working to improve remote. But in pandemic conditions, we cannot do everything that we want to do. The goal here is to fight back this second wave, get people vaccinated as quickly as possible, I have a lot of confidence in our Department of Health’s ability to do it. Work to see if we can even get a lot more kids back in in-person learning before the school year is out and then of course go into September with the expectation that everyone will be back again in person. 

Moderator: Next is Rich from WCBS Radio.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing?

Mayor: Good, Rich. How are you today?

Question: Well, I'm doing all right, you know. So these numbers look a little bit scary, don't they? I mean, are you – what do you think of them? And, and, and do you foresee, you know, more restrictions coming if if these numbers go over five percent? You said something about changing the metrics or changing the presentation, I didn't quite understand that if you could expand on that? 

Mayor: We want to give people a clear picture, given that the thresholds that we've set are now being approached or surpassed. We need to give people a clearer picture of where we're going from here. This is a new reality. This is not the same as what we experienced in the spring. I think this is the crux of the matter, Rich. We are very, very worried about this uptick in cases. There's a lot we need to do to address it. Our Health Commissioner couldn't have been clearer yesterday that if you are over 65 or have those pre-existing conditions, you really need to alter your lifestyle right away and not go out except for the most essential reasons. We're working with the State on everything else we're going to have to be doing. So, clearly, we have to address this, but at the same time, it's not like the spring because we're seeing such a different reality in the hospitals and thank God for that. And we need to protect them and maintain them, but we need to help express to people where we are now, which is different than where we were previously and we've seen that now time and again. We've seen it with the hospitalizations. We've seen it with the schools. We have different realities than what we came out of the spring assuming, and we need to express that better. Go ahead, Rich. 

Question: Okay. So, just in regard to testing, Mr. Mayor, are you tested regularly? And if so, how often? Were are you tested? At a clinic, a hospital, in your office, or how does it work? 

Mayor: I get tested typically at a Health + Hospitals facility and pretty much weekly now, and sometimes there's – sometimes something happens at city hall for a whole group of people, but typically I go to a Health + Hospitals facility. And by the way, I'm going to take this opportunity, Rich, to say people should get tested regularly. And so again, anyone who is not – there are people who've never been tested, please go out and get tested. Folks who are looking for a regular standard, once a month is a good standard for getting tested and we now have more ways to know where you can get tested, more places available, more information about where the waits are longer and shorter, and you get all that through calling 3-1-1 or going on the city website. 

Moderator: Next is Kala from PIX 11.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. 

Mayor: Yes, Kala, I did, how about you? 

Question: It was nice.

Mayor: I liked that. I liked that pause. 

Question: The Legal Aid Society has filed a lawsuit to get Wi-Fi and remote learning access to shelters across the city. I know earlier we had reported that, you know, the goal was the summer, but they're asking for January 4th, the first day back after the holidays for students in school. So what's your response and is this possible? 

Mayor: Look, it's a litigation matter, so I'll keep it broad, Kala. We are doing the thing that will have the impact right now for kids who are in shelter. We're going - we have gone before Thanksgiving comprehensively to every family, if they needed a device, they would get a device right away. But what we found overwhelmingly was families did have devices but needed sometimes different service, so we’ve switched internet providers. We sent tech support folks right out into the shelters. That's the way to address the right now question. To get these shelters all rewired is obviously a bigger job and one we're committed to, but that is something that we need to be realistic about the timeline and I'll leave it there, given that it's litigation matter. Go ahead. 

Question: All right. I know you just asked all parents to get their consent forms and this morning, do you have an update on the percentage or even a hard number of the consent forms that have been returned so far because kids are going back on Monday?

Mayor: Yeah, I don't have the exact number. I know the number has been consistently rising. I think we have to continue to get this message out intensely that it is a requirement for coming back to school. Again, you need a consent form on file, or you need to bring it with you, child needs to bring it with them when they arrive at school, whatever day they first go to school next week, or obviously a valid medical exemption from a health care professional. So, we're really getting this message out intensely, the numbers have continued to grow. I don't have the exact number, but I want to caution, Kala, I think a of parents are going to deal with this the day that their child first goes back and send them in with the form or go online the night before. I think we'll see a lot of activity right before kids first arrive in school. 

Moderator: Next is Henry from Bloomberg.

Question: Hello Mr. Mayor, how are you doing today?

Mayor: I'm doing well, Henry, how about you? 

Question: I'm doing pretty well. I'm hanging in there. I'll kick it back to this question of five-day-a-week schooling because it's so uncertain. And the –why does the number of kids who don't show up have any bearing or relationship to how many kids are going to be able to do five-day-a-week schooling? It would seem to me that if kids don't show up that should have no relation with the fact that a school should be able to accommodate five-day-a-week schooling. 

Mayor: Okay, fair question. But let me lay it out to you sort of from the ground level. So, right now, we know that on Monday there's a substantial number of schools that will be at five-day already, but we also know a number of other schools will need time to get their final alignment done. Why? Because every school, literally every school is different. The percentages we gave you, the numbers we give you, that's about a whole massive school system, but each school system had a different reality of how many parents chose in-person learning, blended learning versus remote. And then remember, we've been very open about the fact that we have really big number of students who never were quite fully in one or the other system. They hadn't signed up for all remote. They hadn't signed up for blended or they hadn't shown up even if they did sign up for blended. So, we've got a group of students that are still not really defined what their intention is. That's what we've got it resolved, because if you're in a school, let's say you're in a school that half the kids in theory will be coming in for in-person learning, and your classroom size is, you know, 35, 40 percent of what it was. That's a hard scenario to make work to go to five-day-a-week for everyone. But if in fact it turns out that a number of those kids really don't intend to come in, we can put them into all remote. That's really what they want. That's great. The number of kids going to be in-person becomes smaller and therefore more manageable. Now you can use your classroom size appropriately. You got to keep it at that classroom limit because the distancing, but now you can divide the kids in classrooms in a way that you can get everyone into five-day-a-week or in some schools, it will not be everyone in five-day-a-week, but it will still be a number of kids in five-day-a-week with priority given to kids with special needs and kids who have particular disadvantages, we want them to get the benefit of in-person learning the most. Go ahead, Henry. 

Question: Okay. Thank you for that answer. My second question has to do with the criteria, the three percent criteria, which has been scrapped, is there a tipping point in the community, of community spread where these rising percentages do create a risk that the schools will become infection vectors, even though they're not now, even though they appear safe now? When you have large percentages of the population, six percent, seven percent, eight percent, 12 percent testing positive, is there a tipping point where the schools actually become an infection vector and they're not a safe haven? 

Mayor: Look, I will say it this way, and then I'll turn to Dr. Varma and Dr. Easterling, the reality of our schools has been striking. So I'll be the layman, there'll be the actual doctors. The reality of our schools has been striking. We believe they could be safe. The numbers have been unbelievably favorable. Levels – low levels of coronavirus positivity that we literally couldn't have imagined, and that is because unlike almost any place else, the schools have had every conceivable health and safety measure layer one on top of the other, what I call that gold standard. Imagine a world in which literally everyone's wearing their mask all the time, kid and adult alike, that's our schools, cleaning every day, that's our schools, the ventilation work that was done, the distancing, all of these things plus constant testing, obviously the school population kids, educators, staff are tested much more frequently than almost any other part of our society. And you have a situation room, which is very meticulous about closing a classroom and closing a school when they need to be and bringing in Test and Trace to figure out after there's been a case what to do. This doesn't resemble any other part of our society. This is the most controlled and supported place in all of New York City. Now we're going to go to weekly testing and everyone has to have the testing consent form. This again just takes us even higher up the ladder of safety. So, I fully believe, Henry, the schools are going to have reality different than anything else around them. We're still, of course, going to abide by any State standards and we're going to watch the situation carefully, but we really are talking about a different reality than the rest of our society. Dr. Varma, then Dr. Easterling. 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Great. Thank you for the question. I think one point I want to emphasize, which I think everybody knows, but it's just important to keep in mind is that, you know, the schools can't prevent people from getting infected outside the school. So if it's a student or a staff member somewhere else. So as community rates rise, as Henry is asking, there are going to be more infections that occur in people that they acquire outside the schools. So the best that we can do in our school system is to strengthen those lines of defense and as the Mayor noted, one of the additional lines of defense we're adding is going to be additional testing. And then when you combine that with the protocols that we have in the situation room, I think that we can be very confident that even though rates of infection will arise and even though more people might get diagnosed outside of school, the school itself can be a place where there are no outbreaks or that if there is a transmission occurs, it's very limited to somebody who had very close contact or a lapse in mask wearing or something, you know, normal disruptions in human behavior. And that's what we've seen so far and I think that's something that we'll continue to be able to do. 

Mayor: Dr. Easterling? 

First Deputy Commissioner and Chief Equity Officer Torian Easterling, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: I have nothing else. I think you and Dr. Varma covered it.

Mayor: Okay, great. Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more. So, with that, we're going to go back to Shant. 

Question: Yes, love second chances, thanks for that. I guess I wanted to follow up on Nolan and Andrew's question about the number of schools that may or may not be ready to go to five days a week. I mean, I guess we're not hearing a concrete number on that. Can you say why is that? Why can't we nail down a number? Like, can you, I mean – I’m trying to rearticulate the question, because I think it's important to lot of parents, like, what's the – you know, how many schools – you know, do you have a gut feeling on how many schools are ready to go five days a week? 

Mayor: Okay, Shant, I know it's New York City and we don't believe in patience here, but I'm going to ask people to be a little patient. There's a pandemic going on. We're dealing with a lot of variables here. It's as simple as this, truly – we're talking about hundreds of schools, obviously that'll be reopening, starting on Monday. A substantial number are ready to go to five-day right away, but others need to get more information to do that, because of the conversation I had with Henry, trying to lay out a school-by-school reality – we think we're going to have most of that information in the course of next week, because we're saying two things that affect the number of deeply. You got to have a consent form and you've got to actually show up, and this, Shant, I think is a very, very fair standard. Both of them are fair standards, but that second one – school has been open for months. If a child hasn't shown up or has only shown up very occasionally, it's right to say to the parent, as a matter of personal responsibility and respect for all other parents and kids, are you really going to use this seat or not? If you're going to use this seat, you got to start showing up regularly, just like you would during any other normal school year. If you're not going to use the seat, that's cool. We're going to put you into all remote. So that seat can be used constantly by a child who really needs it and wants to be there and a family that wants their child there. But again, it's going to take a couple of weeks to sort that out and with every school, once that equation is locked down, they'll do either all five-day, all kids, or the maximum number of kids five days to begin and give priority to the kids with greatest needs.

Moderator: Hard to follow that, but for our last question we’ll go to Narmeen from PIX 11. 

Question: Hi, good morning, everyone on the call. 

Mayor: Hey Narmeen, how are you? 

Question: I'm doing well, Mayor. Just locked my kids out of the bedroom, so I'm good.

Mayor: Well done, well done.

Question: Alright, well, I wanted to ask you what we're monitoring, obviously all the numbers in your daily indicators, but also on your map, your ZIP code by ZIP code, and I want to ask you specifically about communities in Breezy Point in Queens and Gravesend [inaudible] because I noticed they have particularly high numbers across the city, 8.47 and 8.88. I wonder if you or your team have any insight into what is going on there in particular, because I feel those numbers are pretty alarming? 

Mayor: Yeah. Look, I share your concern. I mean we're seeing different things in different places for sure. I am concerned that there's some, you know, some messages have gone out there about not wearing masks and I think that's dangerous, and I think these numbers growing are a warning sign to everyone that we really have to be careful about social distancing, about wearing masks, about protecting our elders, which is why our health commissioner made very clear, you know, our seniors and folks with preexisting conditions, diabetes, and heart disease, et cetera, need to actually change now what they're doing and not go out any longer, except for the most essential needs. I am concerned there are some communities where there's, you know, too many voices saying don't wear a mask and don't follow these rules, and that's going to put them in danger and the people they love and dangerous. So, I'm hoping that these rather shocking numbers are going to wake people up to the fact that we're all in this together and we all have to protect each other. Go ahead Narmeen. 

Question: Yeah, and just to follow up a bit, is there any more targeted effort in those particular communities for the reasons you spoke of, but also I want to touch on the hospitalizations. We talked about seniors yesterday and I just want to get an idea of ICU beds. Obviously, we are in a much better place than we in this spring, but are we seeing the trend stay within the parameters of what we saw in the spring in terms of are these seniors that are taking up most of the ICU beds, are these people with underlying conditions taking up the more serious cases in the hospitals right now? 

Mayor: Okay, on your first point, yes – there's – whenever we see an uptick in the community, there is a targeted effort to engage community leaders and community institutions who are the most trusted voices to engage faith leaders. Whenever we've seen an uptick and we saw this, for example, in Staten Island a few weeks ago tremendous outpouring of support from community leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, community institutions, telling people, you really got to take these mask rules seriously, and you got to go get tested, and we saw a really big uptick in both and so anywhere where we see a problem, the thing we do is go to the grassroots, go to the people who have the most influence, the most reach, and obviously provide as much testing as possible in nearby locations. On the question of the hospitals, I'll start and turn to Dr. Easterling and Dr. Varma. But Dr. Katz was on the press conference yesterday and said, you know, again, we take it the situation very seriously. We're watching very carefully, but we have seen something at least somewhat different so far in terms of not as many people going into the ICU. Thank God people not needing to go into intubation as frequently, and when they do in many cases, having a better result than last time. So, something's qualitatively different and quantitatively different this time, but we have to watch it very carefully because we've learned from this virus, there's an unpredictable reality that we constantly have to adjust for. Dr. Easterling, you want to speak to that? 

Deputy Commissioner Easterling: Yes, thank you, sir. Thank you for the question. Just actually to the first question I did want to just also raise the point that we've also been working with community-based organizations to bring more testing to the area as well. So as the Mayor had mentioned, you know, we are continuing to do our [inaudible] engagement in community specifically where we're seeing a higher number of cases compared to the rest of the city. So it is important that we still have that on the ground game. Actually, just an hour ago, I was on a call with electeds from Brooklyn, talking to them about the importance of being vigilant around our effective prevention measures. So, we are continuing to engage in making sure that we have on the ground game, and then to the hospitalizations as the Mayor of also mentioned, we're continuing to monitor the trends. We are certainly seeing the trend going in the wrong direction, which is certainly concerning. We're also really looking at the type of cases we know that severe illness will certainly affect those who are older. Certainly, those who have chronic conditions, and I think that's what we're going to have to continue to monitor and see you know, how things play out as we move along. 

Mayor: Yeah, and let me say first of all thanks to Dr. Torian Easterling because he has spent a lot of time in these last few months, talking to those very community leaders and organizations and elected officials, I mentioned earlier, he's really been one of the key organizers of the effort to mobilize the grassroots, and I really appreciate that Dr. Easterling and second, the point about older folks and folks with pre-existing conditions, what Dr. Chokshi said yesterday, I think Narmeen, this is going to change the equation. I think when the Health Commissioner of New York City tells older New Yorkers and folks with preexisting conditions is time to stay home until we get this vaccine, and we can really turn this around. I think a lot of people are going to change their behavior based on what he's saying, and that is going to affect some of what we see in terms of hospitalizations. Dr. Varma, you want to add? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, I guess I would just emphasize again, the good news has been that as we have gotten better at diagnosing cases earlier and supporting people earlier, as the Mayor has highlighted, the proportion of people who ended up getting hospitalized and have severe outcomes has definitely gone down. But again, highlighting what Dr. Easterling and the Mayor has just said. The bad news of course, is that the people who are most at risk of that severe infection remain the same groups that have been in that situation before that is people who are elderly and with severe underlying conditions. So, it is very important to keep the guidance that Commissioner Chokshi announced yesterday. 

Mayor: Thank you. Well, listen, as we conclude today, everyone we obviously are extremely focused on making sure we're taking all the measures we need to protect New Yorkers, and we're focused every day, every hour. This has been the reality since March, for all of us here at City Hall, our healthcare leadership, for so many other people who work to protect us, our healthcare workers are first responders every day, every hour, since this began, we're focused on protecting people here and now, but we also need to start thinking more and more about the future, and I'll be talking about this more as we go into 2021, we have got to start building that sense of the future of this city as a place where we can keep people healthy. We can learn the lessons of this crisis, do things in a different way, address the disparities that this crisis has made very painfully clear, but also start to do transformative things, and so today we talked about something very exciting in terms of worker cooperatives, employee-owned businesses. This could be a transcendent part of the future of New York City – it’s something that we'll be focusing on as a way to create more fairness, to share wealth differently, to create a better, more sustainable for the city, and I say, very clearly, you know this city will work in the future. If it's a city that works for working people and employee ownership has going to be a crucial part of how we make it, a city that works for working people in a sustainable way. So that's the work ahead. It's powerful and exciting work. Even as we fight this crisis back, we needed to take a lot of hope and encouragement from what the future of this city can be, and every one of you will be part of building that future. Thanks, everyone.

2020-12-03 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Today, we want to focus on not just the fight against the coronavirus right now, but where we're going, how we're going to defeat this virus once and for all, rebuild this city, recover as a city, move forward and then have the ability to be a global leader in public health, based in fact, on the very experiences that we went through this year, the painful experiences we learned so much from, the innovations we created, the forces we marshaled together, the extraordinary ingenuity and energy that New Yorkers showed in addressing this crisis. That is also the beginning of building out a role as the global leader in public health and the place that people can look to from all over the country, all over the world to help ensure there won't be the next pandemic or, God forbid we're faced with a challenge, that we handle it a lot better based on the lessons we learned here.

So, we're going to talk about our plans for that future, and we're going to frame it, of course, with the reality that we're fighting an intense fight against the coronavirus right now, we'll talk about that, but that thank God the cavalry is coming. The vaccine is coming, starting this month, this month of December. In fact, just 12 days from now, we expect the first dosages to arrive, and we'll talk about that and how we're going to be distributing the vaccine here in this city quickly and effectively. But let's be clear. This whole crisis has taught us so much. It's taught us so much about the need to create, to do things that haven't been done before, to be willing to try new things and figure out what will work to recognize truths that were too often swept under the rug, including profound disparities that must be addressed head on. All of that has made us stronger, even though none of us wishes we went through any of this pain, any of these challenges, it has made us stronger and it's made us clear about what we have to do for the future.

I had a great example of this yesterday. I toured the Pandemic Response Lab. This is a brand-new facility. It was set up during the coronavirus crisis to help New York City respond to the challenge we faced, and it is absolutely extraordinary. This was created from scratch, using new approaches, new technology, taking some of the best minds in this city, in the business sector, universities, hospitals, bringing them together at the Alexandria Center to focus on solutions we needed right now, and we all know one of the biggest challenges was getting all those tests processed quickly. Remember, from the very beginning, I remember the first press conference we ever had about the coronavirus, the key point was testing, and today the key is still testing. But what we found is crisis is testing is only as good as your ability to process the results and process them quickly, and that's what the Pandemic Response Lab has been doing brilliantly – 20,000 individual tests a day being processed right now, the ability to get up to 30,000 soon, and then we're going to build beyond, and it's remarkable to see how effective this process is considering it was something only thrown together in the last few months. I really want to thank everyone at the pandemic response lab for their amazing effort, and this video will give you a sense of the work they are doing to protect all of us. 

[…] 

Mayor: So that gives you a flavor of the amazing work being done at the lab. This was put together so quickly and effectively, and this is again the spirit of this city, the ability of this city, and this is what makes us special, even irreplaceable in the national and global context. New York City can do things that no other place can do, and we learned that with the Pandemic Response Lab, but now we're going to go farther because the next step is to build something even bigger that will be about the future and protecting this city and every place in this country and this world from future challenges, and so today we're announcing the creation of the Pandemic Response Institute, housed here in New York City at the Alexandria Center to lead the world to the solutions that will protect us in the future.

Now, look, we know that research is necessary in an unprecedented way. We know that during this crisis, there was so much catching up that had to be done. That work can be done in many ways in advance, going forward. The training to prepare people for future challenges can be done – now that we know the depth of the challenge we can get ahead of it and we can prove it can be done right here in New York City. The fact that we have learned a lot more about how to detect outbreaks and manage them, but we have to go a lot farther – that can be done here in New York City. Creating a blueprint for addressing this kind of crisis and do it in a systematic way – that can be created right here in New York City. To tell you more about the Pandemic Response Institute and what it'll mean for the city and far beyond the city someone who has really shown tremendous vision in fighting the crisis here, but also in helping us to envision where we can go as a city, my senior advisor, Dr. Jay Varma. 

Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma: Great, thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. On April 3rd, I boarded a plane in Ethiopia and flew to New York City to help respond to the most lethal crisis the city has ever faced. I remember arriving in New York and being struck by two feelings. First, how unsettling it was to see the storefronts closed, to hear the air pierced by the sound of sirens, to see people on the streets, masked, walking away from each other as much as possible. Second, I was also struck by how eerily familiar it all felt. I've responded to outbreaks all over the world, from Ebola in West Africa, to refugee camps in Thailand, and I'm unfortunately all too familiar with the devastating impact that epidemics can have on societies. In the work I've done throughout the world one principal message I've always tried to deliver is that public health, isn't an investment, it's not a cost. It's an investment in our physical safety, an investment in our economic prosperity, and an investment in justice, ensuring that health and opportunity are available to all, and that is why the Mayor's announcement today about a new Pandemic Response Institute is so important to the city, the country, and indeed the world. New York City had to fight its way back from one of the worst COVID outbreaks of any city in the world, and one of the ways it did that was through a partnership as you've just heard between government academia and the private sector to create the Pandemic Response Lab, and that lab has been the key that unlocked the Test and Trace Corps to prevent thousands of infections in the city, and the key that unlocked the safe reopening of our public school system.

The Pandemic Response Institute is an opportunity to expand beyond laboratory work, into training, research, innovation – into all of the areas we know were important for outbreaks: detection, investigation, management, and this will position the city as a leader in pandemic response and strengthen our infrastructure for future outbreaks. How do we forecast when an outbreak might emerge, just like we do the weather? How do we develop tests for COVID and other infections that you can use at home, like a pregnancy test? How do we develop PPE that's easier and safer for anyone to use? How do we develop and test vaccines even faster than what we've done with COVID? This Institute can bring together partners from all around the city to answer these questions, to spur innovation, and create new jobs and new business ventures.

To develop this Institute, the city will support its initial home at the Alexandria Center positioned right next to the Pandemic Response Lab. We'll be meeting with public health experts next month to further develop the strategy and focus for the Institute and then issue an RFP for partners to operate the Institute shortly thereafter, with a goal to select an organization to begin operating it in 2021. Central to all of this is really public and private partnership, bringing together the best from the city, from government, our universities, our biotech and technology centers and our civic organizations. Together, they can spur economic development, build a stronger workforce, and make New York City the public health capital of the world. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Varma, and look, this is going to be crucial to our future. It's going to be crucial to our ability to protect people. It's going to be – it's so important to the recovery of New York City to bringing back and building an even stronger base of jobs. This is part of what's going to make New York City great going forward. So thank you Dr. Varma, and thank you to all my colleagues to be a part of putting this initiative together.

All right, now let's talk about, as I said earlier, the cavalry is coming, let's talk about the vaccines. The moment we have all been waiting for is finally here. Vaccines are being approved. Vaccines are being shipped. We expect the first shipments as early as December 15th. That is 12 days from now, the Pfizer vaccine shipments, we expect to begin for New York City – Moderna shipments a week later on the 22nd. 

We are working closely with the State of New York on a distribution plan with an important focus on those who have the greatest need and need to get the vaccine in the first efforts. We're going to be working with the state to fine tune the approach. But what we all agree on is high risk health care workers, obviously absolutely crucial to protect those who protect all of us, and we know from a painful experience, how much have to focus on our nursing home residents and the good people who work in our nursing homes. So those will be among the top priorities, of course.

Now, over time there will be enough vaccine for everyone, but we're going to have to prioritize in waves to make sure that those in greatest need get the vaccine first. This will obviously take months, but we're going to focus on the people have the greatest needs. We're going to focus on those 27 neighborhoods that were most deeply affected by the coronavirus. We're going to certainly focus on folks who have borne the brunt, like people who live in public housing, but we're going to throughout this process, work on the fastest and most effective distribution because the faster we can move, and the more we can educate people, and the more we can get people involved, the more people who will be safe. Here to tell you about it representing our Health Department, which has a lot of powerful history, making sure that New Yorkers get vaccinated and protected, so leading this effort with a lot of tremendous expertise to support them, our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. New York City, we don't make small plans. We think big, we build big, and we plan big, and the effort to vaccinate millions of New Yorkers in the months ahead will be, in a word, big. That is why we are calibrating our entire public health infrastructure to this project – this spans science, operations, data tracking, equity, and public communication. As the Mayor said, our first priority includes health care heroes. Those who cared for us in the worst moments of the pandemic and whom we continue to depend on now, as cases rise. The Mayor also highlighted the people most at risk, including residents and staff of nursing homes. Our goal is to ensure that a safe, effective vaccine gets to everyone who wants it. Doing so will require close coordination, yes, across the entire city, but also with the state and the federal government, and it also requires us to make sure that all New Yorkers have access to the latest information. 
That's why we're here today.

But the process of turning a vaccine into a vaccination will be a challenge, a formidable one. For example, storage requirements vary. The Pfizer vaccine requires ultra-cold storage and special freezers. The Moderna vaccine can be stored in regular freezers. So we're shoring up capacity for both to be prepared. The Health Department itself currently has the ability to receive, store, and ship up to 320,000 doses of ultra-cold, that's at -80 degrees Celsius, as well as millions of frozen vaccines. This is in addition to hospital capacity and over 50 hospitals have access to ultra-cold storage, or will have the special ultra-cold freezer delivered very soon, for a total citywide storage capacity of at least 1.5 million doses. But making sure that we're getting vaccine to the people who are at highest risk from COVID-19 requires data, and we will use our citywide immunization registry to monitor inventory and administration and help make sure everyone gets both of the doses. 

This registry is like the air traffic control of vaccine distribution. Thousands of health care providers are already enrolled in the registry and report vaccine doses such as for the flu shot. I think of this as the everyday miracle of routine vaccination that prevents so much suffering and already saves lives, but we will build upon this for the COVID-19 vaccine. The Health Department will track in real time communities that may have a low uptake of the vaccine and pivot to ensure that the vaccine is distributed equitably. Our existing public health infrastructure allows us to work closely with health care providers, community health centers, and independent pharmacies across the city. We will be providing everything from technical assistance to resources for storing and handling the vaccine. When we anticipate that more access is needed, we will quickly stand up temporary vaccine centers as well. For instance, these centers will be in pre-identified schools across the city and operated by the Health Department. They're staffed by trained Health Department employees, other City employees from other agencies, as well as Medical Reserve Corps volunteers. These sites would serve essential workers initially, but could be expanded to serve members of the general public getting vaccine to people rapidly and safely. The process is simple. Appointments are scheduled. Eligibility is assessed online and after affirming on the day of their appointment that they are symptom free. They can show up and receive a vaccination. In 2009 during the H1N1 influenza outbreak, the Health Department immunized tens of thousands of New Yorkers in temporary vaccine centers just like that one. At one site, almost 6,000 people were vaccinated in just two days. 

But this is a marathon, not a sprint. And there is a long, long road ahead of us. Building trust has to be integral to our preparation as integral as storage and inventory. So we will also be working closely with our partners, including community organizers, faith leaders, and local clinicians in the coming months. As we get more details, we will be sharing information widely with community partners and the general public through public forums, media availabilities, ad campaigns, and social media. As important as sharing information is, my commitment is also to listen to our community partners. To make sure we're doing everything we can possibly do to be worthy of the public's trust. And make it as easy as possible for everyone who wants a vaccine to get one. Public trust in the vaccine is essential. I think about what it takes to earn the trust of the patients I've cared for as a doctor, starting with listening, communicating the science and following up. We will bring that same approach rooted in humility, evidence, and compassion to our vaccination campaign. 

One last note, the media has been extremely important in helping to combat misinformation, whether it was dangerous myths about the measles vaccine or more recently herd immunity and the effectiveness of masks. I want to thank you for the work that you've done and ask for your partnership to report the scientific facts about vaccines and their safety. Together, we can take this step forward into the beginning of the end of this public health emergency. Thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Doctor. And everyone, Dr. Chokshi’s last point is so important. The trust that we're all going to need to have here, the information that people need and deserve. Again, thanks to our colleagues in the media. You're going to play a crucial role here, getting the information out. And we do want to get the truth out. We know there's been, unfortunately, a lot of misinformation about vaccines. But vaccines are going to be absolutely crucial to ending the coronavirus crisis once and for all. And we're going to need everyone to be a part of this, and we should be thankful too, to all those who participate in creating these vaccines. This has been an unprecedented effort. So, to all the scientists, all the companies that have been involved, to the health care leadership on all levels of government, this is something that took tremendous work in record time, really. And we should be thankful to all involved. 

Now, vaccination campaign will begin immediately. We're going to be talking about that regularly. It says to us that we will be able to turn the corner on the coronavirus, but in the meantime, we have a tremendous challenge. And we're going to go over our indicators now, which certainly illustrate what we have to deal with right now to get to that point where the vaccine is widely distributed. And we turn that bigger corner. So, let's go over to indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19. Threshold is 200 patients. Today's report, 174 patients. So, we see a serious increase there. Confirmed positivity level of 49.7 percent. I'm going to talk about all three indicators and then I want to give a summary. The number two is new reported cases on a seven-day average threshold, 550 cases today, 1,962. And number three, percentage of people testing city-wide positive for COVID-19. Threshold, five percent. Today's report the daily, 3.9 percent, but the seven-day rolling average has really increased, to 5.19 percent. So what does this tell us? Well, we have three indicators and we've talked about the importance of looking at all three. This is something we've had the conversation with the people of this city for months and months, that we use different indicators to tell us different things and to see if they are aligning. 

What we're now seeing more than we have seen in a long, long time, unfortunately, is these three indicators all moving in the wrong direction or having already in the case of the daily cases, moved greatly in the wrong direction. So it's quite clear at this point that this second wave unfortunately, is right upon us. We are seeing a different reality in the hospitals for sure than in the spring. And this is a very, very important point. Even though that number has gone up, it's still a very different reality in our hospitals than what we experienced in the spring. The ability of our hospitals to deal with patients is greatly improved. The ability of patients to survive this disease is greatly improved. We are not seeing the kind of stress on our ICU's anywhere near what we saw in the past. But we're extremely concerned and vigilant to make sure that we protect our hospitals and we can protect people's lives. So, this says, at this point, these indicators either have been unfortunately met or on the verge of being met. It's why we're going to come up with new information to help people understand what comes next. But it is clearly, clearly a message that everyone needs to take maximum precautions now. 

And I want to amplify what Dr. Chokshi said earlier in the week. If you're over 65, if you're someone with one of those preexisting conditions like diabetes or heart disease, you need to stay in to the maximum extent possible, except for the most essential needs. And everyone has to do the hard work of continuing to distance and wear masks and take all precautions. This is a very serious situation. We all have to be part of the solution. Okay. Let me do a few words in Spanish about the vaccine 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish:] 

With that we will turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know, name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q and A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi, by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma, by Deputy Mayor Vicki Bean, by EDC President James Patchett, by Dr. Mitch Katz, by Jeff Thamkittikasem, the Director of the Mayor's Office of Operations. First question today goes to Matt Chayes from Newsday. 

Question: Hi, good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you? 

Mayor: Good, Matt, how you been? 

Question: I've been all right, thank you for asking. What would you say to people in the suburbs who before the pandemic used to drive into the city, but now due to the Open Restaurants program and Open Streets program now find much less parking? Do you expect this situation – the, you know, the fewer parking spots to continue once the pandemic ends? 

Mayor: Yeah, because we're going to continue Open Streets and Open Restaurants. We're going to make it permanent. If that means there's less parking available, I think that's a perfectly fair trade-off because we know that Open Streets have been a tremendous boost to the spirits of people in the city and giving them a lot of good outdoor options. We know Open Restaurants have allowed you know, 100,000 or more employees to keep their jobs and kept thousands of businesses going. This needs to be a part of New York City's future. So we will sacrifice some parking to provide all those positive benefits to the people in New York City. 

Moderator: The next is Marcia from WCBS. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. I want to wish you well. 

Mayor: Thank you, Marcia. 

Question: I have one question about the vaccine distribution. I'm sorry. I'm out of breath. I ran to get another pen. 

Mayor: Okay. That is fully acceptable. 

Question: So, I'm wondering in terms of the distribution – the plan because the Governor has said, excuse me, that nursing home patients and people who work there should be the first ones to get it. And if you add up the total universe, that's 215,000 people. Which is more than the 175,000 doses they're going to get. So, I wonder if they should take precedence or the people who are in the front lines, the first responders, the health care workers, the people who work in ICUs should go first? Because they're the ones that may be in direct contact with people who are sick? 

Mayor: I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi. But Marcia, I think the simple answer is we're going to work closely with the State. Both those categories are the highest priority, literally. And remember the vaccine shipments are going to be coming in weekly. So, we're going to be quickly able to get more and more. But we have to get going right away. We'll figure out the top priorities with the State. And we'll get going. Dr. Chokshi? 

Commissioner Chokshi: That's exactly right. There's a lot of agreement across the federal government, meaning the CDC, the State government, as well as local government about what that highest priority group should be. Just as the Mayor said, it encompasses high-risk health care workers. That includes people who are working as staff in long term care facilities. And then residents of those long term care facilities as well. The initial week to two weeks we will see, you know, more limited number of doses and there will be a plan with respect to exactly how those will be allocated. And that plan will be conducted in coordination with New York State as well. But as the supply increases we expect within a few short weeks that we would be able to cover everyone that is in that top priority group. 

Mayor: Thank you very much.

Moderator: The next is Bob Henley from the Chief Leader. 

Question: Yes. I just wanted to circle back on the question of vaccines because the FDNY has said that they anticipate having a certain number of as yet undetermined doses available for frontline responders, EMTs, FDNY EMTs who've been at a much higher risk. I think five times the risk of getting a severe infection then their firefighter colleagues. There is concern early on and we talked about this, you mentioned that there would be some, as did the Governor some independence by the considerable deep scientific bench in New York and New York City related to the vaccine. We have a Reuters report that Moderna investigators, five investigators working on Moderna trials said in interviews that commercial site investigators quickly felt the large portion of the 30,000-person study used to study their vaccine with white volunteers. If your experts could address the longstanding issues that we have when it comes to big pharma in terms of the engagement of communities of color? And there's a certain irony here that there could be a legacy issue here that it was developed without incorporating these communities? 

Mayor: Appreciate very much the question, Bob, because it's important that we look at disparity and bias throughout all aspects of our society, including in our health care system. And, certainly, big pharmaceutical companies need to be examined as well. What it means for the here and now let's find out from our health care leadership. Dr. Chokshi and then Dr. Varma. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. And thank you very much. I agree. It's a fundamentally important question that places equity really at the center of what we're trying to do in our response. And that includes vaccine distribution. Specifically related to the concerns that you're raising about the Moderna vaccine, as well as the Pfizer vaccine. We do have to see all of the data as it's shared. Right now we have some preliminary indications from what the companies have shared thus far. But there are reams and reams of scientific analysis that are undergoing extensive review first within the FDA, then by an independent advisory committee associated with the FDA. That will give us some, some very important information with respect to the specifics of what they've seen in the two large trials for these vaccines. 

One of the things that we will be looking for is exactly what you've pointed out. The racial and ethnic diversity of those trials that have been conducted. I will say one indication. One of the reasons the Moderna vaccine took a bit longer to complete is that the federal government asked them to ensure that there was greater racial and ethnic diversity represented among their trial participants, and so that was something that occurred in August and that Moderna adjusted their trial for. But I think the big picture here just not to lose it is that we need to ensure that rigorous, independent, scientific review, and we will also be taking a look at all of the data as it emerges publicly. 

Mayor: Thank you, doctor. Dr. Varma, you want to add? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, just to briefly emphasize, I think the point Dr. Chokshi and others have made all the – which is that, you know, there are some things we don't know about science and there's some things we know a lot about, and one of those is the fact that race doesn't determine the effectiveness of a vaccine but racism determines the ability to get vaccines to people and have people accept and use them. So it's going to be very important for the FDA and the independent review committees to review the data in detail to show the effectiveness across populations, but really our focus has to be making sure that we really earn the trust of communities, which have a very real reason to distrust medical interventions, and we feel strongly that once those scientific reviews are complete, our engagement with the community will help us make sure that vaccines get to those that need the most. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead, Bob. 

Question: Yeah, so I guess also just in terms of managing collective expectations, because I think that that's very important as we were hearing this idea of turning the corner on coronavirus because of the vaccines and from my reading of a lot of literature on this, it appears that we are still many, many months of having to have this discipline related to this consciousness about how we conduct ourselves and how our individual actions could have all kinds of ramifications to those around us. And I – aren't, you concerned that, that it in our kind of you know, 10 months into this, that we're being a little simplistic here and not really giving the public an accurate picture of the struggle we're going to be in for a while. 

Mayor: I think it's a great question, Bob, but I'll tell you, am I concerned – I'll tell you why I don't share the concern about what's being portrayed and how people are going to hear it. The –I'll start and my colleagues can add that. First of all, I am someone who firmly believes the way you motivate people to action is by hope. If people are hopeless, Bob, they do not act. If people are hopeless, they give up and they do not have any incentive to do tough and disciplined things. Right now I'd say I'm very proud of how New Yorkers have handled this crisis because overwhelmingly people are wearing masks and practicing distancing, and following the rules that we put out there. But it's always been in the context of being able to show that there was a real impact and that's how we went from being the epicenter to be one of the safest places in the country over the summer. We have a new challenge now. It’s really important for folks who have gone through so much or understandably feeling fatigued to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I think that sustains people and energizes people, but of course, it's going to take months before everyone who needs the vaccine gets it, many months. We need people to keep to all those smart precautions in the meantime.

One other point though, every person who gets successfully vaccinated changes the playing field. As vaccination becomes more and more common, it improves our ability to limit the virus. Remember also the millions of people obviously have had the disease already, and from what we've seen so far, thank God, are less vulnerable to being infected again, or having a negative impact from the disease. So we do have to put in context those realities and all the advances that have occurred in terms of the hospital approach, et cetera, and let people understand, more work to do, stay disciplined, stay focused, but the situation can and will improve with each month. I truly believe that. Dr. Varma, Dr. Chokshi, do you want to add? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, just to emphasize what, what the Mayor has said, you know, there are lots of analogies to think about, but the reality is we just – we can't give up now. We have to fight and keep fighting, and then the vaccine is going to be here. You know, for – if you're, if you're playing baseball and, you know, you've got Mariano Rivera coming into the ninth inning, you don't stop adding just because you know you got a closer coming in. So keep that in mind. It's something that's very important and that's really the message we're giving people, and this is a season of hope, right? This is the season where people celebrate, this time celebrations will be different, they need to be safe but there is hope coming very, very soon. 

Mayor: Dr. Varma does not even understand the full implication of his analogy. I only will say the year 2004, we can talk about later, but Dr. Choksi you want to add? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, I'll start with my own analogy actually, which is, you know, we've talked about the cavalry coming with respect to the vaccine, and that is true, although as the Mayor has said, it will take – it will take some time, but just because the cavalry is coming, it doesn't mean you put down your gun and stop shooting, right? So this is actually the most urgent time that we faced in weeks or months with respect to to fighting back the pandemic. It is critically important given the spread that we're seeing, given what we talked about earlier this week in terms of hospitalizations increasing as well, that we maintain our vigilance. So even as we do look ahead and we see that light at the end of the tunnel, now is the time to actually redouble our efforts and make sure that we do everything that we can to prevent as much suffering as possible before we're entering into that new reality. 

Mayor: Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Paul Berger from the Wall Street Journal. 

Question: Morning, Mr. Mayor, can you hear me?

Mayor: Yeah. Paul, how you doing?

Question: Good. Thank you. How are you?

Mayor: Good, good.

Question: I do just want to ask actually continuing the theme that you were discussing just now, you know, earlier on you talked about this second wave that was pretty much upon the city and how everyone has to be a part of the solution, just made me wonder, it seems like there isn't a day that goes by where we don't see examples of people flouting the rules and only last night we had the significant protests on Staten Island. I wonder, what does that tell you about people's willingness to comply with these rules in the coming months given the gravity of the situation the city faces?

Mayor: It's a very important question, Paul. Look, I want to separate when there's some ideological motivation and we do see that in some parts of the city, that's notable and that's a challenge and we really need local voices in communities where some are calling for folks not to wear masks or follow the rules, we need local voices to really step up and help us. But that is not most committed communities in New York City. The vast majority of communities in New York City are really honoring the rules. This is just fact, I mean, we've seen it in so many ways. The vast majority of New Yorkers are really honoring distancing and mask wearing in so many profound ways, and in the organized parts of the city, if you will, we've seen just tremendous adherence to safety rules, whether it's health care facilities, schools, businesses. So I don't want to get lost in what a few folks do when I see the vast majority really paying attention and buckling down. I also want to remind you that even though there was a protest, there was a particular bar in question, that bar is now closed because it was violating the rules. So clearly the rules are ultimately what matter here and they're being enforced. Fatigue is real, of course it's real, we're humans, but it's not stopping most New Yorkers from doing what they have to do and that's what matters. Go ahead, Paul. 

Question: I just wanted to turn actually to the research institute, could you just give us a few more details about it and in particular, I mean how much money given the budget crisis that you're facing does the city intend to invest in this? 

Mayor: Paul, we think this is a very important part of our future, it’s going to be part of the leading edge of New York City becoming the public health capital of the world. It's going to be absolutely shoulder to shoulder with a bigger strategy to grow our life sciences sector in this city, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of more jobs. So this is a very big deal to us and we're going to determine the level of investment needed to help support it. But I want to emphasize, and I'll turn to Dr. Varma to add, that there's a lot of resources out there in the private sector, in terms of research grants, et cetera, that are going to be following this exact subject matter. There's a lot of money that's going to flow in this direction. We need to be one of the places that receives those resources because we're best positioned to act on the matter at hand. Dr. Varma?

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, I would just – following up on what the Mayor's point is just now. There are a number of institutions around the world that have, you know, set models for how an organization like this can focus. You know, many of them are focused on very narrow areas. As the Mayor mentioned, there was almost certainly going to be more investment from governments in understanding the importance of health security and funding it. There's increasing interest from foundations, philanthropic organizations. And then we know of course business and industry, they're seeing this as an economic opportunity as well. Whoever thought before that, you know, investing in making face shields or building a new laboratory in a place that already has a lot of health capacity would actually be a profitable venture. So there's really an incredible opportunity where I think the public interest and the private interest all align around this issue. 

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Candice Choi from the AP. 

Question: Hi, thanks for taking the question. I have a two-part question, has the city identified where its first Pfizer shipments would go and if so can you give us a breakdown of how many are hospitals, nursing homes, or other locations?

Mayor: Doctor – okay go ahead – 

Question: And then the second part of the question is if the uptake isn't as high as expected at those places, is there a contingency plan for what to do with any leftover doses? 

Mayor: Okay so we will count that as two questions and I appreciate both questions. I don't think we're going to have a leftover problem. I think we can say that. I think there's going to be honestly tremendous need, tremendous interest and speed of execution. So I'll let Dr. Chokshi speak to it, but I honestly don't think that's going to be a problem, certainly not anytime soon, but if you could speak to both points doctor? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. I'll take the second one first just to build on that. So the answer is yes. There is such a contingency plan, the citywide immunization registry that I described we'll be monitoring in real time exactly how doses are being distributed as well as the actual uptake of the vaccine. So for finding that there are places that are not able to use their initial allotments, we can shift around demand and then also shift around subsequent supply of the vaccine for future weeks. So that is an integral part of our planning for both the initial phases, as well as beyond that. With respect to to the first point with about where the initial tranche of Pfizer vaccine will go, there are some contingencies that you know, that I should be upfront about with respect to the prioritization that the federal government, the State government, and our local government are aligning around. Once that final prioritization is determined, then we can be much more precise in terms of sharing, you know, where that initial allotment will go.

But what I can tell you today is that we've been in constant contact with the 55 acute care and specialty hospitals that are in New York City. We understand the populations of high-risk health care workers at each of those hospitals. They have started placing orders within the citywide immunization registry and that's how the allotment will be determined. With respect to long-term care facilities, that's something that requires additional coordination because the federal government through the CDC will also be rolling out what it's calling the Long-Term Care Facility Pharmacy Program, this is in coordination with CVS and Walgreens, and that will be part of the way in which vaccine is distributed to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. We will have visibility into that distribution as well through the citywide immunization registry and so the same way of monitoring supply and demand that I described before applies to those as well. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Christina Veiga from Chalkbeat.

Question: Hi, Mayor. Thanks for taking my question. I am wondering where or when you think teachers, public school teachers will be able to receive the vaccine? 

Mayor: Christina, really, really good question, and what we're doing right now is we're working through the prioritization schema. And we obviously want to focus after we deal with the single highest priority groups of folks and the most vulnerable folks, we're certainly going to be focusing on other public servants as well. Of course, thank God, you know, we know our schools are tremendously safe, that is proven, and educators who had pre-existing conditions were given medical exemptions. So we know they are protected. So we'll follow the priority schema that the federal government, State government put together and make sure we're always focusing on addressing disparities, but certainly our public servants are going to be important in our priorities as we get more and more vaccine. Go ahead, Christina. 

Question: Thanks and my second question is about testing. We know that COVID testing in schools is going to be really important for reopening, however, those in Learning Bridges sites I believe they're not being tested, CBOs – universal pre-K providers and CBOs are not doing random testing of staff, and I believe the DOEs Pre-K Center staff, not the students, but the staff are also not being tested. So I'm wondering why they've been left out and if there are plans to include them now in the next phase of reopening?

Mayor: Look, we are trying to expand testing across the board and we certainly want to encourage folks to get tested. We now have so many locations and so many communities, we want to do that constantly, and it's free for everyone, obviously. There's different realities with community-based organizations. Scale is something I’ve talked about a lot. There are much smaller programs, when you’re talking about Learning Bridges and when you're talking about the pre-K sites in community-based organizations, they're much smaller. They've been working, of course, to protect everyone in their facilities, but the scale of schools being bigger is where we've put the focus. But we're going to keep supporting all of them to get testing to them and to make sure they know where testing is available in their communities. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Amanda Eisenberg from Politico. 

Question: Hi. Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call.

Mayor: How are you doing, Amanda? 

Question: I'm good. Thank you for asking. So, I was hoping that you or one of your health experts could explain why this pandemic response isn't housed in the City’s Health Department, and that you're specifically looking at these private-public partnerships instead? 

Mayor: I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Varma. This is about something which I think could be very central to the future of the city and is not going to function as a city agency, but something that really will have national and global reach. And we want investment from the private sector, we want companies to be deeply involved, universities, hospital systems. This is a whole different type of endeavor and it is meant to maximize the energies of all those sectors and also to spur on the creation of a lot of jobs in this city in the private sector. So, it's not built to be a City agency. It's built to be something that I think has got to have a really big ramification for the future of our ability to protect people and our economy. Dr. Varma?

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah. This isn’t a competitor to government services. There’s a really strong model throughout the world of entities that have been created for the purpose of pulling together resources from, from governments, from the private sector, from foundations and philanthropy to promote research, to also promote innovation, which is not – which is how you turn research into practice, and to also support training. And so, I think, you know, one of the things that we've learned in public health throughout the world is you really need a diverse ecosystem. You need – absolutely need to be built upon a foundation of a strong government public health service. You need private industry to be able to create and manufacture and innovate. And you need something that sits at the interface of those to do all those things. So, I think that's really why this institute is going to be really in that regard. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Amanda. 

Question: Great. Thank you. And then, my second question, I know you both touched upon it, specifically Dr. Varma, but in terms of equity and the vaccine, is there anything specific that you can talk about of how you're able to get buy-in from Black and Brown communities where there's been a history of medical abuse and distrust in those communities? Obviously, those neighborhoods have been hit really bad by the pandemic. But I think there is still some sort of historical distrust with government with vaccines, especially for Black and Brown New Yorkers. So, I wanted to know what strategies you're looking at to ensure that people are getting vaccinated and that they feel comfortable about it. 

Mayor: Yeah. Amanda, it’s a very powerful question. Thank you. And let's just talk about this head-on – there is tremendous distrust. Black and Brown New Yorkers have every reason to look at the history of American government and institutional racism and be concerned about unfairness and mistreatment. That is something we have to acknowledge and we have to act on and we have to change it. And I think it's different in New York City in some very important ways, because people of color in this city also have seen a series of changes happen in this city to address disparity. And, certainly, even in the context of the coronavirus, the overt acknowledgement of disparity followed by moving resources to communities that have been hardest hit, acknowledging these 27 neighborhoods have been hardest hit and saying they deserve to get priority in terms of vaccine distribution. Folks in public housing deserve priority. 

These statements say something about making sure that there is fairness, and we're not going to allow the vaccine just to go to the highest bidder, but to actually go to who needs it most. I think that will engender trust. I think working with community leaders, folks in communities of color want to hear from people they trust at the grassroots level. As Dr. Chokshi said, that's going to be a big part of what we do, building trust by working with voices who are trusted at the community level. So, this is a very real issue. I'm not going to be surprised at all if anyone who was hesitant at first, but we've got to prove by our actions that this is an equitable distribution of the vaccine. And we've got to keep addressing people's real medical concerns with trusted health care voices, both on the city level and the local level. Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Varma, do you want to add? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. Thank you. And thank you so much, Amanda, for the question, which I agree is core and fundamental to the success of our vaccine distribution program. We're going to make sure that equity, and particularly racial equity, are a key part of how we're addressing disparities that unfortunately we have seen play out in very tragic ways over the last few months. And so, to get to some of the specifics and to build on what the Mayor has already said about this first is, you know, I just think about how this plays out in the exam room when I'm taking care of my own patients and confronting the – you know, the historical legacy of distrust that colors much of the decision-making, you know, that that happens particularly in Black and Brown communities. And the most effective antidote is a trusted relationship. Those are not things that can be developed out of thin air. And so, as a government agency, you know, as the Health Department, our approach is to make sure that we're relying upon the relationships that already exist in communities – community-based organizations, you know, faith leaders, people who are looked to as trusted messengers and partnering with them, you know, having the humility to say, it's not just about the message that we deliver, but about the messenger, and sometimes that's about passing the baton to someone else with respect to delivering the message. But the other really important piece here that the Mayor also mentioned is that we have to think about it in a way that accounts for the places that we're talking about. This is where it gets very concrete, the priority neighborhoods that the Mayor has made a fundamental commitment as part of our COVID-19 response and making sure that we're using our data to track how things are going in those places and to direct more resources there when it when it is clear that that's what needs to happen. 

Mayor: Dr. Varma, anything to add?

Senior Advisor Varma: No – 

Mayor: Okay, great. Go ahead.

Moderator: Last question for today, who we believe is celebrating a birthday today, is Jillian Jonas from WBAI.

Mayor: Happy Birthday, Jillian.

Question: How did you know that? 

Mayor: It's this team – they do their research. Happy birthday to you. 

Question: Thank you. I didn't even think about it. So, the Politico reporter and the Wall Street Journal reporter already asked some of my questions, but I would like to know where will the Pandemic Response Institute be housed after 2021, because the PowerPoint just said 2021. And what is James Patchett’s specific role in all of this? 

Mayor: Well, James Patchett is with us, so I'll let him speak to that in a second. But – so, it'll be housed initially at the Alexandria Center. And then, depending on the results that we get back from the RFP process will determine if it's there or someplace else as the permanent home. But again, this is a kind of leading edge of something I think has been to be a very big piece of the city's future. And we’ve got to get it started right away in this moment and build it from there. James Patchett, why don't you talk about the vision of building out the vision and what your role is? 

President and CEO James Patchett, Economic Development Corporation: I'm pleased to be asked what my specific role is, thank you. So, just to further address the question that you initially asked – the location permanently will be determined based on the partners we identify. So, you can imagine this ultimately being co-located with another institution is looking to expand its efforts and focus on pandemic response, another research institution, another existing not-for-profit. We just want to ensure that we maximize the existing organizations in New York City and scale them up to have this expertise in pandemic response as we see a substantial economic development opportunity here. EDC has been working for the last four years to expand our life sciences ecosystem in New York City and we see a direct connection between the future of public health and pandemic response and life sciences. I think that pandemic response lab is a great example of that. They're using robotics from a Brooklyn-based company, partnering it with health expertise and research that was developed at NYU hospital, and turning it into a new company, specifically focused on pandemic response, but ultimately testing innovation generally and building it into a company that will, you know, at a minimum hire hundreds of New Yorkers, if not ultimately thousands. So, we see a direct connection in this and our role as long been the conduit to the private sector as a place where we can grow jobs and we'll continue to play that role here. 

Mayor: Thank you, James. And James, further – I mean, I want to give credit where credit is due to James Patchett and everyone at EDC, because all of the innovations we talked about yesterday during the tour, creating and producing ventilators here in New York City that hadn't been done, was done on a crisis emergency basis effectively, the PPE that were created here, all these emergency efforts to make New York City more self-sufficient in fighting the coronavirus were led by the Economic Development Corporation, working with universities, hospitals, companies, all over the city. That model has been extraordinarily effective. So, thank you to you, James, and your colleagues for leading the way on that.

With that, everyone, look, today, we're talking about some very good things. What the new institute will mean for the future New York City. The fact that we could have vaccine distribution and a vaccine arriving to us as early as 12 days from now – these are very, very positive developments. We're also talking about a gathering storm, a challenge we are facing with a rise in a number of cases that we take very, very seriously. The key is to keep fighting. The question earlier, you know, were people going to give up? Because they had hope. No, I think people are going to double down because they have hope. I think all of you, as New Yorkers, seeing that the light is at the end of the tunnel, it's going to encourage you to stay tough, to stay disciplined. We need that from you. And we're going through the holiday season and we're going to keep saying to folks, look, it's not a time to travel. It is not a time for big gatherings. Keep any gathering very small, very safe, distanced with masks. And for seniors, please, if you're over 65, do not do anything but go out for essential needs. If you have those preexisting conditions stay in, except for when you have to go out to deal with something essential. We've got to protect people, because now more than ever, that vaccine is coming, big changes are coming. It will take some months, there's no question, but let's double down on what has worked right now to get to that point where we will all be in a much safer reality. That's my request of all of you. And I’ve got to say with tremendous gratitude, New Yorkers have heard the call from our health care leaders and have acted on it every single time. And we need you to do it one more time to get through this final push to when we beat this disease. Thank you, everybody.

2020-12-04 NYC Mayor de Blasio Ask the Mayor

Brian Lehrer: It’s the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, again, everyone. We begin this hour as usual on Fridays with our weekly Ask The Mayor call in, my questions and yours for Mayor Bill de Blasio, 6-4-6-4-3-5-7-2-8-0, 6-4-6-4-3-5-7-2-8-0 or a tweet a question, just use the hashtag, #AskTheMayor.Thanks, as always, Mr. Mayor. Welcome back to WNYC. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you very much, Brian. How you doing today? 

Lehrer: I'm doing all right. Thank you. You know, there was so much publicity around whether the city would pass the three percent average positivity rate last month, because that was the school closing threshold, did I see Mr. Mayor that now the city is about five percent? 

Mayor: You're right about that, Brian, and it's something we should all be very concerned about and I want to take this opportunity to really remind people that our Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said earlier in the week, if you are over 65 years old and-or have those serious pre-existing conditions like diabetes and heart disease, we are really imploring folks to just stay in, not go out, not engage other folks, except for absolutely essential purposes like a medical appointment. It’s a real serious situation and we're working with the State now to figure out additional measures we have to take. The one thing I would say, just to talk about today's indicators, the one thing we still see, thank God, is the hospital admission situation and the intensive care unit situation is different than one would have expected and better than one would have expected here in the city. 134 hospital admissions today but we've been constantly monitoring, the hospital system is holding very well right now. ICU still have a substantial capacity and the hospital treatments for folks with COVID are definitely greatly improved from the spring. We're seeing many fewer people need ventilators. We're seeing more people on the ventilator come through okay. Thank God many fewer people passing away. So qualitatively a very different situation, but the numbers certainly are cause for real concern. 

Lehrer: You know, I read that Los Angeles County is now above 12 percent positivity up from 7 percent, just a week earlier, and they're doing things like roping off playgrounds again and closing even outdoor dining, like back in the spring, because they've passed a threshold of less than 15 percent ICU capacity. Are you considering anything like that for New York? I certainly heard you say that our ICU capacity, thank goodness, is okay right now. 

Mayor: Right, I've been talking to the Governor repeatedly about the challenges – and they're real – here in the city, and in fact, even more profound in some other parts of the State. We're talking about what measures need to be taken. Obviously, we will do whatever it takes to keep people safe at the same time we're very much focused on. The Governor talked a lot earlier in the week about the hospitalizations and that being the key thing to watch. So, we're balancing, you know, what measures we need to take, obviously real concern for folks’ livelihoods too, given that for so many working people now they have lost all the positive benefit that came from those stimulus checks earlier in the year, those checks have run out. There's no guarantee of a new stimulus yet. A lot of people desperately need whatever work they can to keep their families going, and so we're trying to balance all those factors, but this is literally a daily and sometimes multiple times a day conversation that I'm having with the Governor, my staff is having with his staff, to work out what steps need to be taken. 

Lehrer: So, you're not ruling out something as severe in a few weeks, maybe, as roping off the playgrounds again, which the city did do, not just Los Angeles earlier this year, right? 

Mayor: I want to be very careful in how I word it. We, again, we have a very different situation that when the one we had in the spring. We're going to look at a variety of measures. I don't want to rule in or rule out anything because we are having those conversations with the State and obviously ultimately they make the decision on most of this. So, let me get through those conversations a little more and I'll have more to say when we solidify the planning, but look, I think it's fair to say what I'm hearing from my health leadership. I know the Governor is hearing from his is, you know, this is a very serious situation and we're going to work together to figure out the measures we have to take. 

Lehrer: Let's take a phone call Angelina in Brooklyn, a pre-K teacher, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Angelina. 

Question: Hi, how are you, this is very exciting, hi Mr. Mayor, hi Brian –

Mayor: Hi, Angelina. How you doing?

Question: Good, I'm okay. So I'm a 3-K for All teacher in Queens, Jamaica, and my question is why haven't you been totally clear with the public, with the press, that the 3-K, pre-K kindergarten and District 75 students do not get tested? 

Mayor: Angelina, it is a difference there, I appreciate the question, it's an important question. Pre K, 3-K kids, three-year-olds, four-year-olds, obviously we have seen the least problem with the coronavirus and it's – you know, obviously we're concerned about that age level and what it takes to do testing and all, that's not what we've been doing. We have not seen a problem with that. We do test, and this is part of the new protocol going back into schools Monday, we will be testing K-5 kids. We will be testing District 75 kids. Every parent needs to have a consent form on file or have their child bring it with them next week to be able to attend school, and on top of that there's of course the opportunity for a medical exemption if a family believes there's a valid reason and it's confirmed by the DOE, but we from the beginning, believe in – our health care team has affirmed this, that the three-year-olds and four-year-olds were not the group of kids who needed to be tested. 

Lehrer: Angelina – 

Question: So, how do you feel about – I mean, what do you say? I have two questions, but this is just a continuation on the first one, because I know a lot of pre-K teachers are concerned, their students are coming back five days a week, we'll have about 13 students if the room capacity holds it, we'll have 13 students, and you know, how –what do you say to the pre-K teachers to make them actually feel better? And this is also going to be another question for the UFT that, you know, how – like, what are our protections now? Because we're going back to school five days a week with more kids and our kids aren't being tested and we're in a red zone area? 

Mayor: Yeah, well, Angelina, a couple of things, I would not start with the assumption of more kids. We believe that because we're going to say very, very consistently that everyone in the school system has to claim their seats now once and for all and that's next week, and I've been real blunt about this, and the Chancellor has too, any family that their child is signed up for in-person learning and the child doesn't show up next week, we're telling the family we're about to move them then to remote learning, unless they give us a clear explanation of why and a commitment of their child's going to start attending immediately. I think, Angelina, we have had a certain number of – a substantial number of tens of thousands of families who have been basically trying to hold a place for the future. We don't want that anymore. We can't have that. We need to get to five-day-a-week for as many families as possible or at least more days. So that's going to reduce the numbers I think a meaningfully. And the other thing to remember, Angelina, is that the amount of precautions in a New York City schools, this is literally the highest standard in the world, including everyone wearing a mask all the time and the constant cleaning, all the measures, the social distancing. We have facts now for two straight months of extraordinarily low levels of transmission in our schools, our schools are clearly safer. This is what our health care leaders say. Our schools are safer than pretty much any place else in New York City. So, I really think everyone in the school community can feel secure because so many measures are in place to protect everyone. 

Lehrer: Angelina, thank you so much for your call, please call us again. A follow-up you said that with the relatively small number of in-person learners, it's less than a third of all the kids in the system who've opted in, some schools might even be able to go five days a week and keep social distancing, but I've read that some principals are telling parents, even if they have the space, they don't have the budgets to hire enough teachers. They would need more teachers, I guess, for the in-person plus remote, is that a concern you're aware of? 

Mayor: I've heard those rumors and I want to make very clear to everyone in the Department of Education, to all our principals, all our educators, this is a decision that the Chancellor and I have made. It's not up for debate. We need to provide the most in-person instruction possible to our children. Our children have gone through so much this year. Those whose families choose to have the children in the classroom deserve the maximum number of days and we're prioritizing it. Any school where there are not enough seats for every child to go five days, the priority will go to special needs kids, to kids who are in shelter and temporary housing, to the kids who are in public housing, it will be prioritized by the economic and educational need. So this is something that has to happen. It can happen. The numbers speak for themselves. We already know there are schools, that right now we'll come back Monday with five-day-a-week for all their students. And in the course of the next few weeks, there'll be more and more.

And Brian, the crucial thing to recognize is once you take out the students who really haven't been attending and their parents are just in effect holding a seat or just not communicating with DOE at all, when you take those kids out of the equation, the numbers will go down. I wish they wouldn't, but they will. We know this and again, I say very clear to the parents, you have to give us that consent form to test or a medical excuse, otherwise we can't see the child who doesn't have one or the other of those things. The numbers will go down and we will have the opportunity because of the sheer numbers to seek kids five days a week. If a classroom was 24 kids, and now the classroom is eight or nine or ten kids because of social distancing, but the number of kids who you have in your school is 25 percent or 30 percent, 35 percent of what you had before. You can make that equation work. The math is straightforward. If we need to get some schools additional teachers, we will, we've been very clear and we can move substitutes, including substitute who previously were working in middle and high school who now are freed up for a period of time. So we’ll fill those needs, but we have to get this done. Parents need it, kids need it. 

Lehrer: Let's stay on the school [inaudible] and talk to Fazeen calling from Astoria, Fazeen you’re on WNYC with the Mayor.

Question: Hi good morning, Mayor and Brian Lehrer. I’m an avid listener to your show and I do have a question for the Mayor. So in regards to the consent form, the children returning on Monday must have this consent. My concern with the consent form is there is no alternative provided for your child to be tested through their doctor, through a pediatrician, or for the parent to be present at the time of the test. How come this alternative is not being presented otherwise, what you now have will more children who are currently in blended will now be removed from blended and switched to strictly online? 

Mayor: It's a fair question and what I'd say is this, we are happy to work with any parent to see if we can accommodate, but the bottom line of course, is we'd have to protect the health and safety of the whole school community and the testing has been quintessential to how we've been able to keep our schools safe. This is one of the reasons why New York City public schools are considered among the safest in the country right now, and as I said, our health leadership will tell you our school buildings are some of the safest places to be for anyone in New York City right now. So testing has been crucial to that. What I’d say is, if a parent says, look, I think there's a medical reason why my child shouldn't be tested. That's very clear. You can get an exemption.

The DOE has to approve it, but that's a very available path. Obviously the virtue of the consent form is it means that we can do the in-school testing as needed and it's done, and we know it happens. If you're dealing with a parent's personal pediatrician, for example, how and when does that happen becomes difficult, unwieldy, we can't have people not getting tested, but if a parent says I have a particular need, we of course will try and work with that parent to see how we can address that need. And that's something that's a conversation that should be had with the school, with a principal, assistant principal, parent coordinator at the school to see how we can work on that. 

Lehrer: Fazeem, I hope that answers your question, and let me follow up just on this notion that – I mean it's news, it's real right? That schools are reopening for pre-K, 3-K through five, plus District 75, special-ed, on Monday. But I've been told that at a Manhattan District Two meeting on Wednesday, Chancellor Carranza said schools in the state designated red and orange zones will not be part of Monday's reopening plan. So, that would be South shore of Staten Island and the only red or orange zone I think at the moment in the city is that, so can you confirm this? 

Mayor: Well, no, it's I – this is a little bit of a telephone game here I think Brian, because I don't know what happened at that meeting. I can tell you what the Chancellor and I said at the press conference on Sunday, when we announced this plan, which really should be the reference point. Next week, we intend to open schools in that orange zone area of Staten Island. We have some additional work to do. We haven't fixed the day yet. We will do that very quickly, obviously. But we still intend to move forward for next week. 

Lehrer: All right, how about Blair in Manhattan, you’re on WNYC with the Mayor. Hi, Blair. 

Question: Hello there Mr. Mayor. Question, with so many more people now driving to work to avoid mass transit, plus the dire need for revenue enhancement, along with it – we need to deal with the fact that 30 percent of New York car owners register their car elsewhere. Isn't it time to have a resident parking in New York City as we find in so many, many other United States cities? 

Lehrer: Resident only parking –

Mayor: Yeah, residential parking permits. It's a very good question. First I'd say, I appreciate you raising the point about folks who register out of state, which is really something people should not do, and we obviously have a pandemic going on, but this is something I would love to work with the state to break through once and for all, because it's just not fair to everyone else and, and deprives us of revenue we need, and it's obviously an attempt to evade, you know, New York State regulations.

But on the parking permits, we've looked at this several times, in the last seven years. So far, it seems to be complicated enough that, and there’s enough unintended consequences that certainly our transportation leadership and planners have not believed it ultimately works for New York City. It may be different now. So you raised an important point. I grew up with it, actually, in Massachusetts and it worked well, but I do think scale matters here in the context of New York City. It's harder to implement at this scale, but I'm going to go back and talk it through in light of the impact of the pandemic and see if our transportation team thinks it's time to evaluate that again. 

Lehrer: Thank you for your call. I've seen the priority list for vaccinations start with frontline medical workers and go next to people in nursing homes at risk and those congregate care facilities. What about people in jails and prisons? Shouldn't they be also high considering the outbreak rates there? 

Mayor: We’re watching that carefully. I looked at the numbers a couple of days ago to date, thank God we have seen a pretty steady situation, but we're concerned because of the physical setting to say the least. So to date, we have not been seeing a major problem in our city jails, but certainly since our correction workers, correction officers are essential workers, they would be in the priority group. The city and state are working on the exact delineation, but absolutely the most vulnerable folks are in nursing homes. Let's be clear if – anybody in our entire population – so nursing home workers, nursing home residents, crucial as well as everyone is the most sensitive healthcare workers, crucial, and we got to help and protect the people who help all of us, especially with the rates of infection going up. That's where you have to begin. There's a lot more healthcare workers, first responders that need to get vaccinated, of course. That group would include our correction officers. We've got to figure out the inmates in that mix too, and then the other big category to be really concerned about is the group of people. Dr. Chokshi is giving a due warning to, that anyone over 65 and folks – and/or folks who have those preexisting conditions have to be high up the list. So we're going to work through all those priorities, and as quick as we get it in, we're going to do the vaccine and we're going to turn it around. So I think we'll be able to make a lot of progress on all those priorities December, January, into February. 

Lehrer: Joe on Staten Island. You're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hi, Joe. 

Question: Yes. Yeah, hi, Brian. Hi, your honor. You're probably aware of the contentious situation that's happening at Mac’s Grill about being closed down for flouting the COVID restrictions. The other nights at a protest, the Proud Boys showed up and also at this protest was Council Member Joe Borelli who spoke to the crowd without at all admonishing what is known nationwide as a hate group and potentially a terrorist group. Will there be any censure for Council Member Joe Borelli for participating in a rally with a known hate group?

Mayor: It's an important question because that is a hate group, and you know, this is a point where we need to put this era of hatred behind us, and obviously the people this country spoke clearly on Election Day that they're ready to put the hatred behind us. So no elected officials should be supporting or encouraging the Proud Boys. 

I don't know the details. So, I don't want to speak about the Councilman specifically – you're the first person actually to say to me that there may have been that presence at that gathering. We were obviously concerned to make very clear as you started that the law has to be followed and that that bar needs to be closed, but I will follow up to find out what happened there. I’m concerned, and obviously the bigger point you're raising is right. You know, we should all be not dependent at all on party affiliation. Everyone should be condemning what the Proud Boys stand for. 

Lehrer: How much pushback are you – well, not just pushback, but like what we saw at that restaurant, resistance in defiance of indoor dining restrictions are you expecting, or are you seeing right now? 

Mayor: Well, we're generally not, and we haven't from the beginning you know, this individual, this particular site, they obviously wanted to get publicity for themselves. They made a big deal of it, but they're shut down now. Let's be clear. Remember when we first had to – it’s sad, but when we first had to put the restrictions on bars and restaurants in the spring and the days after we had compliance officers out, we saw the overwhelming compliance. We've seen it ever since. The times when we've had to shut people down have been very few, and I think everyone's watching this situation, looking at these numbers. I expect whatever the rules become that they will overwhelmingly be honored. 

Lehrer: Here's a question via Twitter. What's the motivation – oh no, that's that was hers. Sorry, let me go back to my Twitter. Here it is.

Mayor: It’s live radio, Brian. Live radio, these things happen.

Lehrer: That's right. Thank you for understanding. Question from Twitter. Listener asks, please ask the Mayor why they haven't considered CUNY campuses as health system testing sites with priority appointments for faculty, staff, and students – 19 practically empty campuses as we are all working, teaching, learning remotely spread across all five boroughs? 

Mayor: That's a very good question. We had a lot of conversations with CUNY earlier on and CUNY is controlled by the State of New York, and my understanding is they made the decision that they wanted to keep their facilities – the potential to have them open to various points, and that's where we left it. In terms of testing sites. It's a great question that we obviously have, you know, we have over 200 testing sites all over the city and we're now, you know, our problem is much less sites than just pure testing capacity. We are working to get to a hundred thousand tests a day, but even with that, you know, there's so much demand right now, all over the city. I'll check and see if we need additional sites in the areas where the CUNY campuses are. I think that's a good question and worth another look. 

Lehrer: I've read that the Health + Hospitals Corporation testing sites do not have real time waiting times on a map. Like I believe some of the private sites do, is that true? And if so, can those be established? 

Mayor: So I'm going to get you the exact place to go online, but for our H + H facilities they now just this week have put up a system so that you can know what the wait time is at each testing site and people can make their plans accordingly, and I want to emphasize, as I say this to Health + Hospitals sites, the hospitals, and the clinics so it's 11 hospitals, 70 clinics have consistently had much less wait time than some of the other sites like CityMD. Again, we thank CityMD for what they're doing. This is not anything but appreciation for them, but a lot of them have had really, really long lines. H + H tend to have shorter lines and move faster. Everything's for free, of course, and so we're encouraging people to check that you can go to nychealthandhospitals.org, and you can get that up to date number on what's happening at each site, and then make your plans accordingly. 

Lehrer: Number meaning estimated waiting time? 

Mayor: Yes. They’ll literally show for various sites what the estimated waiting time is.

Lehrer: Mr. Mayor, thanks as always talk to you next week.

Mayor: Thank you, Brian.

2020-12-07 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, I'll tell you something – I had a great start to my week and my Monday morning out at P.S./M.S. 5 in Port Morris in the Bronx. What a beautiful scene this morning of kids coming back to school filled with energy, filled with hope, ready to learn again. I’ve got to say to everyone at P.S./M.S. 5, great, great energy in that school. The school community was so welcoming to the kids. The parents were so happy and so relieved to have their kids going back to school. And Chancellor Carranza and I took time to speak with a lot of the kids and the parents and we just heard such simple, powerful messages about why kids want to be back in schools, why parents wanted them back in school, how important it was to all of them that this day had come. And a young second grader named Ethan, I asked him how he felt, and he said the simplest idea – he said, I like school. And I talked to a fourth grader named Martha, and I said, are you happy back in school? And she said, yeah. I said, why? And she said, I learn more. I learn more when I'm back in school. And this is why it's so important, our kids need to be back in the classroom. And I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard over these last weeks to get our kids back, to make sure that gold standard of health and safety we have is even stronger with the weekly testing. I want to thank all the parents who got their consent forms in, everyone – and at P.S./M.S. 5, the principal, Danielle Keane, the District Superintendent, Rafael Alvarez, who were with us today, thank you to both of you and your teams for the great work you did bringing back this great school. And it's just one example of what's happening all over the city today – 850 school buildings reopening today in New York City – 850 places where there's joy and there's hope again because kids are back in school.

Now, I want to say – parents, we need you. We need your help continuing to fill out those consent forms at P.S./M.S. 5 today, vast, vast majority of parents that filled out consent forms. Any parent who hasn't had the opportunity to do it – right there as they arrive and they were doing it, they were ready to see their kids get tested. They wanted to keep everyone safe. And at this school, they will be transitioning next week to five-day a week learning. And that's what's happening at schools all over the city in the coming weeks as more and more of them will be able to reach five days a week, some for every child, some for most kids. We're going to keep pushing to get that to be the maximum number of kids possible, getting that five-day a week learning.

So, this was the opportunity today to follow through on the commitment that we made when school began and the commitment we made when we had the temporarily closed school, that we would keep everyone safe. And, in fact, we would add even more health and safety measures to keep the school community safe. I have absolute confidence that our school communities are doing an amazing job, really looking out for each other. And with the face coverings, the ventilation, the social distancing, everything coming together to keep people safe, it's remarkable. The Chancellor and I went and visited a 3-K classroom, we visited a kindergarten classroom. The kids – it's so amazing, they immediately got back into the rhythm of being in school. They are adaptable. They are resilient. They love being in school. And everyone in the school community is keeping them safe and each other safe. So, this is a very good day for New York City. Now, again, 850 school buildings reopening this week. You've got a 3-K, pre-K, and K-to-five grades opening today. You've got District 75 special education programs, opening Thursday. Another announcement today, in Staten Island, the area of Staten Island with the orange zone, those schools will be reopening based on the new State guidance. Those schools will be reopening for, again, the levels we've talked about so far – 3-K, pre-K, K-to-five will be reopening Wednesday – this Wednesday, December 9th, in the orange zone. And then, District 75 programs right after on Thursday in that area. So, we're going to keep moving forward. We’re to keep everyone safe, that's the key. But, to everyone in the school community, you've done an amazing job. And the schools of this city are among the safest places to be. So, with the additional testing weekly, again, parents get that consent form in. Go to mystudent.nyc, get your consent form in. Every single student either needs a testing consent form in or needs a proper medical exemption. This is what's going to keep us off safe.

And speaking of keeping us all safe, let's talk about our indicators. I said a few days back that we are in a new reality here. First of all, the good news, we're in a new reality because the vaccine will be arriving in New York City in a matter of days and every week we're going to get more and more, and that's going to be making more and more impact. But we also have real challenges over these next few months with the colder weather, with the challenges we've seen with the numbers going up with the coronavirus. So, our indicators needed to be retooled to reflect what we're seeing now and to make sure we're giving people the fullest picture of what we're facing and clarity about where we need to be, going forward. So, we're going to go over these indicators. I'll go over them first and then I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, who will go into a little more detail.

So, first of all, as we've done in the past, the first is current hospital admissions. And what we're doing now is flipping the equation a little. Today's report is 144 patients that are going into the hospital. Where we need to be is under 200. We still are. Now, this number has obviously been going up in recent days. We need to keep emphasizing 200 is what we want to stay below. But a new indicator we're adding is the hospitalization rate per 100,000 citizens – per 100,000 residents, I should say, of New York City. New York State uses this approach as well, so we want to track with it. Today's number is 2.28 per 100,000. We want to get that under two per 100,000, going forward. Okay. Now, on current new cases, we're now going to be including probable cases, and this is important to give the fullest picture. So, we, in terms of the seven-day average of daily new cases, that number is 2,180 confirmed cases. And we want, of course – we're well past the number we want to be at, which is 550, but the new indicator is the probable cases. And that number today is 616 additional probable cases. Again, Dr. Chokshi will give you more of an insight into why we think it's important to note those probable cases as well. Number three, the positivity levels in the city – we're eliminating the single-day positivity number, because it's become less and less pertinent with the amount of testing we're doing now and the lag time of getting all the results. The much more appropriate number, the one we're getting the most information from is the seven-day rolling average. So, today's report on the seven-day rolling average is 4.98 percent. Obviously, where we want to be is under five percent. So, the idea is to constantly update these indicators so they can help you understand what's going on and what you need to do and how you can be part of fighting back this second wave. And here to explain why we're using this new approach, some of those been leading the way in the fight against the coronavirus, our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You've heard me say before that data is the lifeblood of our COVID response, but data is also at the center of New Yorkers response. In order to act on that data, people must know the data for months. We've presented indicators that alert New Yorkers to COVID-19 trends, and shared more data on our public website than just about any other jurisdiction. And those numbers have driven necessary changes to our lives, both individually and collectively. We will continue to present daily indicators, but, as the Mayor said, we are going to make a few updates so that what we present every day is, number one, comprehensive; number two, stable; and number three, consistent. Today, we reported cases that were based on molecular, or PCR tests, which are the most dependable for a diagnosis of COVID-19. However, antigen tests, which check for a virus protein and can often return a result quickly are growingly used as a screening test for COVID-19.

I have to point out that there are some limitations to antigen tests compared to molecular tests. And if you have any questions about which one is right for you, please speak with your doctor about it. But because antigen tests have become more common and have improved over the last few weeks and months, we are adding antigen test results to our Health Department website. Positive antigen test results will be reported as probable cases, according to scientific standards, while PCR positives will continue to be reported as confirmed cases. The daily indicator will combine both of these – both confirmed and probable cases in a seven-day rolling average. These counts will ensure that we're keeping up with the science and making our data more complete. The second change, as the Mayor said, is the elimination of single-day percent positivity. We've all seen how weekends, weather, or holidays can alter testing patterns, which can result in fluctuations in daily percent positivity. So, moving forward, we'll focus on the seven-day average indicator, ensuring we get more stability. Our third change is to add per capita hospitalization rates to our current daily admissions indicator. New York State has a system for tracking total hospitalizations and we share the goal of returning hospitalization rates to below two per 100,000 residents on a seven-day average. And so, we're aligning those figures to ensure consistency.

Now, independent of the details of the methods, I want to make sure we don't miss the forest for the trees. The trends we are seeing across all indicators are worrisome. Our shared goal is to get back below the thresholds that we have set. And the actions we take are will get us closer. And last week, the CDC released a summary of 10 effective public health strategies for COVID-19 resurgence. These are steps that communities should focus on to address high levels of COVID-19 spread. These include universal use of masks, both indoors and outdoors, physical distancing and limiting contact, avoiding nonessential indoor spaces and crowded outdoor settings, increased testing diagnosis and isolation, prompt case investigation and contact tracing, safeguarding persons most at risk for severe illness or death, protecting essential workers, postponing travel, hand hygiene, increased ventilation, and cleaning and disinfection. And, finally, safe and effective vaccines. These are very consistent with the City's guidance over the last weeks and months, but now is the time to redouble our efforts and to turn science into the actions that we know can save lives. Thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Choksi. And look, I want to bring these pieces together really simply. This morning, I watched kids – little kids with a mask on, getting hand sanitizer for their hands, knowing that they had to follow rules, getting a temperature check. Look, if our children can do all these things, we all can do it right too. So, it's so important to listen to what Dr. Chokshi is saying, what the CDC is saying. For example, we all, again, love to see our families, our loved ones, our friends at the holidays, but this is not a time to travel. So, I'm going to keep saying it throughout the remainder of the holiday season, please do not make plans to travel. If you have plans, canceled them – stay local, stay in very small, careful, safe gatherings. Also, for anyone over 65, anyone with those preexisting health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and other serious conditions, or someone who has both change your ways and your habits – stay in, stay in a safe situation, only go out for the most essential needs. We've got to all take this really helpful guidance and live it for a few months as we fight back this second wave once and for all, and as the vaccine comes into the city more and more. So, this is our last big push we can get through soon to the point where more and more New Yorkers will be vaccinated and we turn the corner. Okay. A few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Hi, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Dr. Dave Chokshi, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, and Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. With that, we'll go to Rich Lamb from WCBS Radio. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everybody on the call.

Mayor: How are you doing, Rich? 

Question: Good. So – I'm doing all right. You're characterizing this as our last big push, but how long do you think that last big push is going to last? And what is it going to consist of?

Mayor: I'll give you my view, Rich. I think we've got a few tough months ahead. I mean, we see these numbers, these indicators – December is going to be tough, January is going to be tough. I think the more work we do the more we can knock this down. And once we get past the holidays, obviously you're not going to have as many gatherings, which is helpful. But the real issue is getting the vaccine in, getting it to as many New Yorkers as possible. That's going to take months. I think the way to think about it is, December, January is going to be a lot of challenges, as we get into February and beyond it gets easier and easier. 

Moderator: Next is Shant from the Daily News.

Question: Yeah. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. On the school reopening – out of the 850 school buildings reopening this week, can you say how many of those are going to be offering in-person schooling all five days this week?

Mayor: I'm going to see if the Chancellor has exact numbers yet. Or if not, we can get them to you, Shant. What I do know is it will grow with each week. The example this morning in the Bronx, M.S./P.S. 5, they don't have the ability this week, but by next week, the principal believes they will be at five day for their kids. There's work to be done to get the final numbers right and get the staffing alignment right. For some schools that's this week, for some schools it's next week. You're going to see some schools it's going to take until the beginning of January, but what's clear is we're pushing every school to go in that direction. And of the schools, the vast majority can get to five-day-a-week, either for all their kids or for a lot of their kids. One more point, Shant. We're going to prioritize – again, for the schools that can't do five days a week for everyone, priority will go to kids with special needs, kids who are homeless, or in temporary housing, kids who live in public housing. We're going to be very clear about prioritizing the kids who need the help the most. Chancellor, can you speak to the numbers?

Chancellor Carranza: We don't have specific numbers just yet, but it's well over 150 schools today that are in full five days of instruction, but we will have much clearer numbers by tomorrow morning.

Mayor: Thank you, Chancellor. Go ahead, Shant.

Question: Yeah. Thanks for that. And just more broadly, on the coronavirus outbreak, I understand the State is doing some of its own retooling, re-evaluating the thresholds for closing down things like non-essential business. Given that the City has surpassed, you know, the initial three percent threshold for becoming an orange zone, what do you think – at what level do you think the City and State should do things like shut down non-essential businesses and indoor dining, etcetera?

Mayor: So, Shant, I've been having this conversation with the Governor over the last few days. Our health care teams have been talking as well. Everyone takes this situation really seriously. These indicators are troubling. The situation is definitely getting more serious. Look, I think it's as simple as this. If these numbers don't level off soon, then all options have to be on the table. That's the decision the State will ultimately make, but I think everyone is seeing the trend and very concerned. And again, if we don't see improvement soon, all options have to be on the table. 

Moderator: Next is Andrew from WNBC.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call. My first question has to do with the vaccine. So, we've been told December 15th. In terms of its arrival in New York City, can you paint us a better picture about exactly where it is, about exactly where it goes first, or is that something that you and the Governor still have to work out?

Mayor: A lot of work going on, Andrew, with the CDC, with the State to work out the final details, but I think Dr. Chokshi can certainly give you some of the sense of how this is going to work. And we're going to be updating you regularly as more of the details get firmed up. Go ahead, Doctor. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thanks Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Andrew, for the question. Yes, as the Mayor said, we still have some things that remain to be clarified, particularly from the federal level, with respect to authorization from the FDA for a safe and effective vaccine. We are anticipating that that is likely to happen as soon as this week for the first vaccine in the pipeline which is manufactured by Pfizer. That vaccine requires what's called ultra-cold storage. These are temperatures of minus 80 degrees Celsius. They require special freezers for storage. So, that is part of what determines where those vaccines will go. There are at least 44 sites across New York City, primarily hospitals, that are equipped for that ultra-cold storage. In total, there will be about 54 hospitals that will be able to access the vaccine from those 44 sites for the first phase of distribution which will be for high-risk health care workers, primarily within those hospitals.

Mayor: Go ahead, Andrew.

Question: Second question. Mayor, I don't know if you've seen any of the video or still images of people gathering for a glimpse of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, but particularly on the Fifth Avenue side, over by Saks Fifth Avenue, there's obviously been a crowd over the weekend. They are outdoors, but not everyone is masked. And, in fact, we've seen videos of police having a tough time, convincing a group of folks who weren’t wearing masks to put them on. Is there any enforcement going on and how concerned are you when you see large groups unmasked at this point?

Mayor: Oh, tremendously concerned. I mean, I don't know what people need to hear to understand that putting on a mask is just basic to keeping everyone healthy and keeping you and your family healthy. So, of course, anytime we see that we're going to educate people, we're going to provide them with masks. We're not going to allow crowds to gather, obviously. So, I'll follow up with our team if we need to put additional measures into place. But look, the vast majority of New Yorkers have gotten the message and they're living it every day, the right way. But for those who haven't, we're going to have to aggressively make clear how important mask wearing is. It's the thing that's keeping you safe. And I think the CDC is doubling down on that now. Now that they are much freer to speak, they're making very clear how important it is for everyone to wear that mask.

Moderator: Next is Katie from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mayor de Blasio. I have a question in regard to testing locations. I'd asked the Test and Trace Corps about this, but, you know, according to last week’s data the 11697 ZIP code has the highest by a lot. I think on the map, it doesn't even look red anymore. It looks like black. That's Breezy Point and Rockaway Point Roxbury. But the closest testing site is like four ZIP codes away. Is there any plans to, you know, I mean, it seems that when there were [inaudible] cases, there was a blitz of tests and there were more mobile testing sites? So, what is the plan? And is there a plan soon to add mobile testing site [inaudible] or anything nearby?

Mayor: Katie, thank you much for the question. Clearly that's a place that needs more testing, so we'll work to get that done right away. Dr. Long isn't here with us, but I can affirm that any place that we're seeing a higher amount of testing, or excuse me, a higher amount of infection and doesn't have testing nearby, we'll move the mobile vans into place or pop-ups or whatever it takes. So, we'll get to work on that right away. Go ahead.

Question: Thank you. And my second question is I feel a lot of concern coming from your announcement that you're going to kind of change and retool the indicators, just people sort of saying, well, now that the numbers are higher, you know, I guess conspiracy theorists, but I guess they have the right to question the change of indicators, particularly removing the daily average. I don't know if you wanted to shed a little bit of light to make sure that these figures will be reported accurately, and it's not just kind of moving the goalposts now that, you know, we're not beating back the three percent, that will make a lot of changes. If you just want to provide a little bit more clarity, either you or Dr. Chokshi to explain that –

Mayor: Sure. I think there's two things here. We saw, I mean, first of all, to all the conspiracy theorists out there, we’re portraying more information as we have confidence in it. And clearly the information continues to tell us we have a real challenge. So, I don't know where the conspiracy theorists go when we're giving more and more information and it's helping to show the extent of the challenge. What the daily was being, in some ways, hindered by was the amount of time it took to get the results in each day, not giving us as accurate a picture as we wanted first thing in the morning, and the seven-day being more consistently accurate and indicative. And then on the probables, that's all about what Dr. Chokshi said. The improvement in some of the testing that we thought was important now to reflect, that previously, it was more questionable because the quality of the testing was more of an open question. And Dr. Chokshi, why don't you speak to that?

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, Sir. Thank you. And thanks for the question. As a Mayor said, this gives us a more comprehensive picture. But also, one that allows us to discern the trends over time in a more stable and consistent way. Specifically, about the testing, we know that antigen testing has become more common over the last few weeks, and we want to reflect that in our data, both in terms of the number of tests that are being done via molecular versus antigen tests, as well as when we see positive results, either on molecular or antigen tests. So, this is additive. It gives us a better sense of what's going on overall.

Mayor: Thank you.

Moderator: Next is Nolan from the New York Post. Good morning, everybody.

Mayor: Morning, Nolan. How you doing?

Question: I'm all right. How are you doing, Mr. Mayor?

Mayor: Good man.

Question: Back on the subject of schools. You guys are celebrating the return of elementary school kids to classrooms today. Is there a date for when middle school and high school students will be able to return to class? And secondly, on the topic of remote learning, I asked this last week, there have been reports out of two major Washington D.C. school districts that say the number of kids that are failing their classes or not getting sufficient instruction – that number has soared. Does the school system here have any metrics by which it's measuring the quality of the education kids are getting through remote learning? 

Mayor: Yeah. So, I'll be very quick because those are two very different questions. My goal is to get middle school back as quickly as possible. Practically, that means January. And then when we have that secured to move to high school. On the question of constant evaluation, yes, we do constant evaluation and constant efforts to improve remote learning. Chancellor, you want to speak to that? 

Chancellor Carranza: Sure. Mr. Mayor, you're absolutely right. That is a constant and consistently evolving process. Teachers are engaging with students. Principals are involved as well at monitoring the instructional delivery and what's happening both with in-person and with remote learning and blended learning. There are school grading policies that are in place and actively in place. We have not seen the kinds of disparate learning outcomes that you just referenced. And I'm in constant contact with my colleagues from across the country, other large urban school systems. And generally speaking, overall, we are seeing obviously with this very different kind of learning environment, that not all children are doing well in that learning environment. I'm very proud of our teachers in New York City, however, because they're working very hard to intervene when they see that students are either not doing well or not doing as well as they can do. So, we're being very active. But again, every phase of this pandemic has meant that it's an imperfect way of teaching and learning. And we just can't hardly wait to we're all back in person, 100 percent. 

Mayor: Amen. 

Moderator: We have time for two more. And first we'll go to Aundrea from WCBS. 

Question: Good morning. I wanted to follow up actually on that question. So has the Department of Education identified areas for improvement for the remote learning environment? 

Mayor: Well, I'll tell you one of the things, and I'll turn to the Chancellor. But one of the things Aundrea that we think is so important is that the more we can move to five day a week in the schools, we will then no longer have blended learning for kids who are attending in-person. We'll just have kids attending in-person. And then the other kids, of course, who choose – the families who choose remote, will be remote. So rather than having sort of three elements of our education system, we'll be able to make it two. That's going to make things a lot more straightforward. That's going to allow us to use our teaching talent more effectively. I think that's one of the things that's going to allow us to improve remote learning as well. Chancellor, go ahead. 

Chancellor Carranza: Yes, Mr. Mayor, I agree with that. I would also say that again as a process of continuous improvement, we're looking and developing more digital curriculum. We're capturing best practices from teachers out there that are doing exceptionally good work in this virtual learning space. We're also networking with not only schools across the city, but borough offices across the city, to have I would call them collaborative groups. Where teachers and educators are able to share best practices as well. On the device front we delivered over 60,000 devices. We are well on track to making sure that every student that's told us they need a device will have that device before we go on winter break. So, but I also think it's important to understand that parents, teachers, students, everyone is just exhausted. We had to transition into this new way of teaching and learning in a very short timeframe, a matter of days. And it hasn't relented since March. People are just tired. So, I can understand the frustration that folks feel believe me, everybody is feeling that. But as the Mayor has continued to say, there is tremendous hope on the horizon. And we need to push, be able to push through so we can get to a place that feels much more like what school usually feels like, the social interaction, the social, emotional learning, et cetera. 

Mayor: Excellent. Aundrea, go ahead. 

Question: And so, continuing with that. Is there a plan for maybe the summer or the fall to really start dealing with this substantial learning loss, especially in communities that – communities of color, low-income communities that are hardest hit? 

Mayor: Aundrea, you're reading our minds. We're going to have a lot more to say in the next week or two about those plans. Because clearly despite the heroic efforts and I mean it, heroic efforts of our educators, our parents, our students, there will be learning loss this year that has to be addressed. So we're going to start to talk about what that looks like and how we're going to go into September with a very aggressive plan to address that. And I am increasingly convinced that we will be back in-person in September across the board, five days a week, all kids. Again, I'm even seeing the possibility that as the vaccine distributes, we might be able to make some major, major improvements in the number of kids who can be in our schools in-person in this school year. But any way you slice it, we're going to have a lot more to say on that in the next few days. 

Moderator: Last, we'll go to Henry from Bloomberg. 

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor. How are you doing today?

Mayor: Doing well, Henry, how are you?

Question: I'm doing pretty well. You know, one question that has occurred to me since the get-go with remote learning is why hasn't the City Department of Education reached out to all of the talent in the city that produces programming for children, that produces all kinds of ways in which children every day are getting entertaining information that is, that's teaching them lessons? I mean, you're a fan of The Simpsons. The Simpsons actually has taught a generation or two of kids a lot about the world that they inhabit. And when I see and talk to teachers about how remote instruction is given in this city, it's so flat for many people. It's so – it lacks engagement for so many kids. And I'm just wondering why there wasn't a lot of attention paid to how to make kids want to run to their devices in the morning and watch what was going to appear on their tube for them to learn? 

Mayor: I am a fan of The Simpsons, and I think you're right that there's a hell of a lot of creative talent out there that can contribute. And Henry, first of all, I would say, I know this is an area we can do more. And we want to do, you know, even though we're in kind of a wartime condition, we got to constantly keep improving and bringing in more and more talent to help us do better. I agree with you. We want to make it as exciting and as engaging as possible. That said as I turn to the Chancellor, I'd say I have the very strong feeling that DOE has been working with educational experts and content experts to figure out since that sudden turn to remote back in March, how to make it as engaging as possible. And that is just a constant work in progress because it's a huge, huge endeavor. Chancellor, you want to speak to that? 

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah. So, again, understanding that there's always room for improvement. We actually have been doing that. We partnered with WIET and we produced a whole series of early childhood TV programming, where students got lessons and they had interactive activities. They even got to do physical activities with some of their favorite characters. That was completely produced in partnership with the DOE and with local artists. We've been partnering with community-based fine arts programs, our museums, our libraries you name it, we've been reaching out and partnering to get as much content in as much I would say child-friendly content as possible. The bottom line is that remote learning is not the ideal way for any child to learn. And there are always going to be limitations on remote learning, which is why we've really moved heaven and earth to create a safe learning environment for children in-person. That being said I also speak to lots of teachers and principals. And negative impression that you've conveyed Henry, I'm not questioning. But I'll tell you, I can tell you about a lot of teachers that have done really incredible things to make remote learning the engaging experience that you yourself have described. 

Mayor: Go ahead Henry. 

Question: Okay. Thank you for that answer. I guess the other question I had went to the City budget. Completely different discussion.

Mayor: You’ve got range, Henry. 

Question: It appears that the latest stimulus package is not really going to contain money for State and local governments to balance their budgets. Is this going to cause you to reevaluate and reassess how you're going to balance the 2022 budget? 

Mayor: Look, I'd say a couple of things real quick. I am very, very concerned about the situation with the stimulus. It's months and months overdue. Remembering that the House of Representatives acted, you know, six months ago. And it's crazy that we have not seen a further major stimulus. What's on the table can best be described, most charitably be described as a down payment. Well, certainly every city and state in America would take an infusion of help right now, but this could only be seen as a small beginning to what we really need. Which is a huge stimulus that would put us all back on our feet and move the economy forward and move the recovery. We're going to be building our budget, knowing that the stimulus is a question mark. We don't know if there's going to be a vote this week or before this Congress leaves session. We don't know what happens once Joe Biden becomes president. We have to take care of our own people as best we can and keep fighting for the best possible stimulus. But Henry, I think the reality is it's going to play out over time. What we do with the budget in January may be very different than what we do with the final part of the process in April and June. Because that's a long time and a lot opportunity for Joe Biden to do the work I know he wants to do to get us a better stimulus. So, the jury is certainly going to be out on that for a while. 

Everyone, look, let's finish up today with this point. It's a good day when kids are going back to school. It's a good day when you see those smiles and that joy. Kids even with a mask on, you could see the smiles because they were so happy to be back, to be back with their friends, with their teachers. Parents were so relieved to have them back. This is a good day for New York City. Even against a tough backdrop, a good day because New Yorkers are making things happen. And it's clear. We've heard the voices of parents. They want their kids back in school. We've heard the voices of our children. They want to be back in school. Our educators love being with the kids. And there was so much energy this morning, just seeing the joy in their eyes, the opportunity to be back with the kids as well. We need our schools open. We need to take care of our kids and we need to build our future. Even in the midst of this crisis, we need to constantly be working on our future. So, this is a good day. We got a lot more work to do to keep reopening our schools and always, always keep them healthy and safe. But this is part of how we bring back New York City. Thank you, everyone.

2020-12-08 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. Well, yesterday was such an important day for New York City as we reopened 850 public schools all over the city. And it was an exciting day and a day that went very smoothly. And I want to thank all the principals, all the teachers, the school staff, and, of course, our parents and kids – everyone who worked hard to make sure that school reopened well. Very important day for our city and for our families, and a reminder of how important our public schools are to this city today and to our future. And I got another reminder of that yesterday. I had a wonderful conversation with our next Treasury Secretary of the United States, Janet Yellen. And as she is an amazing person, an amazing example of someone who came out of this city, born and bred in Brooklyn, and went to Fort Hamilton High School. In fact, she was the valedictorian of her class at Fort Hamilton high school, now will be the first woman ever in the history of the United States to become our treasury secretary. And what a great example to all the public school kids of New York City about what your futures can bring when you see a product of our public schools go all the way to the high post, the crucial post of treasury secretary for this entire country. It's great to have another New Yorker in such an important position, but she's also going to inspire a whole generation of New Yorkers, particularly young woman, to see their potential. And she is another reminder of how important public education is an what a difference it makes in our society, that we provide for everyone for free the finest education so they can realize their potential.

So, everyone, now let's get to what has allowed us to have safe schools, what's that allowed us to achieve what so many people said couldn't be done. School buildings are, in fact, some of the very safest places to be in all of New York City. Why? Because of testing. We always say testing, testing, testing – it has worked time and again. It's been the difference-maker. And we want to remind people, whether it's in our schools or any place and the city, testing is key. So, Today is Get Tested Tuesday, and we're going to remind all New Yorkers how important it is to get tested. It's free. It's quick. It's easy. And it's crucial for you, for your family, for your whole city.

Now, we are 10 months into this crisis, but, for the first time, we really can see the end in sight. Why? Because the vaccine is coming next week. The vaccine will be here in New York City, because the vaccine is being produced in huge quantities for this city and for this whole country, because we've learned how to fight back against the coronavirus in so many ways, people are doing so much and doing it so well to keep the coronavirus in check. Our hospitals are doing such extraordinary work, learned such important lessons from the spring. So, this is the final phase of the war against the coronavirus. We have one more big battle ahead. We've got to get through January – December and January, into February. Listen, think of it this way – this is the last big battle before us and then the vaccine will be able to do it to work. So, everyone, when you think about how important it is to get through December, get through January into February, it's a reminder of how important testing is. Testing always has made the difference and it will again.

So, one of the things we are doing is reaching out in every part of the city to make sure people know the testing resources are available. There are more testing sites than ever in New York City. And, again, the test is the easiest it's ever been, it’s the quickest it's ever been. We want people to know it's there for them. So, our test and trace teams are out all over the city and particularly focusing this week on Washington Heights, on Harlem and East Harlem, and on Chinatown and the Lower East Side to spread the word. And here to tell you all about it, he's been doing a great job leading the Test and Trace Corps and building it up to the level it is today, Dr. Ted Long. 

Executive Director Ted Long, NYC Test and Trace Corps.: Thank you, sir. Throughout the COVID crisis, the one thing that has remained constant is that New Yorkers care about keeping our city safe. We recently hit a new record – in a single day, more than 95,000 New Yorkers came out to get tested, to know their status, and to do their part, to stop the spread of the virus. Now, even though we're seeing a rise in the number of new cases every day, our contact tracing system is the strongest it's ever been, and it's powered by each of those new tests that we do every day with those 95,000 New Yorkers that came out to get tested. The real heroes here are our contact tracers. They're New Yorkers that cared deeply about keeping our city safe and protecting our city, and they're reaching over 90 percent of everybody testing positive across New York City and they're completing interviews with 80 percent of everybody testing positive, meaning we're getting all of the information we need in order to perform contact tracing. In addition to that, 98 percent of people that are cases or have tested positive – when we call you every day as part of our – if you're a part of our program, you confirm for us that you're making that sacrifice and that you're staying at home and that you're isolating and that you're doing your part to keep our cities safe.

Today, I want to tell you more about what we are doing to fight back against the coronavirus, as the Mayor said, in our final battle here. What we're doing in the Test and Trace Corps. is we're spreading rapid testing across New York City. In the last month alone, we've opened up more than 10 new rapid testing sites. That has doubled our rapid testing capacity, and we're now in all five boroughs. To walk you through what the experience is, you'll come to one of our rapid testing sites, you'll have your tests done. Within 15 minutes, you'll have your results. And then, if it's positive, we'll pair you up with one of our contact tracers to immediately perform contact tracing, or see who you may have exposed when you were contagious. We then reach out to those people you may have exposed that same day and offer to bring them in for testing immediately. Then, before you leave, we pair you up with one of our resource navigators who will talk to you about services we can offer it to help you get through this, like free food delivery, a free hotel stay, or even, for free, walking your dog if that's what it takes for you to stay home and to keep our cities safe. 

You should be proud of the number of New Yorkers that have come out to get tested to keep our city safe. To do your part, you can call 212-COVID-19 to find a testing site near you, or visit nyc.gov/COVIDtest to find a site near you as well. You can go to our Test and Trace Corps. Website, if you want to look at a detailed list of all of our sites, in addition with a detailed list of the exact wait times for each of the sites.

Now, as the Mayor said, today is Get Tested Tuesday in Manhattan. We're in Washington Heights, we’re in Harlem, East Harlem, Chinatown, and we're on the Lower East Side. Today, come out and get tested – it's always fast, easy, and free – and do your part to continue to keep our city safe. Thank you, sir. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Ted. And I want to just say, everyone who's part of the Test and Trace Corps. has been doing amazing work. And it's going to be more important than ever in this last push here as we go through the holidays and into the New Year. So, I want to thank you, Ted, for your leadership. We have a Dr. Amanda Johnson with us today, has been doing a great job with her team on the Take Care Initiative to make sure that when people need that help, it is there for them, whether they need to be in a hotel or need support at home, if they need to safely separate. So, all this help is available to New Yorkers when you need it for free. No one should ever feel they're alone and don't have a place to turn. The goal here is to keep everyone safe. 
When it turns out you need to safely separate, to know there's going to be a lot of support for you when you do that.

All right, now, that's testing – so important, but while we're fighting this important battle against the coronavirus, we have another challenge, and it's absolutely happened also because of the coronavirus, but it even has bigger ramifications, which is the challenge of our blood supply in New York City. This is for all types of medical challenges, and we've got to make sure our blood supplies kept up to protect New Yorkers. The coronavirus has knocked out a lot of the normal blood drives that happen in companies and government offices and colleges. That's not there. So, it's up to you. And last week we talked about this, how New Yorkers need to step up and help out. Now, look, the supply has been running low, so we together the Give Blood NYC campaign and, right away, New Yorkers have started to answer the call. We said we needed 25,000 blood donations this month – already 4,288 donors have stepped forward, which is fantastic. And almost 1,000 of them are new donors. I was very pleased to go to the New York Blood Center with Chirlane and donate blood last week. Everyone there is great. I want to emphasize the folks who work at the Blood Center really take care of you, then make it easy. It's such an important thing to do, and you get your free juice and cookies at the end. But what we need now is about 20,000 more New Yorkers to come forward. This is urgent. This is about directly and immediately saving lives, and you can make such a difference. We need 20,000 more New Yorkers to come forward by the end of this month, and we have some wonderful prizes we've put together to encourage people, and winners have already been selected, including Jessica from Queens, and Sheldon from Brooklyn, and Eileen from Manhattan. And Eileen won the New York City Parks package, which includes the fabulous social distancing towel. This is a big – a big favorite of the coronavirus era. So, look, we want people to help out and we're going to make sure that there's some wonderful prizes as part of it. So, everyone come forward and sign up at nybc.org/GiveBloodNYC. We really need you and we need you now.

Okay. Let's go to our indicators. Number one, current hospital admissions. So, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report is 161 patients. And, again, where we want to be is under 200 patients. So, today, a good number. Next, the next new indicator, which is the hospitalization rate per 100,000 people. Today's number is 2.30 per 100,000. Not where we want to be. We want to be under two per 100,000. Okay. Second indicator, current new cases. And now, we are including the probable cases, as we discussed yesterday – the probable cases along in this number. So, today's number, daily new cases, seven-day average – 2,624. Well over the number where we want to be, which is 550. So, we have a lot of work to do there. And the percentage of New York City residents testing positive for COVID-19. Now, this is just the seven-day rolling average here – today's report, 4.94 percent. Where we want to be as under five, so we're just there, but, obviously, this is a high number. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get that number back down.

I’ll say a few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Ted Long, by Amanda Johnson, the Director of Take Care at the Test and Trace Corps., and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today, it goes to Juliet from 1010 WINS. 

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you? 

Mayor: I'm doing well today, Juliet. How are you? 

Question: I’m doing okay. Thank you. You know, I've been hearing from people who are afraid of the vaccine, because they think they're going to get COVID by taking it or that somehow it was rushed into approval, it isn't ready. How do you and your health experts plan to address misconceptions about the vaccine and correct the misinformation that's out there?

Mayor: Yeah, Juliet. It’s such an important question. Thank you. Look, I'm just going to say as a layman, I think there has been such an intensive worldwide effort to create this vaccine. It's historic. It's amazing how quickly it was done, but there’s also been a tremendous amount of scrutiny to make sure things were done right. And our health care leadership at the national, state and local level would not allow a vaccine to move forward if they did not have confidence in it. So, I think people should recognize this has been approved at multiple levels, and it's absolutely necessary to save lives. But let me have our three doctors jump in, so Dr. Varma, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Long in that order – if anything you want to add, go ahead. 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Great. Thank you very much for the question. And we realized this is going to be an absolutely critical issue to make sure that people have the trust in receiving this vaccine, and also the follow-up. I think I’d probably focus on two issues. One is, what is the data showing us? And then, also, trying to help people understand a little bit about how this vaccine works. We're just now seeing the data that's been presented to the FDA, and there's a public hearing this week as well. Everything that I've seen so far from it reaffirms the original press releases that we saw from Pfizer, and is very much reassuring to us, both, obviously, about the safety of the vaccine, but, even more important, about its effectiveness. And we're certainly going to learn more in the public hearing this week. I think one way for people to think about this, this vaccine, is to think about it like it's a message in a bottle and it's getting injected into your body and yourself, take up that message in a bottle. They remove the message and the message tells yourself, you know, watch out for this intruder that's going to be calming. And there's really nothing in that message in a bottle that is dangerous. You know, it's really just a warning sign to your body's immune system to watch out. So, the more we can help people understand the science, as well as build their trust that we've reviewed the data ourselves, we're hopeful that this will have a big impact. 

Mayor: Dr. Johnson, do you want to add? You may be on mute. 

Director Amanda Johnson, Take Care New York: I couldn't agree more. I am here – hello – could not agree more with Dr. Varma. I really appreciate that plain language explanation. And, as I do with all of my patients in counseling them about the power of the vaccination, I’ll continue to do my part to ensure that people feel comfortable with this a real game-changer for our city and for the country. 

Mayor: Excellent. Dr. Long, do you want to add?

Executive Director Long: The only thing I would add is, as a primary care doctor, what I tell my patients is, I wouldn't ask you to do anything I wouldn't be willing to do myself. So, you can count on me receiving the vaccine after I've reviewed the evidence.

Mayor: Well, there you have it, Juliet. You have testimony from three doctors who are quite convinced. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Reema from Chalkbeat.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, how are you today?

Mayor: Okay, Reema, how you doing today?

Question: I'm doing okay. Thanks for asking. So, my first question for you as you're, I'm sure familiar in July the Governor set a standard that would close all schools in any region where the positivity rate reached nine percent over seven days. You know, there's been a lot of change in guidance and, you know, lots of things have changed in New York City, but we've heard nothing about this rule recently. And so, I'm – you know, it seems very important. So, I'm wondering, what's your understanding of this rule? Will all of New York City's schools close again if the city reaches a nine percent positivity rate, which I assume would be based on the State numbers?

Mayor: Yeah, look, right now, we're obviously in constant discussion with the State over where everything is going. And the Governor laid out his winter plan, which I think had a lot of very important strategic ideas in it that we're all working with. But the goal here, of course, is never to get to that number and to use all the tools possible to protect people and make sure that we fight back the virus. The vaccine, you know, over the weeks ahead, is going to start to be a crucial part of that. But right now, I think the actions the Governor talked about yesterday, you know, the restrictions that seem very likely at this point and any other restrictions, I think everything has to be on the table to make sure we never approach that number. So, it is part of the State approach right now, but our goal is to never have it become part of our reality. Go ahead, Reema.

Question: Okay. And I just want to follow up and make sure we're totally clear. So, to your understanding that standard is still in effect. There's been no indication that that's changed, but – is that your understanding?

Mayor: That is my understanding, but again, thank God, we have a lot of tools to make sure that we don't get to that point.

Moderator: The next is Yoav from The City.

Question: Hi, everyone. I wanted to ask, you made a change yesterday to start including rapid testing in the city’s count. What were you doing before with rapid test results, whether they were positive or negative? Was there any element of that, that was factored into the city's numbers?

Mayor: Yoav, just a reminder, as I turned to Dr. Varma, that as we talked about – Dr. Chokshi talked about this yesterday – there was real concern about the quality and accuracy of the tests until recently where there's been some real improvements. So, we wanted to make sure that both the accuracy levels were there and also, they weren't being used as intensely until recently, and now they’ve become a much more pertinent piece of the equation. And that's what led us to the decision. But Dr. Varma, you can speak to this question.

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah. Thank you for the question. So, the way we've been managing antigen test results is to consider them both at the level of the individual and then to see how we use it for our population data. So, at the individual level, our practice has really been the same since the beginning of this, which is that if you have a positive result, you are treated for the purposes of our case and contact investigations as a positive case. So, nothing at all changes. The Health Department gets that data, the Test and Trace Corps acts upon it. Everything is the same. What we do for our public data is the discussion that Dr. Chokshi went to yesterday, is we really needed to figure out how best to incorporate and analyze this data. It's actually a topic of a lot of discussion and debate among state and local health departments, among CDC. And we've chosen the approach the CDC recommends which is to classify them as probable cases, to report them separately. And then also when we report our test positivity data, to really restrict that to just the PCR or the nucleic acid amplification test results.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Yoav.

Question: Okay, thank you for that. My other question, there was a lawsuit filed on behalf of special education students last week. The concern there is that there are a significant number of students missing out on services that they're entitled to by law. And that currently there is no mechanism – kind of, there's no general mechanism for which they can seek to recoup those services other than going through the impartial hearing system individually, which would you know – and that system is already kind of logged jammed, and it would kind of be overwhelmed by all the people filing complaints. What they're seeking is kind of a broad City policy that would help address all these requests to get services that have been missed. And I'm wondering if you plan to create some kind of system for that, so that people don't – you know, aren't left to file those impartial hearing requests.

Mayor: Yeah, Yoav, I appreciate the question a lot, because look, I think parents with kids with special needs go through so much when there isn't a pandemic. They've gone through even more when there is a pandemic. By the same token, the pandemic has really thrown off our ability to provide the services the way we normally do. So, right now, obviously, District 75 schools are opening all over the city on Thursday. That's a really good thing. That's going to help so many parents of kids with special needs. Pre-K, 3-K, K-to-five open now all over the city, including a lot of schools that serve kids with special needs and inclusion programs and other approaches. So, for kids who are not in one of those kinds of schools, we do need to keep seeking additional solutions. We're going to have more to say on that soon. Definitely want to get help to them. It's just something we have to navigate in really complex ways given the challenges of this virus.

Moderator: The next is Narmeen from PIX.

Question: Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, everyone on the call.

Mayor: Hey, Narmeen, how are you?

Question: I'm doing well. Thank you. I want to first ask you about just general city data as we look at our COVID-19 infection rates. Staten Island, clearly with the highest number as a borough. I know you said you're in constant talks with the Governor. Is there any chance at all that we will not see the entire city face a scale back on something like indoor dining because of the actions, really, of one borough bringing down infection rate averages?

Mayor: Narmeen, look, it – I want to contest one part of that. We're definitely seeing some distressing numbers in Staten Island, that's for sure, but the problem goes far beyond Staten Island. The statement the Governor made yesterday, I think it makes clear we can expect in a matter of days new restrictions. No one's happy about it. I feel for the small businesses that might be affected and their employees, but this health situation has to be addressed. So, I do think we're going to see restrictions coming, and I think other restrictions have to be on the table so that we're ready to address whatever comes. At the same time, we got to do everything we can to be sensitive to the fact that we want people to have their livelihoods, we want people to have their jobs, obviously, but we've got to stop this new surge that we're facing. Because, again, this is the last big battle. I really believe this. We've got to stop the coronavirus here and get ourselves to the point where the vaccine is being distributed widely. And that's how we close this chapter and move forward to our recovery. So, I do expect restrictions in a matter of days and we'll, from there, see what else we have to do to keep people safe. Go ahead.

Question: Understood. Thank you. I want to next ask you, in regard to rapid testing – thank you for the clarification Dr. Varma and also to you, Mayor – but I have some questions. I mean, when it comes to some workplaces that are sending employees to get rapid tests in order to clear them for work, that can sometimes have them encountering other members of the public, I wonder if there's any data being kept in terms of cross-checking numbers, false positives, false negatives. Are we cross-checking them enough with the PCR data? Are people getting both? Can you break down how that information is really going to the person getting the test and we're making sure that the right people are going out to the public with a free and clear negative test? Does that make sense?

Mayor: I think so. I appreciate the question. Let me start with Dr. Long and then see if Dr. Varma or Dr. Johnson want to add anything.

Executive Director Long: Yeah. And I appreciate that question. So, what we've done at all of our rapid testing sites for the exact reasons that you're referring to, is we've done an exhaustive validation study of the new antigen test that we're using, which I talked about in some of our new sites, it's called the BinaxNOW test. Compared to our traditional gold standard PCR test. And we found good alignment between them. So, that's why if we have a positive result on one of our antigen tests, we treat that as a positive, we perform contact tracing. And it's because, to your point, with that cross-check, we've done that cross check against the PCR. So, we stand behind those tests as positive.

Mayor: Dr. Varma, Dr. Johnson want to add anything?

Senior Advisor Varma: Nothing else from me.

Director Johnson: No. Excellent response. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Amanda Eisenberg from Politico.

Question: Morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you?

Mayor: Good, Amanda, how you been?

Question: I'm good. Thanks for asking. I wanted to get your thoughts on a funeral that was held in Brooklyn last night. It's another large funeral in the Satmar community. And so, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about, you know, it seems like there's often these large gatherings with thousands of people. And it seems to be, you know, another place where we're not seeing that public health guidance being followed. Can you talk a little bit more about this event and also, you know, what your administration is able to do to, kind of, stop these – I guess, stop people from not following public health measures?

Mayor: I appreciate that, Amanda. Look, first of all, that specific situation is still being investigated. We're still trying to get the full truth of what happened there, but let's go to the bigger picture. There've been some very disappointing moments and there's also been some good moments in that community, particularly when we were facing the challenge in Brooklyn a month or more ago. The Satmar community really led the way in terms of testing, which is what we needed to see a lot more of across Brooklyn and Queens. And they did a really good job with that. So, I don't think it's one thing or another. I agree with you, these large events are a real cause for concern. And we need to either see them be handled very differently with really clear limits and precautions or not happen at all. We're going to have that very clear dialogue with some of the community leadership. And if we don't see that, if we see another confirmed situation in which an inappropriate event is happening in that same building, then we're going to have to move to shut down the building once and for all, which is something no one wants, but that would be the next step if we see non-compliance. Go ahead.

Question: Great. And also, I wanted to – I lost my train of thought, I guess that happens occasionally –

Mayor: We can come back if you –

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Do you need to come back? Or are you good?

Question: I would appreciate that. Thank you [inaudible] –

Mayor: We’ll give you a credit.

[Laughter]

Question: Thank you.

Mayor: We'll get to you in a few minutes. Okay.

Moderator: Next, we'll do Emily from NY1.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, everyone.

Mayor: Hey, Emily.

Question: Mayor de Blasio, you said, per your conversations with Governor Cuomo, that there'll be a matter of days before some of these restrictions are put into effect, of closure of indoor dining, closure of nonessential businesses. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams wants these steps taken immediately. That's what he's asking the Governor to do now. What's the right move? What's the right timing? How urgent is this?

Mayor: Look, I think it's important based on the indicators that we're looking at, and I know the Governor and the State are watching these indicators all the time. It's important to recognize that we've gone through a really tough stretch here over the last few weeks. And unless there is some evidence that that is going to change rapidly, unfortunately restrictions are needed to protect us all. So, we're constantly talking to the State about this. I think everyone is aligned that we've got to stop this increase we're seeing. We've got to protect everyone in the city and particularly do that by protecting our hospitals. And we got to link up to the vaccine being distributed so that we can really turn the corner once and for all. So, I think there is urgency here and we're talking to the State daily, but I think what's clear is, you know, you're going to see these restrictions in a matter of days. Go ahead, Emily. 

Question: And may we hear more please about your conversation with Janet Yellen? What she said about any aid or assistance that the incoming Biden administration will bring to New York City? 

Mayor: It's – we'll keep the conversation private, but only say that I'm quite satisfied by the level of focus of the Biden administration on the need for a major stimulus. And I'm certainly clear that our new treasury secretary understands the importance of stimulus and understands what's going on in New York City and the challenges we face. The question before us right now, Emily is whether the Congress gets it? And every time the Congress starts to address stimulus they then veer away or they can't make up their mind on the most basic things like state and local aid. And if there is not state and local aid in a stimulus, it's not a stimulus. So I just want to be really clear. I have absolute confidence in the Biden administration. My problem is I'm struggling to have confidence in the Senate because I'm not seeing anything coherent. And the fact they're still debating whether there will be state and local aid means they literally could consider a stimulus that would do nothing to put cities and states back on their feet. Which means there won't be a recovery. I mean, I don't want to be dire, but I truly believe it. If cities and states can't provide basic services, there simply won't be a recovery. It's literally the opposite of what history has shown us is necessary to achieve an economic recovery. So that's where my fear is, all in the Senate right now. 

Moderator: We'll go back to Amanda. 

Mayor: Amanda? 

Question: Thank you guys. I appreciate it. 

Mayor:It's all right. 

Question: So, I wanted Mr. Mayor, you to weigh in on going back to kind of the Orthodox Jews coming to – some parts of the Orthodox Jews coming together and celebrating or grieving. I went to Borough Park on Election Day to talk to voters. And I spoke to a lot of Trump voters who compared the public health measures that are being put forth by yourself and the Governor, as you know, referenced to 1930s Germany and Kristallnacht. And when I tried to engage with them to kind of specify why they felt that way, I was struggling to have a conversation with them. And I was wondering how you feel like you're able to work with people who don't necessarily agree with what public measures are going into place? Especially in these Orthodox Jewish pockets where we have seen upticks while being culturally sensitive? And if that's something that's been on your radar or you know, how you're able to kind of work with people who might fundamentally disagree with how you're trying to deal with the crisis? 

Mayor: Wow. I appreciate the question Amanda. I'm really sad that you had that experience. So I just want to start with that. You know, we should all be really, really mindful about when we invoke history of one of the, literally the worst moments in the history of this world, the Holocaust. That is not history that should ever be invoked lightly. And anyone who can compare a public health measure to protect the lives of the community, to protect people's lives with something that was about repression and hatred and violence, it's just absolutely unacceptable. And I do think the point you started with Trump's supporters, I think unfortunately what's happened here is it's not like these ideas never existed before. It's not like people haven't been negative towards public health policies before or had frustration with government before. But this is something different. And I think we saw a real change in the four years that President Trump was part of the firmament here. I have very, very deep relationships in the Orthodox community. I've worked very closely with the community. I have a different political ideology than many of the people I work with, but we all still work together as friends and people who care about the common good of the community. I saw that change at least for some people in the course of these last few years. And it's sad because it's not the way things should be. So, I do think there's an ideological factor that's making things a lot harder. I don't believe that will go away on January 20th. I do believe it will change after January 20th. But really, we've just got to have a different conversation. Because this community was hit very hard by the coronavirus. And when we're out there trying to tell people how important it is to just take basic precautions and how we're trying to save the lives of their elders, that that should be heard as an act of goodwill. And I do think the vast majority of the people in the community do understand that Amanda, I want to be really clear about that. The vast majority of people I think understand we're all trying to save lives together. I think it is a few who are saying things like you heard. Go ahead. 

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. And the next is Emma from the New York Times. 

Question: Hi, good morning, Mayor. I think a lot of parents will now be watching this nine percent figure. I'm curious, do you think it makes sense to keep that nine percent sort of a threshold in effect if there are that many cases and are that many people testing positive, is that sort of a scary level in which schools actually should close? 

Mayor: I think it's a very important question, Emma. I think we have to look at what's happening in the schools. What we have seen is an extraordinarily healthy circumstance. The gold standard of health and safety measures we put together has worked in a way really, even beyond what we expected in the best-case scenario. It is now proven – here's the biggest school system in the country. This is the best proving ground you possibly could have. You know, at one point almost 1,600 schools were open. And what did we see? Because of all these measures, very, very few kids and staff testing positive, literally safest place to be in New York City. We're now going into a new approach with even more testing. Obviously primary focus is on the younger grades. And this is happening while we're seeing an uptick in the cases around us. We're going to be able to learn a lot from this. I think we're going to see once again incredibly safe schools and that's going to teach us what we need to know for how we go ahead. So that State standard is in place now. But I think we're going to have a real conversation with the State and with the public going forward based on the actual facts we learn from 850 schools being open over these coming weeks. I'm very hopeful from what I'm seeing that these extraordinary health and safety measures really now have proven there's a very, very effective way to do this for the duration. And I believe we're going to have our schools open all the way to the point where we link up with a widespread distribution of the vaccine and then can bring back more and more students consistently. 

Moderator: Last question for today goes to Jake Offenhartz from Gothamist. 

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor: Hey Jake, how you doing? 

Question: I'm doing okay. I heard you kind of float the idea of shutting down the Satmar building if things don't improve there. I feel like there has been a lot of conversations at this point, your warnings. Are you saying, if there's another big event, you're going to shut it down? Like, what does that, what does that entail? What's the marker there for you? 

Mayor: Jake this most recent situation is still under investigation. So, what we need to know in every case was were the State rules violated or not? That's really the essence that we've got to know. If we see a pattern of violation, that's what could lead to a full shutdown. But we've got to have facts. And we're also going to have a serious conversation with community leaders about why this keeps being a question mark instead of it being abundantly clear that things have to be handled very cautiously and carefully for this last phase of fighting the coronavirus? That we can't take chances. We got to have that clear conversation again, and then it's up to them to follow the rules that are quite obvious to all of us.

All right, everyone, look, just summarizing the point I've made today – and I think it's so important – we've got this last battle ahead. This month, December, next month, January, then you're going into February. By the time you get to February, you're going to start to see vaccine distribution really much more widely across the city, especially for the folks who need it the most. And then it grows from there. We have an opportunity to turn the corner once and for all on the coronavirus. And that's something every one of us has to be a part of. It's also a signal to us that we have to start thinking ahead of how we bring this city back, how we recover and how we go to new places as a city that makes us even stronger. So, this is a critical moment and everyone should feel invested in getting through these weeks ahead and turning the corner and then getting to the business of the recovery of this great city. Thanks, everybody.

2020-12-09 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Governor's Press Conference:

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you. Governor, plexiglass does not solve every problem. I just want to say, it's like – it's like duct tape, it solves a lot of things, but not everything.
[Laughter] 

But, Governor, look, I want to join with you emphatically in reminding our colleagues in Washington – what really happened here? If you are [inaudible] right that we [inaudible] federal government was not there for us. You know, we found out months and months later that the disease was already spread in New York City in February, when we had [inaudible] resources from the federal government – they wouldn't even let us do our own local testing when we were ready. They said, no, no, no, no. Think about the lives that were lost because the federal government was missing an action. And Governor, we all experienced – we were at those hospitals. I went to Elmhurst Hospital. I went to Bellevue Hospital. I talked to the families who lost their loved one. I went to public housing, I heard the pain of New Yorkers who felt this silent killer arriving. And they wondered how on earth this could have happened in America. But the truth is, our federal government did not warn us, did not prepare us, did not support us, even when we raised a warning – you did it, I did it. We begged for that testing. Couldn't get it.

So, is there anyone who wants to debate these facts? I don't think they’ll be able to. Is there anyone who wants to contest the fact that this state bore the brunt, that this city was the epicenter of the United States of America? In March and April, we went through the worst of this entire country [inaudible] ends up New Yorkers who are gone are lost forever. They can't be here with us to testify, but we testify in their memories, how much pain we went through. 

So, it's as simple as the way you laid it out. I'm going to amplify – state and local aid is absolutely necessary or else we are ignoring the pain and the death and the suffering that went on in this city, in this state. It’s literally an insult to the families who lost [inaudible] if our Congress does not give us the support we deserve. You have to have support for the State government. The State of New York is going through hell. We need a strong State of New York. I can say on behalf of all cities, towns, counties in New York State – we all need [inaudible] as well, we will not be able to stay on our feet, we will not be able to provide the services people need. Governor, people need the services more than ever. The vaccination, as you said, but all the other health care services, keeping our schools going for our kids, providing safety for our people. Folks need that more than ever. And if we can't provide those services, how on earth are we going to have a recovery? And this is the part that bothers me the most – the people who say they want a strong economy, they want to see America come back. How do you have a recovery? If cities and states are collapsing all around you, if you can't provide basic services, if you cut basic services you cut off the recovery. That is the bottom line here.

So, I know what we went through. I felt it, I lived it with my fellow New Yorkers. I know we deserve help to recover from a crisis we did not create. And our federal government did not [inaudible] I know states and cities and towns and counties will do our all if we're just given the opportunity to get back on our feet. I also know this city and this state, amongst the strongest engines of the American economy. Let's not leave this out of this discussion. If you want the United States of America to come back, you need New York City to come back. You need New York State to come back. In good times – and those good times, for as recently as February, we were leading the nation in a strong economy. Now, we've been hit back on our heels. Do you really think the United States of America is going to come back without New York City and New York State, returning to our full strength? It's not going to happen.

So, Governor, [inaudible] cause. I say to Washington, and we honor our Senators, our Congress members, but we need you guys now. We need you more than ever. We need you to tell our story and ensure we get just our fair share, that's all we're asking for, so we could come back strong for the people this city and this state. Thank you, Governor.

Own Press Conference:

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Last night, I got another reminder of the goodness of this season in Grand Army Plaza, lighting a tree to celebrate the holidays with Bishop DiMarzio and the Diocese of Brooklyn. The tree itself is spectacular and a joyous reminder of the Christmas season and the holiday season, and why we remember in the season to be there for each. There’s also an extraordinary sculpture, which I urge everyone to go see – amazing tribute to immigrants and what they mean to this city and this nation, and a reminder of the need to welcome and respect all people. Very moving gathering last night. And it is a reminder in this time of challenge, a challenge unlike any we've seen in the history of New York City, anything we've ever seen in our lives, that the most important thing is to be there for each other, to support each other, protect each other, to have compassion for each other regardless of who we are, where we come from. And that is what New York City has done during this crisis. I'm so proud of all New Yorkers, all of you, for the way you've handled this, the way you've looked out for each other.

Look, we've been through just the toughest time, but now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And I really want to emphasize that this is the last great battle we're going to go through these next few months, this last great battle against the coronavirus, because now the vaccine is literally just days away. The vaccine will change everything, but it'll take a lot of work to make sure the vaccine gets to everyone who needs it as quickly as possible. The good news is, every step along the way we hear better and better news about the vaccine. FDA has now released its analysis, which is a very positive one. This is being reviewed now further by FDA and CDC, but the good news is we see very promising results. And I want to emphasize to all New Yorkers, we're not just leaving it to Washington. Our extraordinary Health Department, our whole health care team is constantly analyzing the data as well related to the vaccine and we like what we see. And we are working every day to perfect the rollout plan, because, as the vaccine arrives, the goal is to get it to move quickly. And our Health Department is very well poised to do that because we have an extraordinary history of ensuring that New Yorkers are vaccinated over decades and decades. Our Health Department has led the way in making sure that people get the protection they need. So, here to give you an update, a lot of new information that’ll be, I think, very helpful to understand how the vaccination efforts are going to go and why we have confidence in the vaccines that are emerging, our Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Well, yesterday, we truly saw a shot heard round the world, as the United Kingdom's Margaret Keenan received the world's first approved COVID vaccine. We should all be inspired by her words afterwards – if I can do it, well, so can you. Every moment like this one represents a step forward in New York City and beyond, and I want to give everyone an update on what we can expect in the days ahead. Yesterday, the FDA made public the data Pfizer provided in their emergency-use authorization application, which offers promising information about the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine. The new COVID-19 MRNA vaccines, like the Pfizer vaccine, teach ourselves how to build immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19. MRNA does not affect or interact with a person's DNA and the cell breaks down and gets rid of the MRNA as soon as it is finished using that information.

Here are a few things that we've learned about the Pfizer vaccine. First, the vaccine is moderately effective within 10 to 14 days of the first dose, which is good news. But the second dose remains very important, because the two-dose vaccine is what was tested and found to be highly effective – that's that 95 percent – at preventing COVID-19. Second, the Pfizer vaccine worked across adult age groups, ethnicities, and people with underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure who participated in the trials. Third, there were side effects, but they were mild to moderate. They were more common after the second dose and they generally lasted one to two days. The most common side effects included pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headache. We will continue to update New Yorkers about this so that they know what to expect with a vaccination.

Now, over the next several weeks, there will be a lot of movement with the vaccine rollout. Tomorrow, an independent FDA advisory committee is scheduled to discuss authorization. The FDA could issue an emergency-use authorization as soon as Saturday. And, if so, on Sunday, a CDC advisory committee will also meet and vote on clinical guidance to accompany the vaccine rollout. If all goes according to plan, the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine would arrive in New York City as soon as next Tuesday on December 15th. Next week, a similar process will unfold for the Moderna vaccine, which could arrive a week or two after the Pfizer vaccine. Preparations are already underway to vaccinate our health care workers who are at the highest risk of exposure. We also give priority to long-term care facility staff and residents. And, in partnership with hospitals and clinicians, we are ensuring our systems are ready. We conducted a successful trial run of the entire COVID vaccine ordering process with Bronx Care from submitting the order all the way to the facility confirming receipt of the test package.

As we move forward with the COVID-19 vaccine and the coming weeks, we will keep New Yorkers informed. We will post vaccine information as we have it on the Health Department website at nyc.gov/covidvaccine. The vaccine is one step to protect New Yorkers, especially the health care heroes who have been tireless in keeping our friends, neighbors, and family members alive. I remember joining rounds with the teams on the Elmhurst COVID wards back in March and in the Bellevue ICU's in April as well. And it gives me hope that those extraordinarily dedicated colleagues will soon receive the vaccine. This remarkable scientific breakthrough also reminds me of the every-day miracle of vaccination and the protection it gives us against illnesses like the flu. As you wait for the COVID vaccine, it's not too late to protect yourself and your family against influenza. Get your flu shot today. Thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Chokshi. And thank you for reminding us of the heroism of our health care workers and the fact that you were there at the frontline in some of the places that were bearing the brunt, you understand very personally what extraordinary work our health care heroes did and how important it is to protect them, going forward. And, of course, then to protect all New Yorkers. The vaccine’s coming. As you can hear, our Health Department's ready. And these next weeks are going to be a challenge because of the rise in cases we're seeing, but they're also going to be inspiring, because we're going to see the fight back get even deeper against the coronavirus as more and more people get vaccinated. And, as you heard, even the first dose has a very important impact. So, there's really important news, good news here about how we fight back.

But now, let's talk about what we have to do even beyond the vaccine and what New Yorkers overwhelmingly have been doing, wearing the masks, practicing social distancing, avoiding gatherings, not holding those indoor gatherings, not traveling. We're going to keep talking about this throughout, but it's also important to talk about what allows you to be safe, the rules, the laws that protect you. Because, look, we're saying to people, if you're sick, don't go to work. If you're sick, protect yourself and others. Get the help you need. If you need the help of our Test and Trace Corps. and our Take Care Initiative, it's there for you for free. We want to support people, but we also want people to know, if you are sick, you should not have to fear for your job. You would not have – should not have to worry about whether your job's still going to be there or whether you can make ends meet. This is why in 2014, we passed the paid sick leave law, to protect the most fundamental rights of New Yorkers – to say, if you're sick, or a member of your family is sick, getting well really matters. We have to be there for you and support you. It can't be a choice between your health and your job, your health and your livelihood. We made that decision in 2014, that’s something I'm very proud of. One of the things we did that has a lasting impact for the city. We didn't know that there'd be a pandemic, but paid sick leave has taken on even greater meaning because of the pandemic. And I really want to thank everyone at our Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, who took the paid sick leave law and brought it to life and continue to make sure that people's rights are acknowledged. But this takes on other greater meaning in the middle of a pandemic. Here to tell you about this effort to protect people's rights and make sure that their health care truly comes first, my great pleasure to introduce our Commissioner for Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Lorelei Salas. 

Commissioner Lorelei Salas, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: Thank you for making the time today to remind New Yorkers about such a saving benefit. Paid sick leave law saves lives. In fact, not only did you, under your leadership – did we get this great benefit for workers, but it was also extended several times to make it one of the most broad laws in the country, protecting workers. And, as recent as earlier this year, the State and federal governments finally recognize how critical this law is in fighting COVID. They passed their own protections. So, thank you to everyone. And we're all in this together, as the Mayor mentioned. We all need to fight this virus together.

A couple of things about the paid sick law. In New York City, the law gives you 40 hours of sick leave in addition to the State and federal leave laws. That means that you first need to use the State and federal laws if you have COVID, if you are having ordered to quarantine. You don't not do not need to use any other days. Now, the sick days under New York City are on top of that leave, and that is a very important reminder for New Yorkers. Now, we have been fighting to collect wages for workers, schools who were denied the sick leave, but it is much more important than collecting money. It is much more important that this benefit be actually available for workers. That is what we're looking for. We're seeking full compliance with this particular law. And we are here for you, we have investigators and attorneys who look into this law. We also have staff who are conducting a lot of outreach to businesses to make sure our small business owners understand their obligations under the law. Very important to notice – to know that under the City, the State, and the federal laws workers are protected against retaliation and the law is available to all workers, regardless of immigration status.

Most employers are doing the right thing, Mayor, but, recently, we had a couple of situations where workers were fired because they were sick and they tried to take, you know, enforce their rights. My office fought back. Those workers are back in their jobs with the same salary, the same hours that they had before and with the lost wages for those days where they lost what they were illegally fired. So, we have your back if you need to call us if you have questions or if you need to file complaints. But I want to mention just a couple of changes in our New York City law, as a result of some recent amendments in the State law. Very important to know that workers no longer have to wait in order to enjoy this benefit. So, new hires no longer have to wait. There used to be a waiting period before, but, again, because of COVID-19, that waiting period has gone away and you start accruing leave the moment you are hired. 

Another thing is that domestic workers are now treated the same as workers in any other industry. Domestic workers have the right to at least 40 hours of sick leave a year. It's, again, important to remind New Yorkers that the New York City law is very broad in its coverage. You can use it to take the flu shot. You will be able to use it to take your vaccine against COVID. You can use that to take care of yourself or your loved ones. You can also use it in situations in which the schools, the public schools are closed, and you need to take care of your kids, because there's a state of emergency, or even if your employer was ordered to shut down and you have leave that you have available to you. We have some changes again – and, as of January 1st, employers that are bigger, that have a 100 employees or more will be able – will have to give employees up to 56 hours of sick leave.

So. again, this is a law that we are prioritizing. My office takes it very seriously. We need to – you know, this is not about workers versus employers. It's about all of us being in this together in order to have a full recovery. We want to make sure that the law is being complied with. Call us with questions, with complaints. We have information on our website in many different languages. We are hosting a lot of round tables right now with the chambers of commerce and with worker organizations. You can call us at 3-1-1 and say paid safe and sick leave. Or, you can visit our website at nyc.gov/workers. And I just want to wish everyone the safest and healthiest holiday season. 

Mayor: Thank you so much. Thank you, Commissioner Salas. Thank you to you and your entire team, doing extraordinary work, protecting the rights of working people and consumers in this city. So, thank you for that great work. And, everyone, look, it's as simple as this. If you are sick, stay home. That is the best thing for you, your family, your city. We will protect your rights. If you're sick, stay home. If your child's sick, don't send your child to school. This is how we protect everyone. Look, if you're an employer – and I want to give credit, the vast majority of employers in this city have really shown a lot of compassion for their workers, and I thank you for that deeply. But listen, every employer needs to follow the rules, follow the law to protect working people. So, everyone, this is how we get through this together, recognizing the humanity in each of us and really respecting each person in the challenges they are facing. These laws are here to protect working people, to protect their families, protect their health.

Okay, let's go to today's indicators. Again, this is a new format we're using. Number one, current hospital admissions, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for a suspected COVID-19. – today's report is 196 patients. Now, again, our threshold is 200. We’re right up on that now. We’ve got to keep fighting back to get and stay under that threshold. It is so important. Again, our hospitals are doing a great job. They are using techniques and approaches that they learned from the spring that are much more effective now. So, hospitals are handling the challenges very, very well, and that's really important, but that number is still higher than we need it to be. We’ve got to push it back down. The new indicator we've added hospitalization rate per 100,000 people – 2.34 percent today. I'm sorry, 2.34 people per 100,000 today. That is still too high. We want to get under two. Number two, current new cases – now, this includes, again, the probable cases from the antigen tests as well as the confirmed cases. Today's number on a seven-day average, 2,738 – obviously, way too high. We want to get that back under 550. That's going to take time to say the least, but the vaccine is going to contribute greatly more and more in the weeks ahead to getting that number down. And number three, this is now the percentage of New York City residents tested positive on a seven-day rolling average. It's the only one we're now presenting the seven-day rolling average, the truest number – 4.81 percent today. We’ve got to be under five percent. Today, we are. We’ve got to work hard to keep pushing that number down.

A few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Hi, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, Department of Worker and Consumer Protection Commissioner Lorelei Salas, and Senior Health Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. With that, we'll go to Rich Lamb from WCBS Radio. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everybody on the call.

Mayor: How are you doing today, Rich?

Question: I'm doing okay. So, those numbers look a little bit scary, but I'm just – there's kind of a story out there that the hospitals are beginning to run out of space. Is that – is that accurate?

Mayor: I'll say a general opening and turn to Dr. Chokshi. Look, I think hospitals are handling this new wave very well. That's the most important thing to know – lots of lessons learned from the spring, a lot of new approaches that are helping. But, clearly, the uptake has having an impact on them and we're working very closely with the State to make adjustments. I think the Governor and the plan he laid out – the winter plan – one of the things I really appreciated was the focus on seeing the whole health care system, different hospitals, working together to adjust their loads. So, I think space we have. I think we have to be really smart about how each hospital gets assigned patients and the staffing needs of each hospital. Those are the areas I'm concerned about. Dr. Chokshi? 

Commissioner Chokshi: That's right, Mr. Mayor. I'll just add to it briefly to say, you know, we are concerned when we see particularly the cases go up, because that does turn into hospitalizations going up as well, and we are starting to see that in our indicators. Our hospitals have been planning and preparing for months. They have surge plans that allow them to use additional space. If they need additional ICU capacity, you know, that's part of those plans as well. But our shared goal should remain to do the things that we know can work to keep people from getting to the hospital threshold in the first place. And that's the bread and butter of our public health response that we've seen work over the last few months. The core four – getting tested; people staying home when they're feeling sick; wearing masks. And that's the most important thing that all of us can do to support our hospitals and health care workers. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Rich. 

Question: So, the second question is a little bit more specific. If we can get a few more specifics on the vaccine. I know the doctor did quite a bit of that, but I'm wondering, you know, will they be arriving by like truck or airplane or are you – and then they will go, what, from a central to, I think there was 44 hospitals, you said had the refrigeration that will allow this, and then what? Shipped on the little, you know, containers with dry ice or – how will that work, and will there be lines or appointments for this? I know what the health care workers undoubtedly, but you know, how will it work generally when it gets to the public? 

Mayor: Listen, Rich, it’s a great question. I think what you're saying to Dr. Chokshi is paint the picture as much as possible, how this is going to work and, Rich, I'll tell you up front, we're going to be doing that more and more each day, letting people have more and more of a picture of how this is going to go. I want to emphasize one thing before turning to the doctor, this is about priorities. So, we're going to make sure the vaccine gets distributed according to priority. And I want people to really hear that, I want all New Yorkers to hear it and respect it. Our health care workers, the frontline with the greatest vulnerability, our nursing home residents and staff, first responders, folks who are essential workers, folks who are most vulnerable, older folks and/or who have preexisting conditions. We really all have to respect those priorities. And our health care system’s going to be very rigorous about enforcing those priorities because it really matters that the people in greatest danger get the help first. With that, Dr. Chokshi, in terms of how it arrives, how are you going to distribute, paint that picture? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sure. Thank you for the question. I know this is on many people's minds, you know, how is it actually going to work? And let me paint the picture for what we know about next week. But also caveat it to say that things will evolve and change over time. and particularly as supply expands there be additional ways that that will turn vaccines into vaccinations. But let me start with next week. You know, our focus for next week is planning and preparing for that Pfizer vaccine that I described. Importantly, that vaccine has to be stored in what are called ultra-cold temperatures. So, when it's in transit that means it has to be in a special box that has dry ice to keep it at those ultra-cold temperatures. There's a temperature sensor in that box to make sure that it doesn't get too warm. And there's also a GPS tracker, so that the manufacturer knows exactly where each box is at different points in time. So, the way that it works is that the manufacturer, in this case Pfizer, generally from a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, from what we understand, will send these boxes out across the United States including to New York City. They'll be shipped via different ways. FedEx, UPS, sometimes airplanes, you know, sometimes trucks. And all of those will go directly to the hospitals that have ultra-cold storage in New York City. There are 44 of those that have the ultra-cold freezers this week that covers a total of 54 hospitals where the vaccine will actually be accessed next week. So, this actually eliminates any middlemen. It goes directly from the manufacturer to that place where it will be stored, the hospital where it will be stored. And from that point our hospital colleagues have been drilling and preparing to understand how it will be taken out of the box into the ultra-cold freezer and starting the process of actually unloading the vials to turn them into the injections that will eventually be vaccinations. So, that's the picture that I can paint at this point in time. And as we get more and more information, we'll be sure to share that with you. 

Mayor: Excellent. Thank you. 

Moderator: Next is Andrew from WNBC. 

Question: Good morning, Mayor, and everyone on the call. We've seen that when it comes to COVID treatment some important folks like former Mayor Giuliani, President Trump have been able to access treatment that regular folks can't get. So, I'm wondering what assurances or promises you can make to New Yorkers that folks of influence won't jump the line and get the vaccine before those in the priority order. 

Mayor: Andrew, you're a wise man. We've had this conversation in the last 24 hours because I share that concern deeply. We will not allow people who are privileged to jump the line. We're not going to allow people to get the vaccine, unless it is their time to get the vaccine. So, for example, someone who does not have preexisting health conditions, someone who's younger, someone who's not a frontline health care worker or a first responder should not be getting the vaccine now. Their time will come. We've got to protect those who serve us and those who are most vulnerable. And we will enforce that rigorously. The whole health care system and the whole government reality, the federal, state, city government, everyone agrees on the priorities. And those priorities will be respected and enforced. So, I would say to anyone who thinks that they're privilege puts them ahead of other people in greater need, that's not going to happen in New York City. Go ahead. 

Question: On a different topic about schools. When you announced the decision to reopen, you said that schools would be providing five days of in-class learning. We got the percentage yesterday. I think it's 161 schools are offering it now. That's only 20 percent of the elementary schools that reopened. So, what do you say to parents about that? And are you concerned that you won't be able to deliver on what you said? 

Mayor: I'm not concerned about that because we will be able to deliver. I would say, first of all, Rome wasn't built in a day. We said, this is something that's going to be phased in over the coming weeks. We're retooling the whole situation based on first of all, the facts of this week, we're very, very clear. This is the week that anyone who is signed up for blended learning, current blended learning or hasn't declared what status they're in for their child, their child needs to show up in school this week. If they don't show in school this week, then we're going to reach out to the family and say, we're going to put you into all remote, unless you have something to tell us that would change that, we're going to assign your child to all remote. That's going to adjust the numbers for each school. 

Obviously, also, we've been very clear, every student has to have a consent form for testing or a medical exemption. This week, we're going to get the clear numbers that are going to allow us to make the adjustments in each school and get us in position to do five-day-a-week education. In some cases, some schools that's going to be for every single student. In other cases, it's going to be for a lot of students and there'll be prioritized according to which kids have the greatest need. It's going to – we have the schools that are there already this week. More schools will be in that position, the following week, and the following week, and then when we come back in January, we'll have the whole picture resolved. So, I'm very confident you're going to see schools with five-day-a-week education overwhelmingly in this city. Go ahead, or we did two. Okay, next one, sorry.

Moderator: Next is Nolan from the New York Post. 

Question: Good morning, everybody.

Mayor: Hey, Nolan. How you doing? 

Question: I’m well. A follow up in the vein of Andrew's question. In November you said that you were going to speak to the process by which kids will be able to pick their high schools soon. Said that it would come in the next week or two. You said that you're going to have an answer on it soon. You said that a decision needed to be made quickly. It's now the 9th of December. We still don't know how kids are going to pick their high schools, how the admissions process will work for screened high schools. When are we getting the plan? 

Mayor: This month. Obviously, Nolan, we had some additional challenges in the last few weeks that we have to focus on with the coronavirus, but this month we'll announce all the admissions approaches. Go ahead. 

Question: Yeah. I take that, you know, obviously it's been a heck of a year for everybody and a heck of a nine months, but there are a lot of parents who are very frustrated – but there are a lot of parents who were very frustrated about the fact that their kids are trying to figure out where they want to go to school and by all the delays. Can you speak to the frustrations of parents trying to figure out where their kids are going to go in September? 

Mayor: I have been through it myself in non-pandemic times. And I have to say to all parents, I understand the admissions process is filled with anxiety and concern even when there isn't a pandemic. Of course, people are feeling so much. We have to get it right, given that we're dealing with entirely different realities. And there's been many, many more challenges than during a normal school year. We'll announce the plans this month. We'll get to work. Everyone will be able to ultimately know their admissions decisions for their children in time. We want to get it done quickly. I do hear the concerns of parents. We’ll have the plan out this month. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Next is Aundrea from WCBS. 

Mayor: Aundrea, are you there?

Moderator: Aundrea? Do we have you? 

Mayor: Aundrea? You may be on mute if you're out there. 

Moderator: We're going to go back to Aundrea. And next we're going to – and next we're going to try Dan Krauth from ABC-7. 

Question: Hi, Mayor. Good morning. Thank you for the question.

Mayor: My pleasure, Dan, how you doing?

Question: I'm doing well. Thank you, Sir. You mentioned contact tracing earlier. We've been trying to get some contact tracing information, our viewers want, in regards to where is this virus spreading? For example, bars, restaurants, gyms, et cetera. We reached out to NYC Health + Hospitals, and they referred us to the State who then referred us back to the hospital. And this has been going on for a few weeks now. Is this information you receive on a daily basis and why isn't this information released to the public regularly so families can help make healthy decisions? 

Mayor: Dan, listen, I'll start, and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi. I want to make sure we're clear. First of all, I'm sorry, if there was any situation where the information wasn't provided to you clearly. We'll fix that today. Dr. Long, who runs the Test and Trace Corps, has spoken to this issue repeatedly right here at this table. He's talked about the thing we've seen, the most identifiable piece of the puzzle has been from travel. We've seen some situations related to indoor gathering, some related to bars, restaurants, etcetera, but we've talked about, and the Governor has talked about, the main driver appears to be family settings, multi-generational homes, family gatherings, not so much being out in a community settings. However, all of this interrelates and not all of it is perfectly traceable. When there is a specific problem, if you said, well, hey, I want to know if a bar, a restaurant, a store in my community has had a problem, you'll know it because the Health Department follows up on that situation and if they determine that something has to be closed, they close it. So, you'd know, just like we have closed schools when we determined they need to be closed individually, stores, restaurants, that's what the Health Department does. So, Dr. Chokshi, maybe you can speak to that. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, you covered most of the high points. Let me just add two more from my perspective. First to build on the last thing that you said, it's exactly right. When we do, do investigations and we find that there are clusters we take action. That's the most important thing. Both at the level of the entity, whether it's a business or an organization, but also very importantly for the individuals who are involved because we know what it takes to break the chains of transmission of this virus, and that's to get people to isolate and quarantine as quickly as possible and supporting them in doing that. So, that's the first thing I would say. The second point is just to not – for us all, to not miss the forest for the trees here, with respect to the actions that we need to take. We know household spread, smaller social gatherings, larger gatherings, you know, outdoors and indoors, these are the things that both in New York City and around the world have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus. We have to avoid those things as much as possible but also make sure that we are wearing our masks particularly indoors as the weather has become colder and maintain our distance. We've said these things for months I know, but we have to maintain discipline because we're in a riskier environment as cases increase. So, it's actually the time for us to redouble our efforts in that vein. 

Mayor: Go ahead, Dan. 

Question: What is the success rate contact tracers have had citywide? I know you mentioned a number a week ago when we spoke last, but when it comes to reaching out to people in the city. 

Mayor: Dan, it’s actually been growing, it's been a high level of success and growing. Folks are being very responsive. We'll get you the exact latest number. Dr. Long spoke to it last week, in fact, or even a few days ago. We've been really impressed. We have the biggest strongest Test and Trace Corps in the country. Thousands and thousands of infections have been prevented. And this is really important to understand. Test and Trace is a great concept on so many levels, but let's go to the most basic impact it has. It stops infections from happening. When they go in and they determine that someplace has to be closed that means you are stopping that chain of infection. When they help someone to safely separate from the people around them, they're stopping that chain of infection. The incredible work that's being done with Take Care, to get folks into hotels or get them support so they can safely separate a home, that means they're not circulating with other folks. So Test and Trace has stopped thousands and thousands of infections from happening. We're seeing more and more New Yorkers engage Test and Trace, provide the information, help them find their contacts if they've been in close contact with someone. And, you know, it's really striking to me that people want help. We're seeing more people asking for that Take Care help, those hotels and those deliveries of food or medicine at home. Folks understand more and more that Test and Trace is there to help them. And they are engaging at a high number, but we'll get you the exact number. Go ahead. Back to – we still have Aundrea out there?

Moderator: We're going to try Aundrea?

Question: Hello. Can you hear me now?

Mayor: There you go, Aundrea. How are you doing?

Question: I’m great, thanks. Sorry about that earlier. Mr. Mayor, starting with you, during the spring your administration was criticized for not distributing information in a timely manner deep into communities of color that were hardest hit. So with that in mind, what is the specific plan to reach out to those same communities, especially immigrant communities to build trust about the vaccine and to convince people to get it?

Mayor: Aundrea, I want to say thank you. It's a great question. Important question. And I'll start and then turn to Dr. Varma and Dr. Chokshi. First of all, I want to say when the virus came on in the beginning we were all trying to make sense of something that we'd never dealt with before on this scale. And our focus of course, was protecting human life and protecting the hospitals that went under immediate strain. We soon learned from experience just how horrible the impact of the disease was and how much disparity was reflected in the way the disease played out in our communities. The hospitals we focused on reinforcing were also those hospitals serving communities of color, serving immigrant communities. And thank God we shored them up and provided them help so they could make it through. And they did. But we learned how important it was to go out to communities and we started that right away. And that was one of the building blocks of the Test and Trace Corps. We now have a Test and Trace Corps of almost 5,000 people, hired from the communities most affected by the coronavirus, speaking the languages of those communities, working with community-based organizations that have the trust of the people. That's why Test and Trace has been so successful. So that point you make of how have we adjusted from what we've learned? We made those adjustments back in May and June and put this huge corps out in the field. And it's had a really important impact on keeping people educated, up-to-date, engaging them, getting them to testing. Of course, on top of that moving testing where it's needed most into communities who need it most and working with partners to make that happen. That's been a huge X factor here, positive X factor. So that's been the game plan.

Now, making sure people trust the vaccine. It's the same basic game plan, Aundrea. Heavy emphasis on being out in the communities, Test and Trace Corps, working with local health care providers, working with trusted community voices, working with faith leaders. But on top of that, we have some of the doubt that's been sowed about vaccines. We have to overcome that. That's going to take a lot of public information and showing people it works. And showing people that other people in their community are getting the vaccine and it's helping. That's the basic game plan. Let me let Dr. Varma and Dr. Chokshi jump in.

Senior Advisor Varma: Sure. I can start. Yeah, just really echo what the Mayor has said. We fully understand that trust is something that you earn, but that you can lose very easily. And you have to continuously work on earning it. As it relates to the work that we've done on contact tracing, this has been absolutely vital to us to understand what are the best ways to reach people who need services? And how do we counter misconception? We've learned that through all of our hyper-local responses in very diverse and different communities. And we're continuing to learn, with all of our partnerships that we have with community organizations. Now vaccines is one step above that because with the tests, of course you're just getting a specimen taken from your body. With a vaccine people are having something put into their body to prevent infection. So we know from a long history of having a very successful vaccine program in the city that we need to continuously work with people to understand what their concerns are. And speak to them honestly, and frankly about how those concerns are addressed. So we're going to continue to learn as we do this. And our partnership with communities is really the basis for all of it.

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi.

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you. Well, this is such an important question. And first, I just want to say Mr. Mayor, I appreciate your commitment and your passion for this. That has been very clear in your charge to us to make equity as important a pillar as the science and the operations of turning vaccines into vaccinations. And so it will be central to everything that we do in our vaccine rollout. There are three ways in which we're thinking about this. The three ways are access, uptake, and outcomes. So first with respect to access, just as Dr. Varma said, it's about ensuring that we meet patients where they are, in the neighborhoods and communities where they live. Including the priority neighborhoods that have been a focus of the Mayor and the administration. With respect to uptake. It is about making sure that we have the humility to recognize that people think about medicine and health care in different ways. And the humility also to rely on trusted messengers who already exist in those communities. And ultimately it's about outcomes, you know, making sure that vaccination leads to what we all are aiming toward in 2021. Which is the end to this terrible pandemic and to avoid all of the preventable suffering that we have seen.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead, Aundrea.

Question: So just to continue on with that, what could that look like? Does that mean that you're going to be asking pastors and community leaders to publicly get the vaccine or possibly offering the vaccine in community health centers and not just hospitals? More concretely what could that look like once it's available to the general public?

Mayor: I think you just described it beautifully. Yes. The answer is yes. There's going to be a heavy emphasis on working with community health providers. And yes when leaders, community leaders qualify, making sure – meaning that it's their priority group is up for the vaccine, making sure that their communities see them taking the vaccine. I think it's incumbent upon elected officials, leaders of all kinds when it's the right time, according to our health care leadership for us to get the vaccine according to the priorities. We have to do it. We have to show we believe in it. So absolutely you hit the nail on the head. In terms of the role of community health care providers, clinics, and individual providers in the distribution, why don't you help people understand some of the approach you're going to take?

Commissioner Chokshi: Absolutely and thank you. And I speak about this as someone who has practiced as a primary care doctor, you know for many years. The trust that you can build with patients by taking care of them in that longitudinal way is irreplaceable. And we have to rely on that with respect to what we're planning to do with the COVID-19 vaccine. Community health centers, the smaller you know, one and two doc practices where so many people continue to get their care. The places where people have built up relationships over time, that's where people are going to look to, to understand what does my nurse and my doctor think about this? And that's where we have to equip them, not just with the vaccine, but with the information and the messages that will make a difference in terms of getting it to the communities that will most benefit and the people who will also most benefit.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more. First, we're going to go to Katie from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hi, thank you, good morning. My first question, or actually both are related to the vaccine distributions. I'm curious, I know that obviously there's a standard of who is essential and who is prioritized. But then within that level of prioritization, how do you kind of figure out who gets it first? If there's an essential worker, I don't know, Mayor, if you kind of get a priority as the Mayor or other elected officials? I don't know if you'd explain that a little bit more?

Mayor: I'll start and pass the Dr. Chokshi. It's a good question, Katie. First of all, look, we know that the doses are going to come in and they're going to come in fast and furious. Let's be clear. We expect a lot to come in and come in quickly week after week. And we're talking about more than one type of vaccine, which is great, to give us more supply. The health care leadership are going to make the decisions. They're going to decide by categories and then work to quickly as humanly possible, reach everyone in that category. When you talk about for example, nursing homes. A number I've seen is about 100,000 being the universe of everyone who's in a nursing home as a resident, everyone who works in some form or capacity in a nursing home, in any kind of shift. When you add everyone up for New York City, it's about 100,000 people. That whole group of 100,000 people needs to be reached. We're going to move that very, very quickly. That's a very finite universe. So for elected officials and other leaders, the doctors will decide when it's our time. The important thing is to work through each category of people, but move it fast and then go onto the next priority category. Go ahead, Doctor.

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, I'll just add one point on this, which is the prioritization is something that there is active conversation, but then also guidance from both the federal government through the CDC, as well as the State government. You know, with respect to the specifics of those different prioritization phases. Thus far the CDC advisory committee has issued recommendations for what's called Phase One A. As the Mayor has already described that covers high risk health care workers and long-term care facility staff and residents. But hasn't yet issued recommendations beyond that for the rest of Phase One, which will include essential workers and other people who are most susceptible to the virus. And so we will follow those conversations as they evolve and stay in close coordination across the multiple levels of government on this.

Mayor: Go ahead, Katie.

Question: Thanks. And my second question is, are there any New York City hospitals, particularly Health + Hospitals facilities that don't have the cold storage capacity? And are they in, you know, parts of the city I guess, where hospitals are known to be already at capacity?

Mayor: Dave will speak to that, but also the point about if the hospital doesn't have it, how you're supporting them in the same geographical area? Go ahead, Dave.

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you for the question. So first all 11 of the New York City Health + Hospitals sites do have ultra cold freezers. So they will have the ability to store the Pfizer vaccine. The universe of acute care and specialty hospitals in New York City is a total of 55. 44 of them have the ultra cold freezers on site. Ten of them are part of systems or will otherwise have access to the vaccine through those 44 points. And there is one hospital that will not have access to the ultra cold freezer but is planning to start when the Moderna vaccine, the one that requires normal freezer storage is available. So we expect within the first few weeks of the rollout that all 55 hospitals will be able to start vaccinating.

Mayor: And Moderna is a week or two weeks behind Pfizer in terms of deliveries to New York City? Just confirm that?

Commissioner Chokshi: That's our understanding at this point, Sir. Yes.

Mayor: Right, but this month, for sure, from what we know.

Commissioner Chokshi: That's our understanding.

Mayor: Good. Okay, go ahead.

Moderator: Last, we'll go to Abu from BanglaPartika.

Question: Hello Mayor. How are you?

Mayor: Good, Abu. How are you?

Question: Good, thank you so much. Mayor, I have a question which is you know, as we know the New York City has a budget problem, but there is the minority business community, they're suffering because of the COVID. And is there any plan you have, near future or if we get the stimulus, to help or any kind of stimulus for the minority business or the people who are suffering you know, in terms of their business, because of the COVID?

Mayor: Yeah Abu, such an important question. Very quickly look, the stimulus has to be really substantial. It has to help people directly. It helps to help small business owners, help people who rent their apartments, help building owners. There's so many specific things that we need in that stimulus in addition to helping city and state governments to recover and continue to provide services. So we need a stimulus that is being talked about right now to include as much of that as possible. And then we need another much bigger stimulus when President Biden takes office, the president-elect takes office. So point one, but the second point is what we're doing through our Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity to maximize the amount of government resources going to the 27 communities that were hardest hit by COVID. Which are Asian communities, African American communities, Latino communities, immigrant communities, they all need to see additional support for businesses in those communities. And the efforts we make through our minority and women-owned business initiatives to move government spending to where it's needed most, is going to be a crucial part of that. So we have a number of things we've announced, more are coming to support those businesses and help them through to when the vaccine is fully distributed and our economy is coming back stronger. Go ahead.

Question: Second question is, you know, still the people are dying by COVID. And [inaudible] you know, they're having the funeral. And we are having to report that the people are going to funerals, they're infecting the other people. Do you have any specific message to the people who organize the funeral, how they can handle the funeral, how they control the crowd?

Mayor: I'll start and turn to Dr. Chokshi. Abu listen, any family that is in pain, that is mourning, that has lost a loved one, I understand. We all have that same impulse to gather together the way we normally would have. But we have to understand how much that could turn into something really bad for the people we love. And the last thing we want to do is mourn one loved one, and then end up putting another loved one in danger. So what I'd say to everyone, to the funeral homes, to the houses of worship, to the families is either hold off the memorial service until the vaccine has been distributed. Or if you are going to have a service, please very, very carefully observe the social distancing and the mask wearing. And keep the numbers very limited so everyone is safe. And you know that the loved one we've lost would have wanted that, they'd want everyone to be kept safe. So please follow those rules very, very carefully. Dr. Choksi you want to add?

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir what you said is exactly right. I'll just acknowledge what a tragic you know, thing that families have to experience with respect to funeral services. We know this virus hitches a ride on relationships, and unfortunately doesn't respect even those settings that are so tragic. Yes, the most important thing is exactly what the Mayor advised with respect to, how to do a service safely. Which is to keep the numbers as small as possible, really limited you know, only to the family members that you can maintain a very rigorous distancing of at least six feet and ensure that people are wearing masks at all times. Those are the ways that we can prevent more suffering from coming from those settings.

Mayor: Thank you so much Doctor. Look, everyone, as we conclude today, let's be thankful that we have a scientific community and health care professionals who gathered together with extraordinary purpose and speed and created the vaccine we're discussing today. This really is historic. And even though we have been confronted with one of the worst crises in generations, we've been confronted with so much pain and suffering. We also have to recognize that we've seen one of the greatest responses from our health care community and our scientific community, creating this vaccine. This is something that's going to change lives and protect people very quickly, starting this month in this city. And we should take heart from that. It's also a reminder that none of us gets there alone. We're depending on those scientists and health care professionals, we depended on our health care heroes and our first responders in the height of this crisis. And we are depending on them again. But they're also depending on us, they're depending on us to wear that mask, to practice social distancing, to avoid those indoor gatherings, to not travel for the holidays. If you honor all the people who are serving you, you can serve them by following those basic smart guidelines and keeping each other safe. New Yorkers have done an amazing job. You really should be proud of how far we've come. One last big battle before we are able to defeat this scourge once and for all, but everyone needs to be a part of it. And I know you will be. Thanks, everybody.

2020-12-10 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, it is a season, a very special season and a time for us all to support each other, believe in each other. And today we prepare for Hanukkah and I want to wish a very Happy Hanukkah to all. This is a time to think about what the holiday tells us. And it talks all about light and hope and faith and perseverance. And it's a time when people support each other and show their love for each other. Obviously, this year, the gatherings have to be different. People have to watch out for each other. That's another way of celebrating the holiday and all the holidays this season. Watch out for each other, make sure you do your celebrations in a way that really is all about the health and the safety of everyone you love. But it's a special time, it's a time to celebrate. And what a perfect symmetry that Hanukkah comes just at the time when we expect the first shipments of a vaccine to give us hope, to shed light, to remind us that our persistence will be rewarded here in the city, and we will be turning the page in the months ahead.

And speaking of turning the page, kids are back in classrooms, turning the pages of their textbooks today. Another step forward for our schools. This week we have seen our younger kids come back to school, pre-K, 3-K, K-through-five. Today, our special education kids in District 75 come back to school. The Chancellor and I were in the South Bronx earlier in the week to see kids coming back, to see parents bringing them to school with such joy. Our educators also feeling such joy to see kids again. We continue to bring our kids back in a safe and smart way and, look, for our special education kids, it's so important for them to be back in the classroom with educators who love them, who care for them. So, this is another good day. And I want to say to all the families of kids in District 75, we have heard you. You said how important it is to have the support, to have the help of these caring professionals, and I’m very happy that kids in District 75 schools will be back in the classroom today.

Now, today, we want to talk about our classrooms, our kids, our families, our parents, our teachers, and what lies ahead because we have a lot more work to do in this school year, for sure. In fact, most of the school year still lies ahead of us. And we'll be talking about that constantly in the days and weeks ahead, but it's also time to start looking to the future. It's time to start thinking about what our city is going to be like as the vaccine is distributed more and more, what our schools are going to be like in the future, how we can address the needs of our kids and families. And it's time to really reckon with a challenge that we're seeing very, very clearly, which is a way that COVID has stood in the way of our kids' education. The fact that there has been learning loss and there will still be learning loss ahead that we have to compensate for and then overcome. In fact, clearly there will be a COVID achievement gap, and we have to close that COVID achievement gap. Today, we're going to outline a plan that will take us forward into the next school year and give us the tools to close that COVID achievement gap. It is absolutely essential.

Today, we will present a 2021 Student Achievement Plan. We want all New Yorkers to understand where we're going with our schools and the foundation, we’ll be laying through this school year to get ready for a very different school year that begins in September. In September, there will be a new normal. Let's be clear. Our approach will be based on everything we have learned through this very challenging time. But like with every crisis, we also in a crisis learn how to do new things and sometimes better things. We learn ways to serve our kids that are different and can reach them in a more individual manner. Our kids are going to need that individual help because they're overcoming so much. So, our 2021 Student Achievement Plan will lay out the ideas, the foundations of how we continue to improve the education of all children and build from there. But look, kids have gone through a lot. They have gone through a lot in terms of their education and the disruption to their education. They've gone through a lot emotionally, everything that's happened to them, to their families, to their community. And it's important to think about what has happened to our children. The Chancellor and I have talked about this a lot, the weight our kids are carrying that we must address. Again, that's both on the academic side and on the emotional side.

Let me give you an example. Think about a child in our schools. I'm just going to paint you a picture. Let's call him Robbie. He's a third-grade child. Last year, he's going to third grade, February, things are going great, and then the coronavirus hits. So, his school year gets cut short. He's dealing with a disruption that no child could ever expect, or even could easily comprehend. Doesn't get all that he would have gotten had school been continuing as normal last school year. He starts to fall behind. He starts to experience some of that learning loss. He's struggling a little bit more. And then Robbie, like so many other kids, may have had losses in his family. He may have seen loved ones, get sick, or even lose a loved one. He may have seen families around him lose a loved one. The disruption, the confusion, think of what this does to a young mind. And we're encouraging our kids all the time to be all they can be and reach their potential. But imagine a child who has experienced disruption after disruption, and the traumatic realities that this virus has wreaked on this city and on so many families. Robbie needs more than to just come back to school next year, with the same old approach. That's not going to cut it. Robbie needs a lot more support and help than he would have if there had not been the coronavirus. So, how do we go about that? We provide the tools. We need to make sure that the way we assess where Robbie is, academically is better than ever. And that we understand exactly what he needs. We need to make sure that our teachers have new tools, new training, have the ability to use digital approaches in new ways. And teachers are constantly experiencing that this year and they're doing amazing things.

And I want to just express my admiration for our educators who have had to innovate and innovate and innovate throughout this year. And they keep doing it and they learn new and better ways. Kids like Robbie are going to need that. They're going to need a very individualized approach. We know in a New York City public school classroom, 20, 24 kids, teachers do their best to reach each one, but they're going to need to do even more in this new normal and use the power of digital education to really individualize, tailor-make a plan for Robbie and for all other kids, to help them get the support they need and reach the heights they're capable of. All of these things have to happen. And our parents will need support too, because they'll need to understand how they can help their kids the best. And this is an area where there's long been a gap as well, the ability of our schools to fully engage our parents as academic partners. We're going to do that. We're doing it right now. We're going to build upon it with our Parent University, training parents how to be the best colleagues to teachers in the education of their child, how to help their child blossom.

And finally, we have to think about the mental health needs of our children and address the trauma they've gone through and bring new tools to bear as we go into the new school year. So, again, our mission is clear, for the child I've presented to you today, Robbie, and for every child, we have to be there for them in brand new ways. We have to close that COVID achievement gap, and we have to have a clear plan going into next school year to maximize achievement. Our schools are going to come back stronger than ever. I don't doubt it. Our 2021 Student Achievement Plan will give us the foundation to make sure that that approach reaches every single child. Here to give you the outline of where we'll be going in 2021 and the years ahead, our Chancellor, Richard Carranza.

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. When you put it in terms of Robbie, it brings it home to all of us. We're talking about our children. And while this past several months have been a whirlwind for all of us with constantly evolving public health guidance and a completely transformed school system. It's time that we think about recovery, literally looking up from the here and now and looking forward, where are we going? Every single educator and every single staff member supporting our schools and students has had their heads focused singularly on the work for months on end. With the first doses of the vaccine arriving next week, it's clearer than ever that we will return to a normalcy that is unlike the normal pre-COVID-19. Today, we want to look slightly further ahead and out of the immediate moment and into the path forward. We know that it will require a recovery period. And that's the vision and framework that we're sharing with you today. We have a lot of work to do alongside our brilliant educators and leaders across the Department of Education to build this out to completion. But today we begin by sharing how we'll get started.

We will improve teaching and learning and continue to bring back our students by number one, getting a baseline of what ground we lost with low stakes diagnostic assessment citywide and interim assessments throughout the school year to monitor progress and tailor learning. You can't know where to focus unless you know what to focus on. And that's the whole point of these formative assessments. Number two, increasing access to high-quality digital curriculum at every single school in our school system. Three, launching a one-stop digital learning hub. This will be a new learning management system phased in and developed and customized for New York City schools that houses lessons and tools, and that can be shared across the city to help students, their teachers, and families better understand how a student is progressing. Our teachers have done remarkable work during this pandemic, and we're going to capture that work that's been developed here in New York City and make it available for everyone. Number four, we're deepening our professional development for our teachers, so our educators have the training and tools to close the gaps. We're expanding our Parent University to continue supporting parents with the tools they need to support and deepen learning at home in their language. And number six, we're confronting the trauma and medical health crisis faced by our students through a citywide approach. This vision is rooted in healing and in learning because our students need both. We'll have more to share in the weeks and months to come, but we're clear-eyed about where we need to go. And we're looking forward to building this out.

And Mr. Mayor, if I could just add to Robbie's story, I want to tell you the story of Aashi. Aashi literally disappeared from the Department of Education when we transitioned to remote learning in March. We couldn't find her. We didn't know where she was. On the very first day of school on September 21st, she showed up at school and it turns out that her parents had both lost her jobs. They were evicted. She didn't have a device, they literally couch surfed, but she had heard that school was back in session and she showed up. And the principal that shared this story with me was so incredibly moved because she is not the only student that has undergone that kind of trauma. So, when we talk about trauma, that's the trauma we're talking about. Robbie and this Bengali student named Aashi, that's who we're fighting for. And thank you for leading us in that.

Mayor: Thank you so much to answer. And you could hear the heart in the Chancellor's voice when he told that story. This is exactly right. We understand our kids have been through so much. We talk, I talk to parents, I talk to educators, I hear what it's like for kids this year, everything they've been through. We have to be there for them, but I also have immense faith in the ability of our educators to reach our kids and in the strength and resiliency of our kids and their ability to reach their potential. If we're there for them every step along the way, we can figure out what each child needs to succeed and how to support them, that's what this is all about.

Now, look, this is all going to take a lot of hard work. I don't think anyone imagines anything different and New Yorkers are never afraid of hard work. Our educators have done amazing things in the course of this year, unprecedented things, but we're calling upon everyone who serves us to do that. And one of the other groups that has been absolutely outstanding in this crisis is our Test and Trace Corps. They have worked so hard. And remember, this was a brand-new organization, brand new approach had to be put together from scratch. Test and Trace Corps has done amazing work, reaching out deeply into the city to protect people and has helped us avoid thousands upon thousands of coronavirus infections. Well, here's an update – and you heard from Dr. Ted Long about a record that was set just earlier in the week, 95,000 – 95,000 New Yorkers got the coronavirus test on one day. We've never seen a number like that before. That's a really good sign, both of the reach of the Test and Trace Corps., encouraging people, the fact that so much testing has been made available successfully over the city, but the fact also that New Yorkers are hearing the message get tested. And particularly on Get Tested Tuesdays, people have been out there. 95,000 people on one day – well, that's extraordinary. Also, the week before Thanksgiving, half a million tests were given in a single week. These are the kind of numbers we dreamed of long ago that would really allow us to understand exactly what was happening and to protect the most people. Half a million New Yorkers in a single week got tested. We want to keep seeing that going forward. And I'm proud to tell you that now, based on a lot of innovations, including our extraordinary pandemic response lab – another thing that we started from scratch here in New York City, in the midst of this crisis, we now have a greater capacity to test New Yorkers than we've ever had before – 120,000 New Yorkers can now be tested in a single day. This is, again, a goal that seemed far away not that long ago, but we're here now – 120,000 people can be tested a single day.

Now, New Yorkers, the tests are out there – so many people ready to serve you. We can get you a quick turnaround time on those results. It's fast, it's easy. Get on out there and get tested. It will help this city to move forward, but, more importantly, it will protect you and your family and everyone you love.

Okay. Let's go over today's indicators. Number one, current hospital admissions – daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19. Today's report, 185 patients. So, we're below that threshold of 200, but it's still a high number. We’re going to keep working to get that down. And on the hospitalization rate, today's number, 2.41 per 100,000 New Yorkers. We want to get that number under two, so more work to do there. Next, current new cases – again, this combines probable cases with confirmed cases. Daily number of new cases on a seven-day average, today is 2,614 – very high, very much surpassing the target where we want to be – 550. It's going to take us a while to get back there, but we will. And the daily update on the seven-day rolling average, percentage of New York City residents testing positive – today's report, 5.32 percent. Again, we want to be under five. We're dealing with a challenge right now. What's the answer? Get tested, wear a mask, practice social distancing, do not travel, avoid indoor gatherings. If we keep doing all of that, we are going to get this number back down, especially with the vaccine arriving in a matter of days.

A few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let’s turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Chancellor Carranza, by Dr. Ted Long, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today goes to Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Question: Hey. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you?

Mayor: Good, Juliet. How are you doing today?

Question: I'm fine. Thank you. So, on the education plan that you've just spelled out, are you and the Chancellor considering a remote learning component to this, given that you have had this experience already through this whole virus?

Mayor: Yeah. Juliet, thank you for the question. Look, the imperative here, the thing we feel so deeply as we must close the COVID achievement gap, and that's why right now we're building up a student achievement plan for 2021. It means making sure that when kids come back to school in September, we're ready to serve them academically and emotionally. It also means using digital approaches to reach kids in whole new ways. Look, think about a kid who has ground to make up – great things will happen in the classroom with their teacher, for sure, but there's still more to make up. The teacher now can use digital approaches to individualize the program, tailor make what each child needs. I mentioned that child, Robbie – Robbie's teacher can now say, okay, this is what we're going to do in a classroom, but I'm also going to give Robbie this very individualized plan that I want him to follow, and I'm going to bring his parents into it too, and get them involved in our Parent University to learn how they can support Robbie, because digital allows you to expand and extend upon what happens during the school day. So, we think it opens up a world of possibilities. Chancellor, do you want to add?

Chancellor Carranza: Sure. I will only add that the new normal that we're talking post-pandemic has really created some opportunities for us to individualize instruction and really tailor instruction for students in a way that we just didn't have the ability to do back in March. So, children will have devices. Children will have connectivity. Teachers have been building their capacity and being really innovative around how they're meeting the needs of students. We don't want that to go away once we have a vaccine, once we're all back in person, and we will never replace a well-trained caring teacher for any other device. But it now gives teachers another set of tools to individualize the instruction for students, and, in some cases, help to accelerate the learning for students in ways that we just didn't have. We really want to capture that and we want to make it part of our approach as we go forward.

Mayor: Go ahead, Juliet.

Question: Okay. Thank you. Well, given that the vaccine is on its way, what are your plans for returning city workers back to their offices?

Mayor: Juliet, that's something that we're going to need to deal with after a couple of things happen. First of all, the vaccine distribution really advances, and I'm very confident in the ability of our Health Department to distribute the vaccine effectively, and all of our health care partners. The real question is going to be how many doses do we get each week and our ability to make sure we constantly stay on that plan for distribution. I feel very good about it, but it will take time to play out. The second point will be what's happening with the coronavirus in general. We've seen the second wave bearing down on us now over weeks. This is obviously not a time to have people come back from remote work. We're going to keep them where they are. But as we see improvement in bringing down the infection rate, as we see improvement in terms of spreading out that vaccine, distributing that vaccine, then we'll start the plan for when to bring City workers back safely. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Leslie Brody from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hi, thanks for taking the question. I'm curious, please, if you could talk a bit more about this assessment and what type of test it will be, where kids will take it, how the parents will get the results, how it might be different from assessments that teachers regularly give to the kids? What kind of other information will we get? How long will it take? And how much will all this cost?

Mayor: Leslie, I think that was literally a six-part question. So, let me say at the outset, this is the foundation we're laying. This is the basic outline of the plan. In the weeks ahead, we're going to start to fill in a lot more of the details. So, we're not going to be able to answer every question today. We'll certainly have more to say on costs and timelines, etcetera. But I think the big point is important to make, the Chancellor and I are not fans of what happened in the previous administration here in the city, which was, I think, an obsessive focus on high stakes testing and a focus on testing that was counterproductive. We do not want to return to those days. We want to use assessments that help teachers to serve children and that give a clear baseline of where kids are at, especially after all the disruption they've been through, and help children and especially their parents to know what they need. Clearly, this is not high stakes testing. It's low stakes in the sense of it doesn't govern over all sorts of other decisions. What it does do is provide educators with information so they can make the adjustments and tailor make the approach for each child. That's what we're aiming to do. Chancellor?

Chancellor Carranza: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, Leslie, I'm just going to set a little bit of context here, because I do think it's an important question that you've asked. We're not talking about testing. Testing in the most traditional sense is summative. It's one point in time and once you get those results, you compare those results to another point in time. That's not what we're talking about. What we're talking about is formative assessment. And that means exactly what it says. We want to take a snapshot at regular points so that the information that is gathered, teachers can use that information to make decisions about where they need to intercede in the learning of the student. Of course, we know that students have a body of knowledge that they have to learn every year. Those are called State standards that they have to master. So, we need to know are third-grade students – is that child – is Robbie on track to master the third-grade standards, with enough time to be able to even exceed the third-grade standards? You can't do that unless you know where Robbie is. And the teacher has real information about what are the skills, the discrete skills that he or she needs to work with, with Robbie, to be able to get him back on track. Or, if he's already on track, how do we accelerate him even further? That's what we're talking about. Now, we know that across the city, many schools have many different kinds of formative assessments. So, what we're talking about is having some common assessments that we as a school system can look at and gauge where are students? Where do we need to make some additional investments? Where are those investments paying off? What additional resources do we need to bring to the table? How do we even use our existing resources in a much more strategic way? That's what we're talking about as we go forward.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Leslie.

Question: Thanks. I'm just curious if there are any particular types of assessments, there are lots of big companies out there that provide them. So, I think parents would be curious if you have some particular vendors in mind.

Mayor: Look, I'll start and pass the Chancellor. We want to build out this plan. You know, it's nine months basically until the opening of school in September 2021. We wanted to start to present to parents and the whole New York City community how we're going to be bringing back our schools strong. We have a lot of details to resolve, but we want people to see this process play out over months and months so they know adjust how able we're going to be in next fall to reach each child in very particular ways. So, Chancellor, in terms of the process you will go through to determine the right kind of assessments that our educators can use. Why don't you speak to that – just initial thoughts on that.

Chancellor Carranza: Sure. So, we're going to have a very robust – we already have a very robust process where we're bringing educators to the table, to actually look through and vet and get their thoughts about what is successful for them. That process will obviously involve lots of lots of affinity groups, lots of different grade levels, lots of different subject matters, but the goal here is to have something that is robust – an assessment that is also adaptable so that we can get a true gauge of where students are in their learning. And then, obviously, have conversations with our parents and our parent groups as well, as well as our community-based partners as well. Our union partners will also be very, very much involved with this as well. So, again, we want to have a robust process, but it's important for us that as we're looking ahead, that parents understand we want to know, because you need to know, where is your student and what is the plan for helping your student as they go forward.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Kala from PIX.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Thanks for taking my question. In regards to this assessment, I spoke with a parent this morning who just painted the most beautiful picture of her son who's non-verbal, special needs going back to D75, getting five days a week at Mickey Mantle, and she painted a picture of what he gets from school, and then when school closes what he doesn't get – and it is a huge difference. So, in regards to this assessment, where does D75 fit and how are you going to help those kids? God forbid have schools have to shut down again for them.

Mayor: Kala, such an important question. Thank you. And I really appreciate that you heard with real heart what that parent was telling you. We really have to be there for our kids, particularly our special needs kids, particularly our younger kids. So, I want to emphasize from the beginning, we have now reopened 3-K, pre-K, kindergarten through fifth grade, and District 75 special education programs all over the city – 850 schools. We intend to keep them open. We have now the tools to do that – tools we didn't have in the fall, but we now have that we know will work. And we're going to keep them open, particularly understanding the challenges of our special needs kids and parents. With that said, the assessments are something that are going to allow us to think of each child individually. Again, we are so concerned to understand what each child has been through and what they need. And then bring the help to them. And we're going to be talking about the additional mental health resources we'll bring to bear over time. But also this idea that digital education for a lot of kids, not all kids, but for a lot of kids, we’ll offer new avenues to augment what happens in school. So Chancellor, as to assessments in terms of District 75 kids, take it away.

Chancellor Carranza: Yes. I would say that if you look at in general, who are those teachers that have been really good about using formative assessments to tailor instruction? It's our special education teachers. This is bread and butter, what they do in terms of implementing the individual education plan, the IEP for a student. So, they're natural. So obviously we're going to be working very closely with those teachers to get their insight and their expertise as we look at a system-wide approach as we go forward. Now that being said, can you imagine the power of an individualized education plan for every student? Not that they are special education students, but just think about identifying the explicit skills that students need to work on and the plan that we have to help them achieve a mastery of that explicit skill. That's what we're talking about with the digital curriculum. That's what we're talking about when we talk about a one-stop digital learning hub. That's also what we're talking about when we talk about Parent University. That parents have the opportunity now to understand what is happening, how their students are being formatively assessed and what the plan is for them. And then how they can help support what is happening with their students in their own language. That's all part of what we're talking about.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Kala.

Question: And speaking of digital, I'm looking for a hard number? Where are we on devices at this point? I know the last number I think I heard was 60,000 still needed?

Mayor: Distribution, Chancellor? 350,000 so far from day one, right?

Chancellor Carranza: From day one, yes. So, we had approximately a little over 91,000 students that had indicated they needed devices when we started this school semester in September. We've distributed approximately 65,000 devices as of right now. And we are fully on track to make sure that all of the other students that have requested a device will have their device before winter break, which is December 23rd. So, we're well on our way to making sure every student has their device.

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Yoav from The City.

Question: Hey, Mr. Mayor. The City Comptroller filed a lawsuit in an effort to get City Hall to provide documents relating to its response to the pandemic back in March, starting back in March. I'm wondering why the City has decided to fight that in court rather than just, you know, provide some of those documents?

Mayor: Yoav, we're in the middle of a pandemic. Our City health officials, everyone is out there fighting a crisis right now. That's where our focus is. Meanwhile, the Comptroller is trying to score political points and he's trying to further his mayoral campaign. That's all this is. So let's be clear, when we see a request that's about serving people's needs here and now, that's one thing. When we see someone trying a political stunt, that's another thing. Our focus is on addressing this pandemic right now. Go ahead Yoav.

Question: Well, at the same time as you say that, your people – you're dedicating resources to have a legal battle. You know, the same people fighting that legal battle could also be looking through the documents and providing them?

Mayor: Yoav, look again –

Question: Why did you choose that option?

Mayor: It's not as simple as that. And the bottom line here is we need to keep our focus on protecting the health of New Yorkers right now. That is clearly not the agenda the Comptroller has. So we're just not going to fall for it. Right now, we need everyone's focus on protecting people's lives. And that's what we're doing. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Christina Veiga from Chalkbeat.

Question: Hi, Mayor and Chancellor. Thanks for taking my question. My first is –

Mayor: How are you doing Christina?

Question: Can you hear me? My first is can you say whether you've considered a wide-scale tutoring program? I'm hearing a lot from you about personalized learning and that sort of thing. I'm not sure that there's a whole lot of evidence about how helpful that is for students. Meanwhile, we know that tutoring programs can be incredibly effective. And we know that the UK, for example, they are rolling out sort of a country-wide initiative to do that. So where does tutoring stand if at all in all of this? And what evidence do you have that a digital approach will be effective?

Mayor: I'll turn to the Chancellor. I’ll Just say, I'll speak as a layman and as a parent. I don't have any question in my mind that digital for many, many kids, gives them another avenue and a way to extend learning beyond the school day. And a way to in a targeted fashion, pursue the areas where they need more growth. I think it's another tool that teachers can use to expand upon the work that they do. I feel like that's pretty well established, but I'll let an expert speak to it. Tutoring is great as well. Don't get me wrong. But I do want to say, I think we have a lot of evidence, including since March of how digital can be really helpful to a lot of kids. Go ahead.

Chancellor Carranza: Yes. So, Christina, we're by no means excluding any possible opportunity to address the COVID achievement gap. So tutoring is absolutely being considered as one of the strategies that we will use to help students. That obviously means that we – there's a lot of work to do in terms of working with community-based organizations, working with our universities, working with our school-based communities, our community schools, et cetera. So there's a lot of groundwork that has to happen for a tutoring program. Not the least of which is we need the federal stimulus package to help to fund all of this. That being said there's just reams of research that show that digital interventions, digital strategies while used in conjunction with good pedagogy, good teaching can have some really incredible effects on the learning needs of students. Particularly students that have ground to makeup academically, and students that can help you know, really propel students forward in terms of enrichment activities as well. So we're not talking about one or the other, we're talking about all of it. Because all of our children are going to need as much as we can possibly get to them.

Mayor: Go ahead, Christina.

Question: Thanks. And my other question is sorry, taking notes here as well.

Mayor: We have the same problem sometimes Christina. We’re constantly taking notes in the middle of this, and sometimes forget where we just were. So I have empathy for you.

Question: My other question is – you know, I've totally lost my train of thought. I don't have another question.

Mayor: We’ll come back. We'll bring you back in a moment. Go ahead.

Moderator: We can come back to Christina. The next is Jessica Gould from WNYC.

Question: Hi. So, I wanted to hear a little bit more about the digital curriculum that you're mentioning, because we've heard you say so many times that remote learning really can't do what in-person learning does. But now to address the learning loss we're hearing that a major component will be digital. So, can you just help us square those two things?

Mayor: Jessica, thank you. I really appreciate that question because I totally believe that nothing is as good as in-person learning. And I also totally believe that because we have to close that COVID achievement gap, we're going to need new tools, additional tools. So, I think about the power of what a classroom teacher does. And the ability to reach kids in the hours those kids are with them. And then I think about what happens the rest of the day and the night and the weekend. And what I've felt long before the pandemic was we were leaving opportunity on the table to reach kids more deeply. If we could bring their parents more into the process, that’s why I'm so excited about Parent University as a way to really empower parents to be educational colleagues. Really helping the teachers to expand upon what happens during the school day. But also we've seen with our own eyes that digital can open up all sorts of possibilities for kids, that it will allow a child with the guidance of a teacher, to go farther in those other hours. And really expand upon their learning or focus on some areas where they need to do more work but the school day alone doesn't allow for that. It's based in in-person education, classroom education, and then you expand upon it with digital and many other tools. That's very different than an all remote structure. Which I have been honest about, and I've heard from so many parents and educators their frustrations with the imperfections of all remote. I agree. This is kind of the opposite, really when you think about it, Jessica. This is the foundation is in-person classroom learning. You then augment it and strengthen it academically with digital approaches on top of that. Chancellor.

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah, well done Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: I've been listening to you. I've been listening to the class Chancellor.

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah, Jessica. So, the only thing that I would add to this is that our goal here is not to replace what happens in the classroom, but to provide additional opportunities for the learning to continue. We want students to move from being digital users, to be digital learners. And in order to do that, we need high quality digital curriculum. And I think that sometimes gets lost, the high-quality point of it. So that we want to make sure that what our teachers, what our students, what our parents have access to is of the highest quality that we can all stand behind it and say, yes. For that student that wants to learn even in the evening hours and wants to really activate their intellectual curiosity, they have a way to do it. Because now they have a device and they have a high-quality digital curriculum that they can go farther with as well. You know, sometimes we get caught in talking about what's not working well. And that's important because we need to fix that. But I've also spoken to parents in a lot of town halls where parents have told me stories about how their children have blossomed, where they are learning when they want to learn in the evenings. And they're doing creative projects and they're doing investigations and they're going online and they're finding out more about a subject in a book that they've read about. That's the kind of intellectual curiosity that we want to spark. And that's why it's part of what the new normal will be to address the COVID achievement gap.

Mayor: Go ahead, Jessica.

Question: Sure. So, I also wanted to know where you're getting your guidance about how to overcome learning loss? What are the – who are the experts you're looking to? What are the other events? We've thought about Katrina, Hurricane Katrina before, but what are you drawing on?

Mayor: It's a great question. I'll just start and the Chancellor can speak with much greater expertise. But I think it's really good that you point out that there have been other moments where kids have really been put through so much and other places have had to think about both the academic needs and the emotional needs of our kids. But that said, I don't think there's anything that compares to the reality of the pandemic. Because it has played out now over two school years, because it has literally touched every single family, because the combination of the learning loss, but also the trauma that's been inflicted, and the uncertainty. I think it is particular. But what we do know is there will be a COVID achievement gap that needs to be filled. We know that right now. We need to close that gap and we will close that gap. We know we need a clear vision going into September 2021, a student achievement plan that will move the whole system to help kids come back really strong. We'll going to have to do extraordinary work next school year and every month in between this school year. So, we have some models we can learn from I'm certain, but I also think this is going to be built from a lot of what we've learned now. And a lot of what our educators have innovated just over the months of this year. Go ahead, Chancellor.

Chancellor Carranza: Yes. So Jessica I've lived it. I was superintendent in Houston during Hurricane Harvey and I saw the trauma firsthand. And the recovery from that doesn't happen in a month. It doesn't happen in a year. It doesn't even happen in two years. This is trauma. So that informs a lot of what we're thinking about in terms of a long-term plan. And why we're talking about this right now. This is where we're going. We're literally looking up and looking forward. This is where we're going. That being said, we're looking at where you would – where there's already been literature written about how to help students recover from traumatic experiences. So we're looking at the research. We're also looking and working with our university partners. We have some of the greatest universities right here in our backyard, in New York City. We're conferring with our university partners as well. But in fact, after this press conference, I'm jumping on my weekly call with the 72 largest school system leaders in America. And we have a weekly call where we are talking about this very issue. How are you addressing the learning loss? How are you doing it in your community? Who are you partnering with? What resources have you found? What strategies have you employed? What are you thinking about? How can we work together? So, this is really a collaborative approach that urban school system leaders from across the country are sharing resources, sharing thoughts, sharing research with each other. Because there is no playbook for this, this magnitude of trauma, there is no playbook for that. I will also add that we are also very much looking at what's happened across the world and looking at other countries and in how they've set up different kinds of approaches for helping students with the trauma. So, we're looking everywhere, and, and part of why we're talking about this now is that we want to make sure that our community knows and our parents know that while we're looking down and making sure that right now our children are safe and that our schools are working well, we're also looking forward and we want parents to be part of that conversation and have the knowledge to be partners with us. 

Mayor: Thank you. Do we have Christina again or someone else?

Moderator: We'll go back to Christina for a second question. 

Question: I am ready. Thank you. So, I'm wondering, is there also a plan for students with disabilities for them to get makeup services? I don't see anything in this plan about that, but I believe that that is mandated. 

Mayor: Absolutely. Yeah, go ahead Chancellor. 

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah, that doesn't – that's not part of this plan because that's already happening. So, we're already starting to work with our families of students with disabilities in terms of compensatory services. So, we're already working through that, and again, that's already in action. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Matt Chayes from Newsday. 

Question: Hi, good morning all— 

Mayor: How you doing, Matt?

Question: —hey, how are you? I heard that you guys are going to be administering these low stake tests in the future, but do you or the Chancellor have current quantifiable metrics you can share now to illustrate the extent of the learning loss? 

Mayor: It's an important question, Matt. We're going to be talking about that in the weeks to come, both what we are learning about the current reality of our children, but also the ways we're going to keep improving their education throughout this school year. Obviously crucial to that is what happened today. Schools reopening, and we want to keep them open for our youngest kids for our special needs kids and move increasingly to five-day-a-week instruction in-person, which is I think the single biggest thing we can do here and now to address learning loss and help kids to recover academically and emotionally. So, I think that's sort of the first and most important mission, but we're also going to be constantly talking about what we're doing to improve remote instruction as well, and to assess what's been lost. That is something that's work in progress that we will be reporting on along the way. Chancellor. 

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah, so, obviously people obviously think about grades as a metric for understanding how students are doing academically, but grades are very imperfect and they are not the truest way of actually knowing where a student's skill-set is, what they've mastered, what they haven't mastered, and then charting a course forward for what the plan will be to help them master the subject matter. So, we have literally hundreds of different formative assessments that are used by our schools across the city. What we're talking about is that's – we're not talking about getting rid of that. What we're talking about is how do we have some more common – formative assessments, so that not only teachers have more information, but we as a school system can have that pulse on where our students, where are they going and what, where do we need to support what schools are doing as we go forward? That's what we're talking about here is being able to build that infrastructure so that we have the information for teachers, but we also have information that we can use to help schools and teachers as they're meeting the needs of students.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Question: Another question on testing, but on COVID tests, and by the way, this isn't my second question and apologies. I was having router issues, but did I miss the daily metrics that you guys gave?

Mayor: You mean the indicators?

Question: Yeah.

Mayor: Yeah, no, we did them.

Question: Apologies, I'll go back and get them from staff. My question is to what extent do you see certain communities testing less, or at least discouraging getting tested to avoid a boost of the local positivity rate, and I'm not looking to hear about the longstanding relationships and how extensive your outreach efforts are, but I'm wondering from Dr. Varma and Dr. Long, whether there's any evidence of this sort of testing suppression? 

Mayor: I’ll turn to Dr. Long, but with this statement. I think we're seeing a couple of different things, so I'll be the layman's voice first. I think when we push the idea of testing, when we're out in communities and it's visible and reminding people, I think it does have an impact, and also when people understand that getting tested gives us the clearest view of what's happening. I think going into this crisis and throughout this crisis, there were some places where people thought, oh, getting testing was – getting tested was going to somehow lead to more restrictions. In fact, getting tested means we got an accurate picture of what's going on. A lot of times, it's the reason that restrictions weren't needed when we found out with more and more testing that the amount of spread had been reduced. We saw that in Sunset Park, Soundview. Eventually we saw that in Brooklyn over the last few months. So, as people have heard that and understood that, I think it is encouraged people. Also bluntly as testing has become easier, faster, I think all of these things are affecting the equation. There is some resistance still, obviously – I don't think it's quite the same as folks who have been resistant to masks possibly for ideological reasons, but I think there's some resistance we still have to overcome, but Dr. Long, you want to speak to this of whether you've seen any patterns out there in terms of response to testing? 

Director Long: Yeah, and I appreciate the question because it is an important one. In a nutshell, I would say, no, we're not seeing a lot of resistance to testing. As evidenced by what the Mayor said earlier, we just hit our record for the number of tests done in a single week, a half a million tests done in one week alone. People are getting that more testing equals better control, and what we do on our end is we do look community by community to see if there are any communities that are being undertested or that would benefit from more testing, and then we bring more resources in there, whether it's our mobile units, or if there are trusted doctors in those communities, we give those doctors our own rapid testing machines so that people can go to doctors that they trust and that they're used to going to. The result of all of that is that we're seeing more testing now than ever before, which I judge to be New Yorkers understanding that the value of testing to keep our city safe and doing their part to stop the spread of the virus. 

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead.

Moderator: Last question for today goes to Rich Lamb from WCBS 880. 

Question: Hey there, Mr. Mayor, and everybody on the call. 

Mayor: How's it going, Rich? 

Question: Fine, let me just get on my headset here. 

Mayor:We want you to have your headset on.

Moderator: Thanks. So, in regard to the schools and this new plan that you're talking about, is there any sense that, you know, the kids are like, I don't know – how – we don't have any immediate sense of how far behind they are. We just have a general idea that they're, that they're behind. Is that correct from what I've heard earlier? 

Mayor: I'll start and turn to the Chancellor. Rich, we know there will be a COVID achievement gap – we know this. How much, what it means for each child, these are things we're going to keep studying, keep assessing, but we know for sure much of last school year was disrupted, much of this school year there hasn't been as much in-person learning. Clearly, there's something we have to catch up from – we will. We also know, again, kids have been through a lot emotionally, and that's a different kind of reality that we have to address. So, I think what's crucial here is to acknowledge there's a COVID achievement gap that must be closed. We need a plan to maximize the achievement of our students. So, we put together a 2021 achievement plan to bring the strands together, and it's well in advance. We're nine months out from the opening of school in September 2021. But what we'll do over time is be able to give more specifics to that as we go through this school year and assess kids more and more. Go ahead, Chancellor. 

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah, so Rich let's just – we just want to be very, very clear that schools right now have a good idea of where their students are and where some of those gaps are. So, we're not talking about there is a lack of understanding that. What we're talking about is what is the macro universal plan for the Department of Education in the City of New York, as we look to the future and the next school year. That's really what we're talking about, and so in order to do that, schools know where their students are. I can tell you that in my meetings with principals and with others in the schools, actually working with students on a day-to-day basis they've been very clear that there's been some learning loss. There's been some opportunity loss. So, what we want to be able to do is organize ourselves and have a plan so that we can support what schools are doing, in some cases doing exceptionally well, and in other cases provide the support and resources necessary for schools to implement even more robust plans. That's really what we're talking about and why we're talking about it now. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Rich. 

Question: Okay, so, my question then would be a follow-up, which is I think I've heard the Chancellor say that you know, the remedy for this gap doesn't take a month. It doesn't take a year. It doesn't take two years in some cases. So, how successful is any program to try to make up the gap if you will. I mean, what's the experience on that? 

Mayor: Look, I'm going to make the sort of strategic statement and then the Chancellor can speak from his experience as an educator. Any time people suffer a setback, you know, can take time to overcome, but we also have lots of evidence of people overcoming a setback and then surpassing what was expected of them. We've got to think that way, Rich, this history of this city is filled with examples of when we were knocked down, but we got back up and then we went farther than people expected the city could go. The same as true for a child. One thing that's amazing about kids is their adaptability, their resiliency. You give them love, you give them support, you give them attention, they blossom, they move quickly. You give them new tools to work with. They'll use those tools. So, I think it is true to say overcoming such a crisis. It's not going to be an instant thing. It will take time for sure, and for some kids longer than others, but I don't want us to think that we're stuck in time, Rich. We're going to close that COVID achievement gap, and then we're going to surpass that's what we have to do. Our schools before COVID were reaching heights they had never reached before. We saw it with our graduation rate. We saw it with test results. We saw so many examples of this public schools doing better and better. We're going to pick up where we left off and build upon it. So, nothing’s static. It's how do we take new approaches and new tools and go farther than we could go before. Go ahead. Chancellor. 

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah, I will only add Rich that academics and trauma are two sides of the same coin. So, when we say – and the example that I gave about trauma, it was truly about the trauma. But I also know because I've walked classrooms in New York City for almost three years now, and I can tell you some of the finest educators, I've seen some of the finest pedagogy I've seen some of the most creative, innovative practices that seen, I've seen in the classrooms of New York city schools in every borough. So, I have tremendous faith that our teachers are going to tackle the COVID achievement gap, and they're going to take it on and they're going to make incredible strides with our children, and they're going to close that achievement gap, and that's not going to take them two years. It's not going to take them four years. They're going to take it on and they're taking it on right now.

But I also remember the children when I was in Houston post Hurricane Harvey that, you know, six months after Hurricane Harvey, when there was a rain shower and children heard rain falling on the roof, they absolutely were traumatized they started shaking because they remembered what that was like during that hurricane. That's the kind of emotional trauma that I'm talking about. Students can't learn their ABCs if they're traumatized and you have to do both at the same time. Some take a little longer, but the academics is already being addressed, now we just want to supercharge that as we go into the next school year. 

Mayor: Thank you very much Chancellor. I remember when the Chancellor and I had our first discussions of the experience he went through bringing the Houston schools back after Hurricane Harvey, it was very moving to me and something I'm very appreciative of. That was not easy to do. But this Chancellor did it and we all together are going to work to achieve this next approach to helping our kids in New York City and closing that COVID achievement gap.

Look, as we conclude today, again, Hanukkah is upon us. It is the season of light, the focus on the light and the goodness and the hope, and today, all across New York City, we are seeing the light in our classrooms. We're seeing that joy in the eyes of our children, as they learn again with their friends, with their teachers, we're seeing that light, the heart and the compassion our teachers bring the way they support and love our kids. That's happening again all over this city, 850 schools, and there's another kind of light the light at the end of the tunnel because in a matter of days, the vaccine will start arriving in New York City, and it will be the beginning of turning the page from the COVID era to a new and better future for this city. So, let this be a season of light for all of us. Thank you, everyone.

2020-12-11 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. You know, sometimes we say a moment is historic – maybe we use that word a little too much, but this actually is a historic moment. Over these next few days, as the vaccine arrives in New York City, we start the final phase of the battle against the coronavirus. We've all been through so much. People have fought so hard to get to this day, but it's here and we need to recognize the fact that the vaccine is coming, changes everything. It will allow us to end this pandemic. It will allow us to get on the road to recovery. And I am convinced that is a road that New Yorkers will travel quickly. We're going to recover quickly and get back on our feet and move forward. But it all begins with the vaccine and making sure that we are able to mobilize every resource of the City of New York to get the vaccine to people who need it most and to get that done quickly, effectively, efficiently. That's what we must do. And we must focus all our energies not only on ensuring this happens well and quickly, but that it happens equitably, it happens fairly, it happens according to the priorities that have been set for who needs this vaccine the most.

Look, this coronavirus crisis, it's been many things. One of the things that has been – it's shined a very clear sharp light on the unfairness, the inequality, the disparities that pervade our society. We saw what happened to Black communities, Latino communities, Asian communities in this crisis. We saw how people did not experience the coronavirus equally. It was all about the decades and decades before of health care inequality and economic inequality that brought out such painful disparities. We know the pain that families went through was magnified for so many families in this crisis because of these fundamental inequalities, and we need to confront them and overcome them. So, how we distribute this vaccine is part of righting those wrongs and that means prioritizing the 27 neighborhoods of this city that bore the brunt of this crisis – Black communities, Latino communities, Asian communities that went through the very worst and making sure that the folks in those communities who are most vulnerable get the vaccine early in the distribution.

Look, to get this done we're going to have to do things differently. And that's why months ago we created our Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity. This was a different approach than the City government has ever taken before. We said, let's empower those leaders in all our city agencies, leaders of color, leaders from the very communities most effected, people who literally live in the communities that bore the brunt and feel the lives of their neighbors and are there to make sure that we do things differently, that we address the disparities head on right now – not someday, right now. Taskforce in the truest sense of the word, a group of leaders, holding the entire government accountable from within in every single agency. And I want to thank all the members of the task force for their extraordinary and urgent efforts. I want to thank the Executive Director Sideya Sherman, for her outstanding leadership. She's here with us today. Thank you, Sideya, and everyone has been a part of this, because this is about government changing from within to serve every community in need. So, the task force will make sure that we have a fair and equitable distribution and the task force will work to build trust in communities. We know there is a trust gap. We know a lot of people are uncertain about the vaccine. We have to win people over and show them why it works, why it's real, why they can believe in it.

We're going to focus on the places where the need is greatest, not just in terms of the neighborhoods, but also in terms of public housing. We know that folks who live in NYCHA really bore the brunt of this crisis. We're going to make sure that the vaccine distribution focuses on them as well. So, this is going to be a Herculean effort and we're going to talk about the ways that we make this happen today. In terms of ensuring equity, we're going to turn to the leadership, the First Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Health, who also holds the title of Chief Equity Officer for the Department of Health. And he has put his whole career into ensuring health equity. And he's now going to help lead the way to make sure this vaccine distribution is equitable for all. My pleasure to bring forward Dr. Torian Easterling.

First Deputy Commissioner Torian Easterling, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As we know, we've have been dealing with parallel pandemics – COVID-19, racial injustice, and social and economic instability. For decades, racist policies and unjust practices have left communities of color and low-income neighborhoods with limited resources and opportunities. Racism shaped so much of our lives from where we live to the medical care we receive, which makes equity crucial to this response. I'd like to say upfront, in order to reach communities, we must listen to communities, and that is what we're doing. Our vaccine planning is developing every day with feedback from community partners, in collaboration with Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian communities that were disproportionately affected by the pandemic and should be prioritized. We are partnering with more than 200 community organizations to earn the trust of the community, something that history has stripped of too many government entities.

Let me just say that I saw firsthand during the peak of the pandemic. People were dealing with sickness and death. People reached out to me directly, questions that they had about why and what are we dealing with? What is happening and why do we have people dying in our neighborhoods? We know people will have questions about this vaccine. I'm receiving these questions right now. Is it safe for me, for my family? When will I receive it? This is why relationships are so important. These relationships that we have are not starting from scratch. The bonds between us, the groups, the communities we serve have been active for over many years and they've even led vaccination drives not only with the flu vaccine, but with so many other resources. To give a sense of how these vaccinations events take place, we partner at local houses of worship, community centers, or other popular, easy to reach locations with onsite tables for vaccination, and other resources, such as food distribution and COVID-19 testing. We know that many New Yorkers have been impacted by the history of racism and harmed in medicine, research, and government. So, we don't expect them to come to us. Instead, we'll meet New Yorkers where they live. To provide easy access to the vaccine and to deliver preventative care, we will model the City's successful partnership with NYCHA to expand COVID-19 testing. This plan will include H + H clinics at NYCHA locations and other NYCHA sites to support vaccine distribution.

Further, we're going to need everyone. We're going to need every individual and organization to help be the ambassadors to bust myths and to share facts. So, we will be hosting virtual community conversations to share information on vaccine planning and to provide opportunities for community members to raise questions and concerns. We're going to implement a [inaudible] model for community partners to host webinars about COVID-19 vaccine and engage trusted messengers to deliver important information about the vaccine. We are already partnering with faith-based partners in the faith sector advisory and we will continue to do so.

Last June, as the Mayor had mentioned, when the coronavirus was devastating Black and Brown communities, City Hall created a task force on racial inclusion and equity, co-chaired by the First Lady and Deputy Mayor Thompson. To support vaccine efforts, the task force led by senior City leadership of color will continue to work hand-in-hand with communities to ensure residents that would need to be prioritized will receive the vaccine. We will promote transparency and address mistrust, the concerns around vaccine safety, and misinformation we know they exist. We will also monitor vaccine uptake and be prepared to act quickly. If areas are not getting vaccinated as much as the rest of the city, we will respond. We've recognized that there is no reopening without gaining your trust and helping New Yorkers make an informed decision about accepting the vaccine. And for that to happen, there must be healing in our communities. It has to be a partnership with a shared goal of recognizing and repairing a legacy that has compromised the health of too many New Yorkers. We will hold ourselves accountable for racial oppression within our systems. We will engage our people in organizations in New York to make New York safe. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Easterling. And thank you for your leadership and thank you to all the members of the task force who are going to make sure this is an equitable process. Now, everyone, we have so much to do in the coming days as the vaccine arrives in New York City. And again, one thing we do in New York City, we do things big. We're going to do a big, fast distribution of this vaccine. When it comes in, we're going to get it right out to the people who need it and keep going and going and going. As much vaccine as we get, we're going to get to the people as quickly as possible. To do that, we need a command center. And so, our Vaccine Command Center opens on Monday. The Vaccine Command Center is going to be the go-to location to make sure that the vaccine distribution is fast and effective and fair. The Vaccine Command Center is going to be the place where we see the whole picture, everything happening in the city, in every one of our health care providers and all the places where we're working with communities – one place that has the picture of the whole city, the air traffic control for the vaccination effort. This is unprecedented, because it's not just about logistics. It's about making sure we win public trust. It's about ensuring equity. It's about making sure there's a lot of information and transparency out there to get people involved, let them know what's happening, gain trust through transparency. That's what we have seen has worked throughout the coronavirus crisis. So, the Vaccine Command Center is going to be the indispensable piece of this equation. Now, we'll be putting out regular updates on the vaccinations, what's happening around the city, and the work that is being done through the Vaccine Command Center with all City agencies. It's not just Department of Health, it's not just Health + Hospitals. We're going to be working with Social Services, with NYCHA, with Department of Education, you name it. Every part of the City government is going to be a part of this. Obviously, our hospitals, community organizations, nonprofits, everyone's going to be in this together. But it will need an extraordinary kind of coordination and a forceful effort to make sure all the pieces come together.

Leading this effort and ensuring that this command center comes alive and becomes the difference-maker in the vaccination effort will be our Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. And also, she is serving as co-chair for our Task Force for Racial Inclusion and Equity. My pleasure to introduce to you Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog.

Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, Health and Human Services: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As the Mayor said, starting Monday, December 14th, the Vaccine Command Center will begin operations housed right across the street from City Hall at 253 Broadway. It will have a twofold focus, building trust through community outreach and engagement ahead of widespread vaccine distribution in the community and real-time reporting, troubleshooting, and communication as a vaccine is distributed. This multi-agency command center will react in real time as an air traffic control to the vaccine, with agencies from NYCHA, the Office of Emergency Management, to Community Affairs, all in the room together, working in real-time to problem solve any issues as they arise. An example of this could be, vaccines are not showing up to a certain community site. The command center would work directly with the provider on tracking down additional vaccines or directing patients to another location. Another example could be the command center, working with a partner on the ground to identify certain communities where trust in the vaccine might be low. We would shift resources and work directly with trusted community voices to not only educate, but build the infrastructure to give the vaccines.

An additional critical part of the command center will be transparency and reporting. We'll be reporting out the number of people getting vaccinated, breakdowns on borough, demographic age, and many more indicators, ensuring New Yorkers have up-to-date information and data, but also making sure we have an equitable distribution. While the command center will be focusing on all neighborhoods across the five boroughs, it will be paying particular attention to the 27 hardest hit neighborhoods. This means reaching out at the grassroots level to ensure New Yorkers know where the vaccine is being distributed and administered. Deputy Mayors and agencies across the administration are contributing staff to focus on maximizing our ability to provide information to all New Yorkers and our City workforce, and to maximize trust in our vaccine mobilization. The command center will pay a key part in our fight back against COVID-19, ensuring New Yorkers have faith and trust in the vaccine while creating a stronger, more equitable and healthier New York City. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor. And I want everyone to know that Melanie Hartzog has been really one of the heroes of the City's fight against the coronavirus. Her previous role as our budget director, there was plenty to do in that role, but she also became one of the leading forces in pulling together the initiative to build up testing in this city and to ensure that we had what we needed. That crucial element of the equation that we were deprived of by the federal government to begin with has become, over time, one of the strong suits of New York City, having now a huge amount of testing available, and Melanie's one of the people who made that happen. So, thank you for that great effort and thank you for the leadership you're providing now as we opened the command center on Monday.

All right, with that, let me turn to our indicators today. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19. Unfortunately, this is the first day that we've seen this number go above the threshold – 205 patients admitted. Now, that's obviously very worrisome. The threshold is 200. We've been holding the line up to now, but this is a sign that the hospitalization issues becoming a bigger challenge and one that we're going to have to confront, all of us are going to have to be part of addressing. The hospitalization rate per 100,000 people, 2.48 today. We want to get that under two. So, again, that number has also gone up – that's worrisome. New cases – well, this one is one where we've been blunt that we've been way past the threshold for quite a while. Now, again, we're including probable and confirmed cases. Today's number on the seven-day average, 2,559 – a number that's way too high and that we have a lot of work to do to bring back down. And, finally, percentage of New York City residents testing positive on a seven-day rolling average – today's report, 5.35 percent. Again, we want to be under five percent. So, unfortunately, across the board, we see that these indicators have all unfortunately surpassed their thresholds. This is an indicator – this is a sign, I should say, of how deep this crisis is right now, how much work we have to do to fight back the coronavirus as we, thank God, implement the vaccination in the program that will change everything. This is a crucial moment – and I'm going to say it every chance I get – everyone has to be part of this. Everyone needs to wear your mask, practice social distancing. If you have travel plans, canceled them now. Stay home for the holidays. Stay close to the very few loved ones who are close by. This is what we need to do to get through this last push until the vaccine is more widely distributed and we turn the tide.

I'll do a few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: Hi, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, First Deputy Commissioner Torian Easterling, Executive Director of the Task Force Sideya Sherman, Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma, and Dr. Mitchell Katz, CEO of Health + Hospitals. With that, we'll go to Andrew from WNBC.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call. Can you walk us through a little more of the timeline of the next few days in terms of the vaccine? When exactly we expect some of these frontline health care workers to get their vaccines?

Mayor: Yeah, I'll turn to Dr. Easterling and our other doctors to say, we're going to be reporting as we have a final information, Andrew. We will keep you updated. I know everyone in this city is anxious to know more and our colleagues in the media, we want to keep you updated, but we need to lock down final facts in each case. What we can say, and it's in a matter of days, we'll be in a position to start giving the initial vaccines. Dr. Easterling?

Deputy Commissioner Easterling: Absolutely correct, Mr. Mayor. Where we are right now, we have moved along in the phase – an independent committee has just looked at the data, I think, which is very promising, because we want to make sure that we are sharing information about the data. And, I think, as we're moving forward, the next step is getting the approval on our emergency use authorization, which we hope to be next week – this weekend, excuse me – and then, next week, really hoping that the vaccines are available. And so, the focus is really going to be vaccinating long-term care facilities, folks in nursing homes, as well as individuals who are working in high-risk settings. And so, I think the important part is that things are moving along, which is very promising.

Mayor: Amen. Dr. Varma, Dr. Katz, do you want to add anything?

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Nothing for me.

Mayor: Dr. Katz?

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, Health + Hospitals: Just to say that the health care system is ready to start vaccinating the people at the highest risk of COVID who are working as heroes throughout our system. And we will be working closely with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to get them vaccine as soon as possible. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Andrew.

Question: [Inaudible] question is, our anticipation is that Governor Cuomo will soon announce that because the indicators have not stabilized on hospitalizations, he's going to order indoor dining in New York City closed. What is your message to New York City restaurant owners who haven't gotten a stimulus? Who haven't gotten any aid, and many of them may well go out of business over this next period of time where they're closed? What do you say to them?

Mayor: I feel tremendous empathy for restaurant owners. A lot of them are mom and pop businesses that put their lifetime into them. We want them to survive. We need them to survive. We need the – you know, as a result of indoor dining alone, we think almost a hundred thousand restaurant workers got their job back. Every single worker we care about. But, Andrew, at the same time, these numbers don't lie. Look at what we had today – for the first time, unfortunately, all three of our indicators are past their thresholds. That's a second wave. We have to fight it back to save lives and we have to fight it back to start our recovery. If the Governor announces restrictions, I support him a hundred percent because we have to protect against the worst. The worst is the vaccine just grows – excuse me, the virus just grows and grows, that more and more people get infected, our hospitals start to get stressed and then get to the point where they can't provide the service that people need. That puts lives in danger. I guarantee you, if that keeps happening, then it's going to be a lot longer time before we're able to recover economically. That puts those restaurants in much greater danger for the long-term. So, I feel for them, but sometimes it's smart to say, look, if you take an action, now you can stop much worse things from happening later, and thank God also for the restaurants, outdoor dining is now permanent, which is an option we did not have in the past, and obviously take-out and delivery, which New Yorkers have embraced and they're really working to support their local restaurants. So, I feel for them, but I also need – know in my heart we have got to stop the spread of this virus quickly to be able to turn this situation around.

Moderator: Next is Katie from the Wall Street Journal.

Mayor: Katie?

Question: Hi, good morning. Can you hear me?

Mayor: Yeah. How are you doing?

Question: Good. Thanks. So, I have a question and it's I guess it's similar to what Andrew asked, but for the average essential worker listening at home, or, you know, waiting to hear details on how this will roll out. Can you give them anything? I mean, is it that they have to call the city? Does the city call them? Is there a master list of who is prioritized? just a little bit more detail on how it works when the vaccine arrives?

Mayor: The important thing, it's an important question, Katie. Thank you. The important thing to recognize is the initial categories and it's been true federal, state, local government. We all agree. The focus on the most vulnerable health care workers, the focus on folks who work in nursing homes, the focus on folks who live in nursing homes. That's certainly going to be where the first weeks of this vaccine priority are. Over time, there will be more and more distribution to other folks who work in health care settings, first responders, essential workers, folks who are over 65 and-or have preexisting conditions. This will play out week by week. So, I understand people are anxious for more information, but I can say essential workers will get instructions as it gets to be that time. We want to reach essential workers with this vaccine, but we got to do the highest priority folks first, but you're going to be hearing effectively daily updates on the status of the vaccine and who's next and how it's going work. People – I would never ask New Yorkers to be patient, we're not a patient people, but people should be confident the updates will keep coming, including very granular information about where people in each category can turn to get those vaccinations, but we don't have all that yet today. We do know where we're starting with those first categories. Go ahead.

Question: Thanks, and if the doctors on the call want to just talk a little bit about the outreach being done looking, you know, to educate people in the city who might have real or even not real concerns about the vaccine and everything that comes from it. You know, I think its reported, you've all seen a lot of people sharing this information and then unfortunately can spread pretty quickly. So, do you want to talk a little bit about that outreach all across the city on how to reach different communities who have doubt?

Mayor: Yeah, absolutely. Let me start with Dr. Varma, who has been down this road many times in his career and he and I have talked about it a lot. So, Dr. Varma, then Dr. Easterling, and Dr. Katz, anything they want to add, but to the question of how we, Dr. Varma, how we educate people about the vaccine and give people information that will instill trust. Could you speak to that from your experience?

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, thank you very much. We have a long experience working, you know, everywhere around the world, everywhere around the city in how to build trust in vaccinations. But first and most important thing is to obviously meet people where they are what are their, what is their language? What are their cultural experiences? What is their history? And combine that with what we know about the data, but the information that we have ourselves about the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines, there is a very large concern that we have that, you know, people are going to be very hesitant and refuse because of misinformation spreading, and we're absolutely sensitive to understanding why people might want to believe that information. There was a long history of the medical system not serving the needs correctly of people, particularly from Black and Brown communities. So, we have a lot of experience and understanding how we can take the data on what we know about safety right now, which is that these vaccines are both safe and effective and discuss them in a way that is culturally sensitive and also sensitive to the history of people's experiences. Through that approach. We have greatly increased influenza vaccinations this season and have some of the highest vaccine acceptance rates around the country for the routine vaccinations.

Mayor: As I said, I'm going to turn to Dr. Easterling and Dr. Katz. I also want to see after that, if Sideya Sherman wants to jump in on this question. So, Dr. Easterling.

Deputy Commissioner Easterling: I would just add that it's so important that communities and the public knows that we're going to be standing shoulder to shoulder with communities, and this is something that we're already doing currently and will continue to do as we are sharing information about the vaccine. We're hosting you know, summits with faith based organizations, our flu and faith summit with over 200 houses of worship across the city, several denominations talking about the vaccine, and this is a way that we can make sure that we're addressing this information in this trust, and we're already hearing about the key concern as I shared earlier. One of the key concerns is "is the vaccine safe for me" and we're addressing those questions, but we can also lean on the opportunity of working with organizations, activating them, making sure that they have the resources that they can do the outreach themselves, and we're also partnering with them in the communities that they're working in.

Mayor: And I want to note with appreciation that throughout these last months, Dr. Easterling has been in direct contact with community leaders, faith leaders, elected officials across all the communities in New York City and really been one of the bridges to the community leaders who needed that health information to be able to spread you know, honest, reliable facts out to communities, and thank you for that, doctor, that's been tremendously helpful. Dr. Katz, you want to add?

President Katz: Yes. Mr. Mayor, you can count on Health + Hospitals, which is the largest hospital system in our country and a very trusted provider of services to low-income people, to the Black and Brown communities, to immigrants. We take care of over a million people a year. We have 400,000 patients for whom we are the primary provider on an ongoing basis, and we will be vaccinating those people as the vaccine rolls out to New York City. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. Sideya Sherman, do you want to add?

Executive Director Sideya Sherman, Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Wait, we can't hear you well enough. Hold on. Can you try again?

Executive Director Sherman: You hear me?

Mayor: Yeah.

Executive Director Sherman: You can hear me.

Mayor: Yeah.

Executive Director Sherman: Great. So, just to reiterate the points that were raised by the doctors we are really relying on community leaders, local stakeholders, to be the credible messengers on the ground. This is ongoing. This communication has existed since the start of the pandemic and it's continued, and it will be key to the strategy and ensuring that people feel safe and comfortable and know that the vaccine is accessible to them, and so that's a key piece of how the work would move forward, and obviously the leaders across the task force, many of whom come from the communities that were most impacted will be at the forefront of that.

Mayor: Excellent. Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Michael from the Daily News.

Question: Morning guys.

Mayor: Hey, Michael, how are you doing?

Question: I'm good. Thanks for asking. Couple of questions. First, on – you know, you spoke about misinformation as far as the vaccine, and I realize this might be a bit lower on your priority list, but is there been any effort to track the spread of misinformation? Is there the sense that this is you know, kind of an intentional spread of misinformation or just something that organically happens to kind of years of distrust?

Mayor: Yeah, I would say, honest answer, we're not right now focused on a tracking effort. We know there's years and decades and centuries of mistrust that we're addressing. We also know there's an anti-vaxxer movement out there, but I think the best way to confront all that is with the facts. So, again, I want turn to Dr. Varma and Dr. Easterling, just to talk about why the vaccine is reliable and how much vetting has been done, because this is what people need to hear. Dr. Varma.

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, I've been following the information from FDA and discussing extensively with my colleagues both here in the United States and around the world. Everything we know about the vaccine that is about to be authorized by the FDA is that it is both safe and effective, not just in helping people you know, who are of young age but across an entirely broad spectrum. Now I say all that also saying that we, it doesn't mean that we, we stopped looking for, for events. We know from the experience in the UK that a small, very small number of people with a history of very severe allergies can get an allergic reaction. So, we always need to be watching and always need to be careful, but I can say confidently that I, myself, my wife, who's a pediatrician, my kids who are all 16 and above. We'll all get the vaccine when it becomes our turn in line to get there, and, and I think that the quality of the data presentations that you saw in the past week not just from FDA and the companies, but then independent analysts and advice has really been exceptional, extraordinary, and so I think all eyes are watching and that's boosting all of our confidence in what we know right now.

Mayor: Thank you so much. Dr. Easterling.

Deputy Commissioner Easterling: Yes, and I think to address misinformation we're certainly going to be leaning on our trusted messengers, and as the Mayor mentioned, I'm meeting with community leaders every day on a weekly basis, talking to them about how we're responding to the pandemic, and now I'm talking to them about the vaccine. I am letting them know very clearly that I am taking the vaccine, and I know that the vaccine is safe, given everything that Dr. Varma has just mentioned, and my family is also planning to take the vaccine when our place in line comes. So, I think that's going to really help address the misinformation, really making sure that individuals like myself, other providers, trusted messengers are out in the community, really talking to residents.

Mayor: And I want to note Michael, one more point [inaudible] I turned to the Deputy Mayor. I mean, part of why we are having a command center in place is of course, again, the massive logistical effort now, controlling the operational dynamics and making sure they're effective, but it's also to have a single point of contact where the information comes out, the confirmation that people what's happening, the consistent transparency and the troubleshooting. If we see places, for example, in this city where the concern or the distrust is causing people not to take the vaccine, we will have a targeted effort to reach deeper into the community, to restore that trust and give people the evidence and faith they need to engage. So, Deputy Mayor, could you speak a little bit about.

Deputy Mayor Hartzog: Sure, I will just add that in addition to all the work that Torian talked about in engaging CBOs, just want to remind everyone that there was a lot of concern at the height of the pandemic and trust – issues of trust, and we launched the Test and Trace Corps, and at that time, I think there was a general concern of one, if we could actually build out that level of infrastructure, but two, engage communities, meet them where they're at with their concerns around testing, where to go, is it safe to get tested? When we had a scarcity, how do we actually target who gets the testing? And now we're at a point where I think we've got a tremendous amount of infrastructure, trust. We've hired from communities as part of the Test and Trace Corps, and I think we will be leveraging all of that apparatus as we move forward with the command center in partnership with the Department of Health to actually build on that trust that we have as we move into this next phase of vaccinations.

Moderator: Next is Kala from PIX 11.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to go over the list of vaccination sites earlier. I believe you mentioned schools as a possible site. Is that still the case and how will that work? Like what would that look like?

Mayor: Kala, we're going to look at a whole range of options and, you know, I want to say that it is early in the process. I think it's important to recognize that the priorities we've talked about so far would be to focus on the most vulnerable frontline health care workers, nursing home residents, and workers, other health care workers, first responders, folks who are most vulnerable to the disease. Again, folks over 65 with preexisting conditions, we've got a lot of priorities we have to get through. We're certainly going to be looking down the line at schools and many other sites and ways to distribute the vaccine. But I want to caution that that is farther out. We got to first do the highest priority groups and the command center will be focusing on those priorities and building them out, and as I said, we're going to be giving you very, very regular updates on how each piece is going to go, but the schools are certainly farther down the line, given the other priorities. Go ahead, Kala.

Question: I had talked to some people yesterday who had mentioned that they would not get vaccinated because of their distrust in the government and the nation's history with vaccines, and particularly African-Americans. I know you've talked a bit about setting an example and going into certain neighborhoods and going to them, but how, if someone has such a strong opinion, especially of distrust, how do you break that to get through them?

Mayor: Kala, it's such an important question. Thank you, I think there's several ways. I'm going to turn to Dr. Easterling. After I say a few things, I, we, first of all, the distrust is real institutional racism, structural racism, the horrible complicity, often some members of the medical community in racist acts. I mean, there's a reason why people have this distrust that said we are here today, fighting this pandemic with leaders, from communities of color, playing key roles, people who are trying with every fiber in their being to change that history and create a new reality, and I do think folks who are distrustful will see the leaders, both of the citywide health effort, but also community leaders who they trust, who they know, who are confirming to them how important this is, and then I think as with everything else in human life, leading by example, as all of us are getting the vaccine, it will encourage people. As people talk to friends, neighbors, you know, folks in their family about the vaccine and had a good experience, it will encourage people, but it's going to take a lot of work to overcome that mistrust, and we intend to do that persistent work. Dr. Easterling.

Deputy Commissioner Easterling: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would say just plainly we know that there are many reasons why individuals in the Black and Brown community, my own community, are distrustful of government distrust for the medical system. As the Mayor had mentioned, we know that there is a history of medical experimentation and racist practices in this country. We need to make sure that we have our leaders stepping out, such as myself. I know that the process that has been put in place has given me the reassurance that this vaccine is safe, that I'm going to take this vaccine, and I will be out talking with community leaders, community members, letting them know why I know that this vaccine is safe and that the process has really allowed us to understand the information. But we're also going to be activating messages. It's not just going to be me. It's going to be this entire city. We are activating our houses of worship. We're activating our community based organizations on a daily basis and this is the work that we have to do. This has to be a collective approach really to address the mistrust and really reassure New Yorkers why this vaccine is safe. Thank you.

Moderator: Next is Rich from WCBS Radio.

Question: Mr. Mayor, given the fact that there could be some – I mean, by the way, good morning. I'm sorry. I'm starting running into the question here –

Mayor: Rich, you never have to be sorry. You have fabulous manners. Good morning, how are you?

Question: Right. I'm okay. So I'm just wondering in regard to curing the doubts about the vaccine, you know your son Dante was a pretty effective spokesperson for you during the campaign. Is there any thought that the First Lady and Dante might be involved in this effort?

Mayor: Well, I won't speak for my adult son who will make his own decisions. We certainly, you know, Dante is a really thoughtful young man and if he wants to get involved, I would welcome it. I am certain Chirlane will be involved. She believes fundamentally it's important to go out and educate communities and lead by example. So again, when it's her turn, when it's my turn for the vaccine, we're going to do that very publicly to show people we have faith in it. Go ahead, Rich.

Question: And those numbers that you you mentioned today, I mean how would you characterize, you know, where the numbers have been going? I mean, are you surprised, is this coming from any particular place? Is it citywide? I know they've rolling average as citywide, but do you see spikes that are driving these numbers upwards in particular neighborhoods?

Mayor: Look Rich, I think first of all, we have a national problem right now. Obviously there's a huge uptick all over the country. This is now clearly a second wave in New York City that has reached every part of the city. True, there are some communities that the numbers are even higher, and I want to keep reminding people that is in some cases directly related to the use of masks or unwillingness to use masks, we really need everyone using masks. We need everyone going out and getting tested, but that said, overwhelmingly, we've got a citywide problem. So I've been talking regularly to the Governor. I spoke to him this morning. Our teams are talking all the time about what would be the appropriate measures to protect our hospitals, what are the appropriate measures to stop the spread, which restrictions will be needed? We are at a point where we got to realize that we've got to do everything in our power to turn this back and hold the line for the vaccine to do its work because every single additional New Yorker who gets the vaccine is one step in the right direction. So we could just stop this spread long enough to let the vaccine really come into play in a big way, that's when we turn the corner. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Question: Yes. good morning all, good morning, Mr. Mayor. So I want to follow actually on [inaudible], you know being that you and the doctors on the panel today are saying that you will all publicly get the vaccine. Have you thought about recruiting let's say sports figures or people in the performance world, you know, notable people to do that as part of aim?

Mayor: I think that's a great point. Juliet, look, the first thing to say is this vaccine will be distributed equitably. So it doesn't matter how famous you are, how powerful you are, how rich you are, this is going to be given out in the order it's supposed to be given out. And again, that starts with frontline health care workers and nursing home residents and workers, not celebrities, not rich people, but that being said as notable New Yorkers get their moment in line, when their priority comes up, I think it's a great point. There are so many famous New Yorkers, iconic New Yorkers who are so devoted to the city and want to help us come back strong, I think a lot of them will be very willing to come forward and give people faith in this vaccine through their own example. So yes, that is an approach we're going to use for sure. But we're going to do it in a way that respects when each person is actually supposed to get the vaccine. Go ahead, Juliet.

Question: Okay, and thank you. And also I guess I wanted to get a little more specific on how you will be informing people? Are you going to have, let's say meetings in NYCHA developments or giving out flyers or email blast? What – how directly are you contacting people about either, you know, convincing them this is safe or when it's their time for the vaccine?

Mayor: Let me turn to Sideya Sherman who has done extraordinary work at NYCHA and knows it so well and also the great work she's doing as the Executive Director of the task force, because this has been one of her areas of focus, how we reach deep into communities and get the word out, especially from trusted messengers. Sideya?

Executive Director Sherman: Sure, can everyone hear me?

Mayor: Yes.

Executive Director Sherman: Yes. Okay, great. So yeah, to the Mayor's point, we've – most of this communication has already started, we've been an ongoing communication with community-based organizations, tenant leaders throughout the pandemic, and that those conversations are starting to switch towards informing and educating people about the vaccine. And so we will use all the communication channels that we have at our disposal from robo calls to emails, to flyers, but we also have regular forums with tenant leaders for instance that are happening with Department of Health. And so those will continue as people get closer to their place in line. There will also obviously be direct communication to New Yorkers from the Health Department, from practitioners, and so we'll be working across agencies to make sure that we have consistent communication, consistent flyers and messaging. But we also will ensure that in the communities where we know we need an extra push that we're working with folks on the ground to help carry for us that message and to help amplify the information. And we also will be relying on, again, our tenant leaders, community leaders, to really be the trusted messengers, and also to give us the information we need to constantly adapt our distribution strategy, as well as our messaging.

Mayor: Yeah and two more points, Juliet, one, you know, we've been working deeply with faith communities, our Center for Community and Faith Partnerships doing extraordinary work. I'm a firm believer that we can reach the grassroots much better working with our faith partners, so there'll be a big piece of this. And then the Command Center. I want to note that one of the things that Deputy Mayor Hartzog and her team will be looking for all the time is where are those places where we need to reinforce, where we need to send in more folks to do outreach, we need to get more community leaders involved. If we're seeing a trust gap in a certain neighborhood, the Command Center is going to determine how to focus on that and get those vaccination levels up to make sure that everyone gets their fair share. Go ahead.

Moderator: For our last question, we'll go to Abu from Bangla Patrika –

Mayor: I don't know if your microphone is on. Abu?

Moderator: Abu.

Mayor: Okay.

Question: How are you?

Mayor: Hey Abu, how you doing?

Question: Good, how are you?

Mayor: Good, good.

Question: My question is when the vaccination is going to start, what could be changed a scenario, like that school will be – the students who are going to the school, the school is open for everyone and the you don't have to wear the mask. I mean, what are the rules when someone get the vaccination?

Mayor: So I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Easterling, look again, we're going to do this in phases, and we're going to be very public, very informative about who's up when and where it's going to happen and one thing or another, but in terms of how someone actually gets the vaccination, that when you get to the hospital or doctor's office, what happens next? Dr. Easterling, can you give us a little bit of that play-by-play?

Deputy Commissioner Easterling: Sure, I think an important part to remember that we're going to be prioritizing certain groups right now, as the Mayor had just mentioned. Right now we're focusing on long-term care facilities and individuals who are working in high risk settings, and I think the important part to remember is that we're not out of the woods yet. Once the vaccine is administered to some of the groups, and obviously we're going to continue to expand and reach out to more communities, but we will still need to continue to wear a mask, keep six feet apart, and make sure that we are monitoring our own health because we're – we know that, you know, that the vaccine is going to protect individuals, but we just do not know how much it's going to really prevent the spread. And so I think it's going to be really important to make sure that folks understand that as we are rolling out our vaccine plan to continue to follow our core four and get tested as well.

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Katz, Dr. Varma, again, give a little more of the flavor of how vaccination actually works person by person in a medical facility? Dr. Katz?

President Katz: Well, yes, for us, sir, there'll be two parts once there's vaccine available, we will be providing it to those people at highest risk in the hospital. So people who are intubating patients, which is where you insert a breathing tube, ICU nurses, respiratory therapists, and people who are at the highest risk of infection and we'll work our way down until we've vaccinated all of the people with patient facing functions. Beyond that, sir, we look forward and working with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to vaccinating all our patients starting in the same priority groups, as you've already stated. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Varma, I want you to make it very granular and real just what a vaccination is like, how it is like for the individual patient to go in and vaccinate. Just paint the picture for us.

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, no, absolutely. So I think when we get to the stage where vaccines are going to be more widely available, this is going to look for people somewhat similar to their regular experience getting a vaccine, whether it's themselves or the kids and maybe a little bit different because we're going to be expanding our efforts. So what you're going to be doing, is you're going to be either going to your regular medical provider, or you're going to be going to one of the special clinics that we're going to have set up for you to get vaccinated. You're going to have to fill out some basic information to describe your medical history. We need to make sure you don't have any reasons why we would be concerned about your risk. You'll then get some information, what's called the vaccine information sheet which describes what vaccine you're getting. It's going to describe any known side effects of the vaccine, what you should do if you develop any side effects, basically all of the information that you could ever want that'll be available to you in all of the languages that are common here in New York City. And then you will see your provider, and your provider will usually be a nurse or somebody who's authorized to provide vaccines, they'll go through the regular procedural, you'll roll down – roll up your sleeves, they'll use a little bit of of an alcohol rub or cleaning solution, and then you'll have your vaccine.

What people need to know that's important is that right now the vaccine needs to be given in two doses. So that will be the first time you get the vaccine and then after 21 days, three weeks or later, you'll be called back and you'll get reminders and you'll need to remind yourself to come back to get your second dose. We know there was some protection after the first dose, but the full protection really comes up to the second. And then it is possible for you to have some side effects like achiness in your arm, a low grade fever, to feel kind of tired, particularly after that second injection, but what we know right now is that is a sign that the vaccine is working. So it's important for you to be in touch with your doctor if you have any concerns, but those are also good signs that your body is responding the way it should.

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead, Abu.

Question: Second question is about [inaudible], you know, there is a lot of people didn't have jobs and they are not paying the rent and the recent executive order I think has expired as well. So if those people are evicted from the house or apartment, or do we –I mean, what is the next plan, or do you have any other option you are thinking about? The people who are unable to pay the rent or the people who are not - also the homeowner?

Mayor: Yes, Abu, such an important question. Listen, first of all, I think the greatest opportunity to address this issue comes through the stimulus process in Washington. There should be direct relief to renters who cannot afford to rent, that also would allow direct relief for people that own the buildings and, you know, need to pay mortgages. This is the kind of thing the federal government should be doing right now to help people survive this crisis and get back on their feet and foster recovery. The State and the City have worked together to avoid people being evicted who can't pay the rent. I always say, Abu, if someone can pay the rent, they should keep paying the rent. I want to make sure that the protections in place are reaching those who need them, who have had their income taken away, but there's obviously a lot of people who still have their income and should be paying their rent. But for the hundreds of thousands of folks who have been disrupted, their lives disrupted, their livelihoods disrupted by this crisis, the eviction moratoriums are crucial. The court system is obviously not acting on many evictions right now, which is a good thing. We need to keep those moratoriums in place and a grace period after the crisis abates.

Further, we need something else and I've been calling for this for months, I really hope the legislature will take this up and get it done, we need a new law that will allow for a payment plan structure, something that can be universally recognized so that if a tenant cannot afford the rent because they've been affected by the crisis, that they are allowed to stay in their apartment, when they finally have income, again, start paying rent again and start catching up on past rent over time in an acceptable plan, giving tenants the security they can stay in their apartment, giving landlords and security that eventually there'll be made whole. We need a structure like that to protect everyone. The thing we cannot have is anyone losing their apartment in the middle of a crisis through no fault of their own. We just can't let that happen. So we're going to keep working with the State to keep those protections in place.

Okay everyone, as we conclude, very simple, big moment for New York City, vaccine about to arrive, our Command Center up and running on Monday to distribute the vaccine, we are ready with a plan to ensure that that distribution will be equitable, will be fair, will be focused on the folks who need it most. Look, here is a moment that will turn the tide for New York City, but it's also a beginning of something bigger, it's the beginning of the recovery and rebirth of New York City. And as we create that recovery and rebirth, it also is a chance to disrupt a status quo that was in too many ways broken. All that distrust we've talked about has come from too many bad experiences, too much pain, too much discrimination, unfairness. We are not going to return to that status quo. So as we fight back the coronavirus and we show that that can be done in an equitable and fair manner with the voices of community truly heard and respected, that also provides a template for the New York City ahead. That has to be a better and fairer place for all and everyone will be a part of that work together. Thank you, everybody.

2020-12-11 NYC Mayor de Blasio Ask the Mayor

Brian Lehrer: So, right now, if you want to call and ask the Mayor a question 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280, or you can tweet a question, just use the hashtag, #AsktheMayor. And good morning, Mr. Mayor, welcome back to WNYC.

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, Brian. How are you doing?

Lehrer: I'm doing all right. And I told everybody that you were later than usual because you were doing a news conference announcing vaccine protocols for the city now that it's been approved by the FDA. What can you tell us?

Mayor: Well, Brian, very important day for New York City because we expect a vaccine very, very shortly to start arriving in the city. We are setting up on Monday, a command center, a Vaccine Command Center that will control the distribution and the logistics, but also beyond that, the community outreach, the efforts to ensure equity and fairness in the distribution, the public information and transparency that I think is going to be crucial for people feeling more trust in the vaccine and in the process of distribution. This has to be fast and intense, this distribution effort, but it also must be fair. And today at the press conference, Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, who's also a co-chair of our Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity, talked about how the command center will guarantee equitable distribution with a heavy focus on the 27 communities of color most affected by COVID in this city, and Dr. Torian Easterling, who's the First Deputy Commissioner for the Health Department and the Chief Equity Officer, talked about the kind of community outreach and trust-building that will be needed in African-American, Latino, and Asian communities, working with community leaders, working with faith leaders, public housing resident leaders, to really convince people that this is the right thing to do. We know there's a lot of distrust in communities of color toward government, and a lot of concern about the vaccine. Leaders of color in this administration, in this City government are going to be taking the lead, going out into communities, talking very personally about the fact that the vaccine is safe and that it is important to turning the tide on the coronavirus. And so today we laid out just how that operational work will happen, but also the work of equity and fairness.

Lehrer: So, there's that double-edged sword there that there's more distrust, presumably in communities of color in the medical establishment for all kinds of historical and present reasons that might dissuade people from taking a vaccine. At the same time, we know the COVID case and hospitalization and death racial disparities have been so stark, and people are wondering if there's going to be enough of a prioritization. So, I know you said something about that in what you just said but tell us more. How is that accounted for in determining who gets to be vaccinated early on?

Mayor: Well, first – to your first part of your point, Dr. Torian Easterling spoken as a Black man about that history of racial discrimination in American medicine. He talked about the horrible experimentation on the Black people that occurred over the years. That was another form of structural racism, that left a horrible legacy and distrust beyond any other kind of distrust that people have towards government [inaudible] trust in the medical community. And he took that head on and he said, look his job as First Deputy Health Commissioner is to show people that this vaccine is about solving a problem, about serving a community that's really borne the brunt and to make it very personal, he talked about he and his family would be taking the vaccine and he would be going out into communities to testify about its effectiveness and safety and getting more and more community allies on board. So, I think, Brian, it is about being blunt about that bad history and empowering leaders of color to lead the way to make sure that this distribution happens.

And we've been very clear, and I want to say it plainly, it doesn't matter if you're wealthy or famous, if you're a celebrity, you're not cutting the line in New York City when it comes to the vaccine distribution. The first level of distribution goes to frontline health care workers, a lot of whom are not highly paid people. This is the people who are protecting all of us and saving our lives and, obviously, nursing home residents and nursing home workers. And then the focus is on other health care workers, first responders, then on folks who are over 65 and/or have those preexisting serious medical conditions. And we're going to focus, as we start to go into those bigger categories, on communities of color that have borne the brunt, those 27 neighborhoods, Black and Latino and Asian, that bore the brunt of the crisis, we know where they are. That's where the first attention needs to be. So, our health leadership is very, very clear we're going to scrupulously monitor the distribution of this vaccine. Our command center is going to be watching constantly all the health care partners to make sure the priorities are being followed. And if we see any instances where they're not being followed that can be addressed immediately and with consequence because people have to have faith that this is being done equitably.

Lehrer: Let's take a call. Carolyn in Manhattan, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Carolyn.

Question: Yes. Hi. Can you hear me?

Mayor: Yes, Carolyn. Yeah, we can hear.

Question: Thank you, Brian. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to ask about long-term care facilities for the disabled. Adults with developmental disabilities are at increased risk of death. They're in high risk settings, but they may be, you know, under the age of 65. And so, I want to know if they will be prioritized for the vaccine. These group homes were [inaudible] my sister lives in one and these group homes were decimated by the coronavirus this past spring. It really tore through their homes and a lot of people died from it. So, I want to know if they will be prioritized in this first round of vaccinations.

Mayor: Very glad you're asking the question, Carolyn, because I think you're raising a really important point that there's specific realities in those facilities that really make folks have a need for this vaccine. I'm glad you're saying it. I want to make sure we get the priorities right. I'm going to share this question with our health care leadership. They are working with the State and the federal government on those priorities. We're going to make sure that we account for where this is in the priority structure, but I hear you loud and clear. It has to be accounted for quickly. Will you please give your information to WNYC so that we can get back to you with an update once we get that clear answer.

Lehrer: Carolyn we'll take that contact info from you. Erica on Staten Island, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Erica.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, my question is this – why are we mandating that the children in our schools get tested? I know firemen aren't mandated. They come from different boroughs sometimes, different homes, and they're quite literally living together, and they don't have to get mandated. Hospital workers aren't mandated to get testing. Police officers. All these people who do shift work together, they're spending 12 hours together, and they aren't mandated to get testing. What are we doing to our kids here? My three-year-old has to get tested even though he's in a DOE program. And he said today, he said, mama, I don't ever want to get tested again. I just – I can't understand what we're doing and what the ramifications of this – what will this do to our kids in the future. Especially going forward, what are these kids supposed to say if a doctor or a coach or anyone in any institution touches their body inappropriately? You know, my message to my children has always been, nobody ever touches your body, nobody has the right to touch your body. So, this, what is happening, and I understand we're in a pandemic, but given what I said about all these other people who go into all these other buildings, I don't understand how to make it work in my head.

Mayor: Okay. Erica, heartfelt question. I appreciate it. And you know, I am a parent and certainly remember when my kids are young. So, look, first to the point about no one touches your body, a very important message. Obviously, in this case, we're talking about health care workers and we take very, very seriously the care and sensitivity they have to bring. But I just want to say, as a parent, no one touches your body, but health care professionals are the exception to that always because every single one of us in the course of our lives needs health care where a professional has to work with us directly. But I do appreciate very much your point, especially for a three-year-old, very young age. The testing mandate does not extend to 3-K, pre-K, and kindergarten. I want to make sure that's clear and for everyone else, the reason that it has been such an important – and so I should say one thing. Erica, please leave your information with WNYC because I don't know if you have a three-year-old why that is happening in the school, because that's not part of the mandate, but the – and we will fix that obviously.

But Erica, to the bigger point, the mandate of testing is one of the things that gave everybody confidence in our schools being safe. And we had it from the very beginning. We expanded on it as we've seen this uptick in the virus. One of the ways that we kept our schools going, 878 schools are open right this minute in New York City, is because we added additional testing. It has allowed us to use our situation room as the clearing house to know that each school was safe or that some action needed to be taken based on the testing, it happened quickly. New York City schools have been the gold standard of health and safety in this country. And we're open when a vast majority of major school systems, major cities in America are closed. And testing has been a big, big part of it. So, I would say to you, it is a very strategic act to use the testing as a way to show that we can keep schools safe, to make sure each school community is safe, to give confidence to parents, educators, staff. It's worked, but we do, as I said, exempt the youngest kids. And there are also medical exemptions for anyone who gets that from a doctor. So, I hear you loud and clear, but I think we are striking that balance.

Lehrer: What about the requirements for others who come in contact with people? She mentioned health care workers, for example.

Mayor: Again, the reality in each institution is they determine what is going to keep their people safe. Health care institutions go through all sorts of health protocols regularly. And we obviously trust our health care leadership to figure out what will keep their workers safe. Each place is different, but I want to emphasize – this is not, again, Brian. I want to be clear. This is not an academic comparative discussion. This is about real kids, real families, real educators, and staff. This is what has worked to make New York City public schools the safest in the nation. One could debate it all day long, but I want to go back to the facts. It's worked. Our schools are safe. They've been proven safe. That's what we aspire to and that's what we achieved.

Lehrer: So, let me follow up on her public school question with another public school question. Of course, the schools reopened this week for students up through elementary school and for special-ed students in District 75 schools. But the families who came back revealed again a stark disparity. As the New York Times reported it this week, "At every turn, Mr. de Blasio insisted that the city's most vulnerable children needed open schools, but there are nearly 12,000 more white children returning to public school buildings than Black students, even though there are many more Black students than white students in the system overall." So, my question is Mr. Mayor, how surprised or disturbed are you by this and what kind of policy response does that require?

Mayor: I think that's just not the whole story. That quote does not portray the larger reality. First of all, I want to serve all kids. I think we talk a lot about race. I want to talk about class as well. I want to serve kids of all – families of all income levels across the racial spectrum. You have kids from families who are disadvantaged in all sorts of ways. I want to serve everyone. But right now, in New York City public schools, about three-quarters of the kids attending class, are children of color, either African-American, Latino, or Asian. That's the fact. The way it has been presented, I know people love to get into their particular themes, but they're not portraying the reality. Seventy-five percent of the kids in our schools right now in-person are children of color. That's the fact.

Lehrer: A follow up. Robert in Queens, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hi, Robert.

Question: Hi, can you hear me okay?

Lehrer: Yes, we can.

Mayor: Yes, Robert, how you doing?

Question: Hi, how are you?

Mayor: [Inaudible]

Question: Thank you for everything that you've been doing for the city in this crazy pandemic situation. But I got to tell you, I just heard you talk about, you know, being for the school and everything, but the principals are having a horrible time with it. I know because my wife's a principal and it's becoming increasingly more and more difficult for her to get her job done. And I'm a teacher also, and my principal's having a hard time with this, because there are certain groups of parents that want to dictate how the school should be run during this pandemic, with the setback that they don't – the schools don't have the money. They don't have the teaching staff for doing the remote and the in-school learning. And when a teacher and a parent go head to head, nobody wins. And you know that. The problem is, is that we can't seem to get a clear roadmap for everything. If there is no money for teachers and programs are being slashed and kicked back, and parents still want to have [inaudible] so they need help. And I'm in tears right now because I see it. And it's been going on for three months now, principals are doing a hell of a job, but they need help.

Mayor: Robert, thank you. I can tell you really are speaking from the heart and I appreciate it. And look, I just fundamentally believe in our New York City public schools. My kids went every single minute, from pre-K to 12th grade, to New York City public schools. I spent so much of the last few decades in school buildings. I totally believe in the abilities of our principals and our teachers. And they've been put through hell. I mean, let's start at the beginning. They have been put through hell. It's been incredibly difficult having to go all remote out of nowhere back in March, and then coming back and trying to get it right. But I want to tell you, Robert, look, New York City could have made a decision, which I think would have been the wrong one and the unfair one to our kids and families, we could've said, the simpler thing would be go all remote from the beginning. I think it would've been a huge mistake. That's what the vast majority of major cities in America did. You know, Los Angeles never has gotten open, for example, the whole time. We said, no, we needed in-person education. In-person education was going to make a huge difference because I believe in educators. I know if you get a child, even a few days a week, you are going to be able to reach them and shape them and support them in a way you could never do on a screen. And emotionally, children need the support of the caring, loving professionals in a school building and of each other that they get in the school building. And even in some –

Question: Right, but –

Mayor: – Some degree. So, look, just to finish the point. So that's why we believe that it was so fundamental to open, but we have been, from the beginning, hearing when the principals said more staffing was needed. And one, we've been sending in – we do have more staffing right this minute for principals who need it. There's constantly additional staffing being applied. But second, by going to five-day-a-week in as many places that we can, we're going to cut out – for so many kids, we're going to be cutting out the blended, remote piece, which was one of the challenging pieces. If we have more and more kids who were either in school five days a week, or at home all remote all the time, it's actually going to allow us to use our staff a lot better. And I think it's going to be better for teachers and principals alike.

Lehrer: Robert, I'll give you a very brief follow-up.

Question: Yes. Thank you, Brian. I understand what you're saying, Mr. Mayor. But the problem is, is that even when you have more staffing coming, there are certain programs that were put in place at schools that no longer have funding to get those programs up and running. And that's why a lot of these parents, I call them helicopter parents, want those programs, but there's no money for it. And if you [inaudible] teachers, then you have no teachers there, but the parents don't understand that. And they are clogging the system by the complaints and everything. You need to be more clear in telling them –

Lehrer: Robert, thank you. Thank you very much. Well, let me follow up on that this way, unless you want to say anything about that, I think it was –

Mayor: Very quickly, Brian. Very quickly. Robert is making an important point and I would say it to all my fellow parents. You do need to show sensitivity to everything that parents – excuse me, to everything that principals and teachers are going through. Parents do need to understand that principals and teachers are trying their damnedest under very adverse circumstances. But they also have to understand, yeah, there isn't everything that would be available in a normal school year because there's a pandemic. It will be over. We have a vaccine. It will be over – when we come back in September we're going to be largely back to normal. This is one very tough year. We're trying to get kids as much as we can, but Robert's right. It won't be everything people want, and people have to be understanding of each other and let's get the best we can for the kids under this circumstance.

Lehrer: We've got one minute left and let me slip in one other policy question. You've been for a millionaire's tax for a long time. Now the New York State Senate supermajority may actually pass one to help with the COVID fiscal crisis, but they're also considering a $3 per delivery surcharge on online deliveries, other than essentials like food to help save the MTA from fiscal disaster. Do you support that tax?

Mayor: No. I got to tell you that's unfortunately not a progressive tax. I support progressive taxation, a tax on millionaires and billionaires. Remember, Brian, shockingly, during this horrible COVID crisis Wall Street has been booming, the rich have gotten richer. It's time to ask them to pay their fair share. They haven't paid their fair share in decades. So, I'm thrilled that there's a super majority in the State Senate. I hope they get to work right away with the Assembly and pass a millionaire's tax and any other form of progressive taxation. But something that hits every single person out there, including struggling, working people, low-income people, folks who lost their jobs that are still – who need to get packages that could mean medicine, that could mean food, it can mean all sorts of things. No, that's the wrong way to go.

Lehrer: Thanks as always, Mr. Mayor, and thanks for laying out the new vaccine protocols with the breaking news that the vaccine is going to be approved today by the FDA. Obviously, we'll follow up and we always appreciate it. Talk to you next week.

Mayor: Take care, Brian.

2020-12-14 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. What a beautiful day in New York City today, what an amazing day, the day we have been waiting for, the day we dreamed of. A lot of people didn't know if this day would come. A lot of people doubted, but this day is here. The vaccine is here in New York City. The vaccine will be given out from this day forward. From this day forward, the vaccine will be distributed, and we will turn the tide on the coronavirus. This is a day to celebrate, and what a fitting beginning to the day that our health care heroes were in the spotlight, the folks who saw us through this whole crisis. What a good day that they're getting the respect they deserve for all they've done for us. So, the first person to get the shot here in New York City, the first person vaccinated, critical care nurse, Sandra Lindsay. And Sandra, boy, I was so impressed, Sandra didn't even flinch during that shot. But here she is, someone who has been protecting people in Queens, the epicenter of the crisis saving lives. How fitting that she was the first to get the vaccination. Well administered by Dr. Michelle Chester, Long Island Jewish Hospital in Queens, part of the Northwell system. And everyone, everyone in our health care system, we salute you. All our health care heroes, we thank you. We're going to protect you so you can protect all of us. So, what an amazing day and the vaccine is here, and it will be distributed starting today. You're going to start to see more and more people get it. Remember it starts to be effective even from the first vaccination and fully affected with the second.

So, we now begin, today, the largest vaccination effort in the history of New York City today is a historic day for many reasons. In New York City history, this will be remembered as the day where the largest mobilization ever was undertaken to protect the people of this city, the largest vaccination effort in our history. Now we're going to use every tool at our disposal. Our Vaccine Command Center will lead the way, every single City agency, every City employee will be a part of this to make sure that all New Yorkers are served. This is going to be a huge undertaking, but nowhere is there the ability and the strength and the know-how more than New York City to get something like this done. And particularly at our Health Department that has led the way over decades, generations, in doing vaccination on a large scale to protect the people of the city. Here to tell you more about it, our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi –

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. We've said before that the cavalry is on the way. Good news, of course. But we must acknowledge that it is a slow and steady march. To start, let me try to break down the coming days based on what we know and what we don't yet know. So, here's what we know about the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. First, leading scientists have confirmed that it is a very good vaccine in terms of safety and ability to protect against COVID-19 illness. I, myself, have poured over the studies, including what was released last week. Second, the first New York City bound vaccine shipments departed from Kalamazoo, Michigan yesterday in special cartons, held at minus 70 degrees. They will travel via UPS and FedEx, both by truck and by plane. Third, Pfizer equipped the coolers with GPS enabled thermal sensors so the temperature can be monitored, and the vaccines tracked, to ensure they are received safely. If there are any problems with the shipments, Pfizer will notify us immediately. Fourth, our first vaccines are arriving today at five hospitals. That means that vaccines will become vaccinations today in New York City. Subsequent shipments are expected at 37 hospitals on Tuesday, and two more hospitals on Wednesday. Fifth, hospitals are ready and waiting for the vaccine. And after the initial vaccinations, the data will be reported to our citywide immunization registry within 24 hours of administration so we can securely keep track of who is getting the vaccine. Now, beyond the logistics, let me just take a moment to acknowledge what a remarkable and poignant milestone in our fight against COVID-19.

And now here are a few things that remain unknown. First, we don't yet know whether the Pfizer vaccine works for children under the age of 16. The FDA authorization was for ages 16 and up. Second, this week, the Moderna vaccine is expected to get a similar FDA review as the Pfizer vaccine did. We don't know the detailed results yet, but depending on them, the FDA's emergency authorization could come as soon as Friday. Third, we don't know our overall allotment of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for New York City over the coming months. But we have been told to plan for approximately 465,000 doses over weeks one, two, and three. Throughout the process, we will be communicating with hospitals to answer questions and share updated guidance. We will also be monitoring incoming data, preparing subsequent orders, and working with community partners to spread facts and foresight. 

While help is on the way, I'd like to add one thing. We remain in a state of emergency. If your house is on fire, you don't stay among the flames waiting for the fire department to arrive. You take the steps needed to stay safe. So, until every last ember is extinguished, we're asking you to stay safe by masking up, staying home if you feel ill, keeping your distance, washing your hands, and getting tested. We are still in this together. And the core four precautions are what will keep you, your friends, and your family healthy. When it's my turn, I look forward to rolling up my sleeves to receive the vaccine. Until then I'm taking heart in the fact that my hospital colleagues are getting one more layer of protection and I'll keep taking the steps that I can to protect them as well as others, particularly those who are at greatest risk. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Chokshi. And yes, our hospitals have been preparing for this day. The folks who protect all of us have been getting ready. Nowhere has that been more true than in our public hospitals and clinics, Health + Hospitals, we depend on so much in this city. And Health + Hospitals hospitals were bearing the brunt of this crisis during that time when we were the epicenter. They were going through some of the toughest realities. So, they know, they are battle veterans. They know how important it is to distribute this vaccine and get it right. Here to tell you about all the efforts being made in our public hospital system, CEO of Health + Hospitals, Dr. Mitch Katz.

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for your continued support of the public hospital system. Without you, I think several years ago, when Health + Hospitals was so close to financial ruin, there would be no Health + Hospitals system. But you saved it, and I think it's proven what a great investment that is, and it’s really risen to the occasion. I want people to understand how difficult it is to be a doctor or a nurse in the midst of a pandemic. You’re wearing all of your gear but you're still worried, is this infection going to come home with me, am I going to get sick, am I going to bring this infection home to my children, to my spouse? And then, all of a sudden, you're intubating a fellow nurse – your charge nurse, the nurse who kept you safe. You're intubating a fellow doctor. You work beside her for all the weeks of the pandemic, what a horrible, horrible thing. And I'm so pleased that everyone recognizes that the health care workers should be at the top of the list. They've done their job. They're continuing to do their job. They need to be protected. They need to be kept healthy so that they do not go out sick, but can be there for all of us if we should need their help at hospitalization. And we're very proud of Health + Hospitals being able to receive the vaccine, we've been preparing for it. We will be focusing in the first weeks on those people who are at the highest risk of being exposed to COVID in the hospital. Those are people who are working with patients who have a breathing tube. That breathing tube causes more virus to be in the air. Because of that, we want the nurses, the ICU nurses, the respiratory therapists, the anesthesiologist, the emergency room doctors, we want them to be vaccinated first. We look forward to with the Mayor and Dr. Chokshi to being part of the broader effort after we've done the health care workers to do the broad population of New York City.

There is no more trusted provider to the low-income communities of New York City than Health + Hospitals. We take care of over a million people a year – 400,000, choose us as their primary source of care. We are known in the immigrant communities as a safe place to be cared for, a place where you will not get crippling bills, a place where no one will report you, a place where if you're homeless and poor you'll be treated with dignity and respect. And we look forward to being part of that effort. And, Mr. Mayor, we agree – Dr. Chokshi and you – that until then, we'll all do our best to stay safe. 

Mayor: Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Dr. Katz, to you and your whole team for everything you're doing to protect us. Hey, everyone, look, we, in this city, we're going to show the world once again what New York City can do. We're going to be distributing this vaccine quickly and effectively. We're also going to be doing it equitably. We're going to be doing it fairly for the folks who need it the most, for the neighborhoods that need it. The most our command center is going to lead the way to make sure things keep moving and that things are done the right way. But, in the meantime, just as we get this amazing, good news, we are dealing with this second wave here in New York City. We are not done yet with the coronavirus. So, let's celebrate today. Let's be hopeful. It is a shot of hope. Let's be clear, it's not just a shot in the medical sense, it's a shot of hope. But we have to keep fighting this virus in the meantime. So, we remain vigilant. We're going to have a tough December, a tough January. You heard the doctor say continue to take those precautions so that we can move forward.

Now, one of the precautions the State of New York made a decision, and I agree with that decision, was to tighten up some of our restrictions. And, as of this morning, indoor dining is no longer in effect in New York City for the foreseeable future. Again, the more we fight back against the disease, the more the vaccine is distributed, that situation will change, and sooner rather than later, I believe. But those restrictions are in effect now. Indoor dining is not happening, but outdoor dining continues, takeout and delivery continue. Look, the folks who work in our restaurant industry, they've been through hell, let's be clear. I feel for every one of them, I feel for the folks who created a restaurant with their bare hands, had an idea, made it happen, employed people. I feel for hundreds or thousands or more New Yorkers working in the industry right now, and so many more that used to. We've got to bring this industry back. We've got to bring back the restaurants we love, but it's going to take time. In the meantime, we’ve got to stay safe, because this second wave is very, very real. So, we need to protect each other. We need people to be alive so they can next year feel what it's like to go back to eating indoors and celebrating our holidays with our families. We’ve got to protect people now. And if we're really going to have that recovery we deserve, we need that stimulus. Still, no clear direction coming from Washington, but we're going to keep fighting for a stimulus that actually allows the small businesses in New York City to recover, and the renters in New York City to recover, and the people of New York city to recover, and our economy to come back. That's what we'll keep fighting for. That's what we need. We need it now and we're going to need it when Joe Biden steps into the White House as our president.

Okay. Quick update – obviously, as we continue so much important work, one of the really bright spots has been our public schools. Our kids are safe. Our educators and staff are safe. Learning is going on right now in New York City – 878 schools opened in the course of last week. We are going to make sure that those schools remain safe, but we're also going to systematically move those schools to five-day-a-week education for as many kids as possible in as many schools as possible. Each school will be different, but we're going to keep you updated each week on how that progress is going. So, we're one week into it. And this week we'll have about 250 schools where kids will be going five days a week, either all kids or most kids, or, at minimum, the priority kids we've talked about – kids who live in shelter, kids who live in public housing, kids with special needs. So, five-day-a-week education, growing week by week in New York City. You're going to be seeing a lot more as we move forward. We'll keep you updated. But, really, credit to our educators, credit to the staff, everyone working so hard to make sure our kids get as many days in school as possible.

All right, let's go over today's indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report is 185 patients. It’s under our threshold of 200, that's the good news, but it's still way too high and it's been a tough stretch lately, obviously. A new indicator that we have, the hospitalization rate per 100,000 people – 2.73 today. We want to get that under two. Second, we're going over every day now both the probable and confirmed cases of the coronavirus on a seven-day average. Today’s number, a very high number, 2,137. Again, we want to stay under 550. It's going to take us a long time to get back there, but we will. Number three, this is the percentage of New York City residents testing positive, seven-day rolling average – today's report, 5.5 percent. We want to get back under five and then keep going – lower, lower all the time – and the vaccine is going to be leading the way.

A few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, we turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know the name of the outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Good morning, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi, by Dr. Katz, by Commissioner Deanne Criswell, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today will go to Emma Fitzsimmons from the New York Times. 

Question: Hi, good morning, Mayor.

Mayor: How are you going, Emma? 

Question: Can you tell us – hi, I'm good. So, can you tell us which other hospitals are going to be receiving the doses today and, you know, what your plans are for the rest of the day? 

Mayor: Sure, Emma. I'll start with my plans and pass to Dr. Chokshi to talk about distribution. And, as Dr Chokshi said, we'll always tell you what is confirmed, what we can say is absolutely fact. And, you know, when we are not certain yet of a specific detail, we're going to tell you that too, because this is going to be an ever-evolving situation in the coming days. So, I will say, in my case, I'll be at a hospital here in the city this afternoon to have another great moment where a New Yorker gets vaccinated, but those details are still coming together. We'll let you know as soon as that happens. Dr. Chokshi, let's make sure we give people that which we know, but also acknowledge that which we're still waiting to learn. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Absolutely, Mr. Mayor. What I can just add briefly to that is that we do know that vaccine shipment is on the way to five hospitals today with the remaining of the 54 that we expect to get vaccine to get their shipments either on Tuesday or a Wednesday. As we get more confirmation about precise deliveries, that's additional that we can share over time.

Mayor: Go ahead, Emma. 

Question: Thanks. And can you tell us a little bit about how you heard about its arrival? We heard that State officials were tracking the arrival of the vaccine through a UPS phone app. So, can you talk about how you learned the news and then maybe the emotion or how you felt when you were watching the vaccination take place today, if you watched it? 

Mayor: I did. Absolutely beautiful moment – a beautiful moment. Look, there was such – to me, it was not just a moment where hope was realized. I felt that deeply, like just the – when I saw, you know, normally we don't love needles, right? But this is a needle I'm very happy about. So, when I saw the needle go into the nurse's arm, I just felt this welling up of hope – an amazing sense of like, we actually are turning the corner, it's actually here. And it was extraordinary. It was amazing that she didn't flinch. That's a true professional. But, you know, to me, we were watching an incredibly historic moment and the beginning of something much better for this city and this country. Also, the sense of fairness, the sense of justice – that it was a health care worker who got the first shot, that the folks who went through such hell to protect all of us and often haven't really been given the full credit they deserve – you know, them getting the opportunity to be honored with the first shot made a lot of sense for me. I have often been in churches lately and I quote the scriptural point that's so deep, so powerful – the first shall be last and the last shall be first – to see folks who often don't get their due, honored with the first shot, that was really powerful.

So, with that, in terms of how we have been working with the State on information and the tracking, I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sure. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'll just add briefly, it certainly makes your heart swell just to think about what it means for people who have who have given of themselves to protect others now getting some protection for themselves as well. And with respect to the logistics of tracking, the way that it works is that we, as well as the State, are notified when shipments occur – that's from the Pfizer manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo. Once that happens, it's the hospitals that then take the ultimate, you know, information flow around precisely how a shipment makes it to the loading dock of their hospital. That information, of course, is something that has to remain secure. But we're in constant communication with hospitals to both them what they should expect and make sure that they have the plans in place to receive the vaccine appropriately. But they're also telling us as they receive it as well. 

Mayor: I just want to take one quick moment to recognize, you know, a lot of times people talk about the differences in our country. I think it's a moment to show appreciation for our fellow Americans who did the work to create this vaccine. And I want to shout out the folks who work in that factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that have gotten this ready for all the rest of us. The spotlight of the world is on Kalamazoo, Michigan, and they deserve our praise and appreciation. So, shout out to everyone in Kalamazoo. Thank you for what you're doing for all of us. 

Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Marcia from WCBS. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you doing today? A very historic day for New York City – 

Mayor: It's such a great day, Marcia. I'm floating on air today, let me tell you. 

Question: So, I wanted to – my first question is, I wanted to ask you about the indoor restaurants. How long do you think that the restaurants will have to remain closed for indoor dining, knowing that the holiday spread is such a huge issue? 

Mayor: Marcia, look, I think we all have it within our power to fight back this virus and overcome it in the weeks ahead, but they're going to be tough weeks. December and January will be very tough. We're looking at this constant growth of the disease and this second wave, it's really, really worrisome. So, this action that the State took was necessary. The Governor said in a New York Times interview over the weekend that we should prepare for the possibility of a full shutdown. I agree with that. We need to recognize that that may be coming and we've got to get ready for that now, because we cannot let this virus keep growing, especially at a moment where we are finally getting the vaccine and can turn the corner. So, I would say to you, I think December is very tough, January is tough. I think after that, we get a chance to really come back strong. Go ahead, Marcia. 

Question: So, my second question has to do with the outdoor dining. If you go and look at some of the outdoor dining facilities that people have put up, many of them have just a single door to get in or an air slit. And the State has said that you have to have at least two open sides to qualify for outdoor dining. So, my question to you is what is the City going to do in terms of inspecting these facilities and saying that they pass muster? Are you going to go out and tell people, hey, listen, this doesn't work, you have to open a window, you have to open a side? Are you going to give them citations? What's going to happen? 

Mayor: It’s been an ongoing effort to get every one of the outdoor dining establishments to make sure they’re in full compliance with law, they're healthy, they're safe. Restaurant owners have worked really hard with City agencies, Department of Health and others, to get it right. But remember, some are doing outdoor dining, others are following the rules of indoor dining and they have very few people in them. It depends on how they've set up. The important thing is to make sure that they follow all the State guidance and our folks will be there to make it happen. And we've gotten a lot of compliance. I want to be clear, there's still things that have to be made better, no question, but the restaurant owners and the restaurant staff have really been trying to work with us, because they know how important it is to keep people safe. 

Moderator: The next is Andrew Siff from WNBC. 

Question: Yes Mayor, good morning. And good morning to everyone on the call. We were fortunate enough to witness this shot here at LIJ on the eastern edge of Queens here today. I'm wondering how quickly do you think the other vaccinations can take place at this facility, at other New York City hospitals today? We have been hearing – last week, I think Mark Levine told us he thought it might be 200 people per facility per day? Do you have any better clarification on how quickly this can ramp up? 

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi, then Dr. Katz. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Andrew, for that question. Yes. It's a really important question because of course we want to make sure that the vaccine gets to as many people as quickly as possible. There are some considerations though. To do this safely, to do it in a way that makes sure that the health care systems themselves take into account some of the side effects that may affect staff as well. So, what we've been doing in discussion with our colleagues at hospitals is to make sure that they have a plan in place with respect to scheduling staggered appointments so that it's not people all from the same unit getting vaccinated on the same day. You know, little things make a big difference with the logistics here. For example, giving someone an appointment to get the vaccine the day before they're scheduled to have a day off. That's something that can make a big difference with respect to making sure that they do okay, you know, after they get that vaccination. So, with that said, the plan is for you know, the doses that are getting delivered over the next three days to be methodically and gradually used over the next week to a week and a half overall. 

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Katz. 

President Katz: I very much agree with what Dr. Chokshi has said. We should be – we'll be able to fully use our supply. In this first day, certainly everybody should focus on making sure that their process is done well, that it's done safely. This is a vaccine that the world has never seen before. There's never been an mRNA vaccine. It has to be taken care of in very special conditions. It can only be out of the freezer for a certain amount of time, but once the process is mechanized, I think it will start to go very fast. And I know Health + Hospitals, we've hired a whole group of nurses specifically to focus on giving vaccinations so that there is no delay. As soon as supply comes, we'll be able to immunize people. Thank you. 

Mayor: Go ahead, Andrew. 

Question: Shifting gears to weather, the Department of Sanitation sent guidance that restaurants need to remove their outdoor space if there is 12 inches of snow in the forecast. And from what we're seeing right now, the forecast is right on the bubble in some areas for that. So, what is your recommendation to restaurants at this point with regard to the storm this week? 

Mayor: Look, we'll get out specific guidance through Emergency Management. I mean, right now it is on the bubble and I would not urge anyone to act yet until we get more clarity. We understand each restaurant's in a different situation. And it's really important to understand Andrew, the best of all worlds is when they have the ability to easily remove what they have built for outdoor dining. For some that's a lot harder than for others. But we also want to be clear that when we expect major snow it's in their interest in everyone's interest to clear away as much of their equipment as possible to facilitate the snow cleaning and protect their equipment. So, this one to me, we're still on the cusp right now. Emergency Management will get more information out next 24 hours and get a clearer picture. Let me see if our Commissioner of Emergency Management Deanne Criswell wants to add anything? 

Commissioner Deanne Criswell, Office of Emergency Management: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You're spot on. Right now, we’re still watching it. It looks like it's six to 12 inches. So, it's right on the cusp. And we are meeting with the National Weather Service three times a day to get updates and we'll get more definitive information out tomorrow to everybody on the exact steps that they need to take. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Emily from NY1. 

Question: Good morning, everyone. 

Mayor: How are you doing Emily? 

Question: I'm well, thank you very much. 

Mayor: Happy Vaccine Day! 

Question: Happy V Day. 

Mayor: V Day, right. 

Question: May I please ask you about the hard-hit communities that you discussed Friday, the ones you want to prioritize for vaccine distribution? I'm hearing what everyone's saying about getting limited quantities in the first couple of shipments, but what do we tell those communities about when they can expect to get the vaccine? How will they be able to access it? 

Mayor: Yeah. I want to turn to Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Varma. But look, I think the key point, Emily, as we've said, very clearly, everyone said federal, state, local health care workers, frontline, most vulnerable, and nursing home staff, nursing home residents, that's where we're all focused first. We're going to be focusing on other health care workers, first responders. We're going to then be focusing on the most vulnerable people, folks over 65, folks with preexisting conditions or especially folks that have both. But when we do that we're going to really put emphasis on the 27 neighborhoods that were most hard hit by COVID, that's neighborhoods of color in this city, Black, Latino, Asian. And we're going to make sure that they get their fair share. That's the basic concept. But to give you a little more flavor of how that will play out, first Dr. Chokshi and then Dr. Varma. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And that's exactly right with respect to how we see this unfolding over the coming weeks and months. The priority is, as the Mayor just said is that the coming weeks we'll be focused on people who are at greatest risk and particularly at greatest risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 illness. We hope and plan that there will be enough vaccine supply in the early months of 2021 for us to start expanding the circle out beyond that. And that's where these considerations that we have made central to our plan around equity will really be brought to bear. So, a little bit more about the how, to your question. Well, what we know is that the most important thing with respect to making sure that people who are in those hard-hit neighborhoods actually get the vaccine, is to rely on the places that they already trust. Whether it's a relationship that they have with their primary care doctor or the local clinic or their local pharmacy. And so, we're going to rely on that for distribution. But also rely on trusted messengers in those communities to communicate about the vaccine. 

Mayor: Dr. Varma. 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Yeah. I just wanted to touch on one aspect that Dr. Chokshi mentioned in his opening statement, which is there are things that we're waiting for also. And so, I think that today is an incredibly hopeful and exciting day because we have the first of our vaccines. But there are more vaccines coming. We know the Moderna vaccine, which is very similar to the Pfizer one is likely to get authorized very soon. There are evaluations of another US grown product, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. So, I think what's going to be important for communities throughout the city is to continue to listen to the updated guidance that they're getting. And as Dr Chokshi has mentioned, talk to your trusted health care providers because there's going to be a lot of information. It's going to be challenging to sift through at the time. We're going to do our best to constantly communicate and make it clear. But learning and trying to understand what's happening is going to be helpful so that when your turn in line comes, you're going to be ready to know about making the right decision for your own health. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Emily. 

Question: Thank you all. The second one, my second question is regarding safety measures at Rikers considering the surge. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a letter to the DOC raising her concerns and asking what you're doing for the individuals there considering they're not sentenced to death by virus there? 

Mayor: Look Emily, it's an important question. And one where New York City has a very clear track record. And I worked very closely with our Correction team, our Health + Hospitals team that provides the health care at Rikers and other jails. And I want to thank Dr. Katz and all of his colleagues at Health + Hospitals who work in our Correction system. They don't get a lot of credit, but they deserve it because they do really good and important work. So, I thank them. As we were dealing with the first wave the great unknown, everyone was trying to make sense of this situation, this city made a bold decision. Working with DAs, working with the State, we ultimately had about 1,600 inmates come out of our jail system as a protective measure, given what was happening then. We are in a different situation now, thank God. Correctional health is in a much better position to address the virus because everyone's learned so much more. We have a lot of space that we are using because the population, particularly at Rikers went so low that we have a lot of available space. We're able to spread people out. We're screening anyone who comes in, whether employee or inmate to make sure that we know their situation. It's a much, much better situation now. That said, we're watching it very carefully. The last report I got Emily was the infection rate in our Correction system was lower than the infection rate for the whole city. But that said, we're watching carefully, we're preparing steps to make sure we can protect people and make moves as we get more information. 

Moderator: The next is Rich Lamb from WCBS 880. 

Question: Good morning. Congratulations, I guess Mr. Mayor and the team there. 

Mayor: Congratulations to everyone Rich. It's an amazing day for all of us. 

Question: And just an aside here. Did you know that Pfizer started in Brooklyn in 1849? 

Mayor: I did not know that. I know they're a great New York City company, but I didn't know that they go back that far. That's pretty amazing. So, it's a proud day for New York City leading the country again. 

Question: Yeah. So, this is yeah so true. So, this is an intramuscular shot from what I understand, not intravenous. And we've heard about this ultra-cold storage. So how cold is the vaccine when it's injected? And can you feel that? I mean, it's almost like one would think it's almost solid and the way it's, when it's at that low temperature or it must be frozen solid, yes? 

Mayor: I have to say before I turn to Dr. Chokshi. I was so impressed again by Sandra Lindsay who just didn't even blink when she got the shot in her shoulder there. Obviously, you did not see it in her reaction. It looked pretty smooth. But Dr. Chokshi talk to us about the temperature and what it feels like, et cetera? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sure. First Rich, thanks for that fun Pfizer fact. I wasn't aware of it either. 

Mayor: Fun Pfizer fact. That was very alliterative. Go ahead. 

Commissioner Chokshi: So, to return the favor with respect to the information about the temperature of the vaccine. You're right, when it's stored it's at ultra-cold temperatures. But it does get thawed before it's administered, you know, before it's injected as an intramuscular shot. So, generally, that will be at room temperature. It takes about 30 minutes for the vaccine to thaw from ultra-cold temperatures to room temperature if you just leave it out at room temperature. It takes about three hours for it to thaw from ultra-cold to placing it in a refrigerator. If it is placed in a refrigerator then when it's mixed for the shot it will further a thaw. So, you shouldn't experience any sensation of coldness upon getting the vaccine. 

Mayor: Go ahead, Rich. 

Question: Okay. And I'm just wondering if Dr. Katz can go over exactly who is getting the first shots and what the thinking is in regard to that? I heard something along those lines, but I wondered if we can know what the thinking – why people are in the most danger, who are the people? And what's the, you know, how does it work? 

President Katz: Certainly. So, the people in a hospital who were at the most danger are people who are doing procedures that aerosolized the virus, meaning send the virus particles into the air. That usually means there's some pressure. And the common instance of that is patients who were on a breathing tube, where a tube is placed down their throat in order to use a ventilator to push in air. And that causes air to be pushed out and the virus into the air. So, the people who most deal with those tubes are respiratory therapists, ICU nurses, which is I'm sure why Mr. Mayor, you saw the ICU nurse getting the vaccine today, emergency room physicians who intubate patients, those would be the people at highest risk and the ones we're doing first.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Jake Offenhartz at Gothamist. 

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Hey Jake, how you been?

Question: I'm pretty good. You mentioned that the possibility of a full shutdown in the coming weeks and I was hoping you could kind of elaborate on what that would look like. Are we talking, you know, the same size shut down as we saw in March, something different your envisioning? I also know the chair of the City Council of Health Committee has mentioned, you know, calling for the closure of non-essential office spaces. So, are you at a point right now where you would recommend New Yorkers who don't need to go into an office, don't? 

Mayor: Yeah, look, Jake, first of all, this is a constant conversation that I'm having with the Governor, my team's having with the State all the time, and what is increasingly clear is that all forms of restrictions have to be on the table at this point. The Governor's quote in the Times I think said it exactly right, and the current rate we're going, you have to be ready now for a full shutdown, a pause like we had back at the end of the spring. And that is, I think, increasingly necessary just to break the back of the second wave, to stop this second wave from growing, to stop it from taking lives, to stop it from threatening our hospitals. So ,we're working carefully with the State. The State will ultimately make the decision. I certainly do agree that folks who don't need to be going into a workplace at this point should do as much as they can remotely. Again, I think there's a likelihood of more restrictions quite soon. So, folks should start making those adjustments now and get ready to work remotely if they can. Hopefully we're talking about restrictions only for a matter of weeks, but we have to be preparing ourselves mentally and, you know, practically for that possibility. Go ahead. 

Question: Okay, and on education you had mentioned there are 250 public schools where some of the neediest students ready to go five-days-a-week, and how many of these schools can all students go five-days-a-week? 

Mayor: We'll get you the updated numbers as they keep emerging. Jake, I think what's really important for everyone to understand is this is going to literally improve each week. So, this week going into next week, we have only a few days of school, and then everyone comes back on January 4th. You're going to see improvement throughout this week, on January 4th you're going to see a lot and improvement. My goal, the Chancellor's goal, maximum number of schools out of that 878 schools that are up and running, maximum number go to full five-day-a-week for all their kids, the next best category is five-day-a-week for most kids, and the next best category is five-day-a-week at least for the kids with greatest need. We're going to be able to do that I think very successfully across those 878 schools. In terms of exactly how many we'll get into each category, we'll know a lot more in the coming days, but I think the thing to envision is when we come back on January 4th you're going to see a big jump up of the number of schools that are doing five-day-a-week education, and we'll keep going from there. We'll keep improving upon it every week thereafter.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Amanda Eisenberg from Politico. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you? 

Mayor: Happy vaccine day, Amanda, how are you?

Question: Happy vaccine day. I cried watching a video, so I'm very happy.

Mayor: I appreciate it. I think this is going to be a new question, do you cry when you watch vaccine videos? So, I think that shows you have a lot of heart. 

Question: Yeah. So, I wanted to ask you, my first question is when do you expect to get the vaccine within this priority schema considering Trump and his staffers are among the first to get to that? 

Mayor: The man who's going to make that decision is sitting right here. I really think it's important for public officials to follow the guidance of their health leadership. I will go by my priority status whenever that is, unless for any reason that health leadership determines otherwise. So, let me pass the question to the person will make the decision, Doctor Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor and I just want to say the Mayor has been very upfront and clear about about his wanting advice from me as a Health Commissioner from the rest of the health team about this very question and really it brings to bear issues of of fairness. And so, the Mayor will get the vaccine, you know, sort of as the prioritization is laid out over the coming weeks. Right now, as you know, the first priority is high risk hospital workers, as well as people who are in long-term care facilities, both residents and staff. So, it will be after that phase at some point that the Mayor will get his vaccine. I think the really important thing is when he does get it, the symbol that that shows with respect to confidence in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

Mayor: Amen. Okay, go ahead, Amanda. 

Question: Great, thank you. And then my second question is in regards to the Satmar funeral, the New York Post wrote a couple of stories over the weekend. And so, I was wondering to find out what you're hoping to glean from your investigation that wasn't already available via photos and social media? 

Mayor: Yeah, it's a good question, Amanda, look, a lot of times the photos and social media give us a very partial view when we're talking about the potential of shutting down a building and not allowing anyone in, we want to make sure we get exactly right. I'll get an update on the investigation and we'll certainly make public what we found, but I think that, you know, we're, we're going to continue to talk to community leaders to make sure that they understand that these rules must be followed, and, if not, no one wants to shut down the building, but if we see that there hasn't been compliance, we will shut down the building. Go ahead.

Moderator: Last question for today, it goes to Gersh from Streetsblog. 

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor, how are you? Congratulations. 

Mayor: Congratulations to all, Gersh, and I want to see if there's a transportation related vaccine question here. I'm ready. 

Question: Well, there isn't really, but I will follow up on Marcia’s question, which was legitimate. So, as you know, we see these structures in the street now for the open restaurants, many of them have opaque sidewalls, meaning even though they remain setback from the intersections, car drivers can't see pedestrians and vice versa. So, I've asked DOT many times to document how many inspections it has done and how many restaurants have been cited for blocking view sheds that you guys put into the rules, and the only answer I've gotten is many. So, I'm wondering if you can instruct the DOT to provide the actual number of restaurants that have been cited for creating dangerous street conditions with walls that cannot be seen through and I'd love to get your comments on that? 

Mayor: No, look, I'm really glad you're raising it and, you know, Gersh, something I like to say when a journalist raises a point that helps us focus on things we need to do better or things we, you know, need to check up on, I find it very helpful. So, I want to thank you for that because I am a Vision Zero believer, and I'm also an outdoor dining believer, and open dining, open streets, it has been amazing step forward for the city, but it has to be safe. So, I will get you an answer because we do need to make sure that we've done that piece, right. We got to keep everyone safe while we're also trying to protect people's livelihoods and give people a real sense of this city able to recover soon. But I'll get you an answer on that. Go ahead. 

Question: Okay. And my second question, I will ask a COVID vaccine related transportation question. I'm able to do that, moving on the fly. You said the other day that you would obviously take the vaccine to demonstrate that it is safe. You're obviously excited about the vaccine. Given that study after study show that transit is also safe and the transit is really suffering because a lot of people think it's unsafe, maybe you would start riding transit, maybe for a week just to show that it's safe. And I know in the past you have said that such a Mayoral demonstration is “cheap symbolism”, but maybe in this case, it isn't, tell me what do you think? 

Mayor: Respectfully, old friend, you're, you're taking that quote out of context. That was a quote about a different matter which I did feel at the time, but this is a different matter. I agree with you it is important to let people know the subways are safe. I like the idea of having a period of time to really emphasize to people that they're safe by being out there. So, I accept that good idea, and we'll figure out when the right time to do that is, and we'll do it, and we will surely invite you along.

Everybody, as we conclude today, what an amazing day, let's just, you know, after everything we've been through, this whole year, and it has been a long, long year, we will not look back on 2020 fondly. However, let's give 2020 it's due in the midst of this horrible pandemic, an amazing human effort all over the world to come up with this vaccine and it was done in record time. And now everyone is putting their shoulder to the wheel to make sure that this vaccine gets to all the people in the city who need it as quickly as possible. Look, there's some justice in the fact that we were the epicenter where the first wave dealt with the brunt of this crisis and now we're going to be in the first wave of fighting back, getting this vaccine out as quickly or more quickly than any place else in the country. Protecting our people. New York City is going to show the whole world how quickly and well we can get this vaccine to the people that need it. But remember, vaccine is part of the answer. It's going to ultimately be the biggest part of the answer, but right now it still depends on you. We got one last big battle in December and January, we got to fight back this virus so we can give the vaccine time to do its work. So, everyone, please remember the masks, distancing, if you're traveling, don't travel, cancel your travel, stay close, small gatherings, help each other, and when the opportunity comes to get that vaccine, go get it. When it's your priority time, go get it. I'm going to do it, our health leadership's going to do it. We do all these things, right. We're going to get through this last fight and finally turn the page on the coronavirus. Thank you, everyone.

2020-12-15 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. I'm still kind of feeling the glow from yesterday. What an amazing day, what a relief after all the months we've been through. And you know, this was such an important day for our city yesterday. I'm going to talk about that. But I also want to say for our nation, here was a day when things really went right in America, where things really worked in America, and people pulled together in a common cause, and that is a good feeling to feel again. It was really good to see the shipments of the vaccine coming out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, going all over the country, everyone working together to protect their fellow Americans. It was really good to see that sense that we could actually have a positive moment together. Didn't matter which state you came from or what party you're in, people were just working together. It was good to see the electoral college function like normal. It was good to feel that we could do the things that we're good at, this country could do something big and ambitious, and show the world and show ourselves what we're capable of. So, yesterday was a really profound day, a very moving day. As it unfolded hour by hour, I felt an incredible sense of reassurance and hope, and it was good to see what it could mean for our future. Today, you know, we start the beginning of a new era. This is the time when we fight back against the coronavirus now with the vaccine in our arsenal. We, today, begin the work of ensuring that the vaccine reaches as many New Yorkers as possible, as quickly as possible.

And I got to tell you, this is about, of course, the power of this vaccine to save lives and protect people. But it's also about hope. It is not just a shot you take in the arm with a needle. It is a shot of hope. It is a reminder that the war against the coronavirus will soon be over. It's a reminder of what people can do when we work together. And being there at NYU Langone yesterday and seeing Nurse Manager Tara Easter get that shot, and she was cool in the saddle and she was positive about it. And she wanted to tell people how important it was to get the shot. But it was also really powerful talking to her about experiences she had in the spring, when she was in the thick of the fight against the coronavirus, and like everybody else in frontline health care work, trying to figure out what to do with this new, horrible scourge. She talked about how different it felt now, how much people had learned, how much people were working together to apply those lessons and protect each other, and how the vaccine, to her, felt like a turning of the corner for her and her colleagues, for the people at the front line, protecting all of us. So, I wanted to thank her for the way she talked about it, and the incredible work she and her colleagues had done. Also, Frank Baez, the RN, who gave the shot. What good people, doing such important work. 

Now they made history. They were part of those first – that first wave, those first New Yorkers to get the vaccine. And they will be the first of many. We have 73 health care workers who have already received their first dose in New York City. And today we're expecting almost 41,000 doses to be available at 42 hospitals across New York City. So, this is going to move very fast. We're going to talk about, in the course of the coming days, more and more vaccines coming in and from different companies as they get their approvals. So, this is going to really speed up. But what we've seen so far is our hospitals are ready. They have been waiting for this moment and preparing, and it's incredibly encouraging to see the vaccine here and see it go into action immediately. Now, we all felt that sense of relief as we saw our fellow New Yorkers get their shots, as we saw the vaccine actually come to life and it started to, for me, give me a sense of what's going to be in the future when we can actually start to come back together, we can gather with our families again, and hug our loved ones and restore so many of the things that we care about in our lives.

Now you can see that, you can see that light at the end of the tunnel, and we need as many New Yorkers as possible to get this vaccine to help us all move forward. But we know that to do that we have to build trust. We know that there's a lot of people who have gone through so much in this crisis. And there's a reason that people are feeling hesitant. It's not surprising. There's a reason there's a trust gap that needs to be addressed. The way to address that trust gap is to give people information, to show them the truth, to show them what works, to explain the whole reality, answer concerns, to bring forward voices that people really believe in, in their communities, to keep showing the evidence that the vaccine is proven to be safe and effective., that it's easy to receive, that it will be accessible in all communities, particularly the communities that bore the brunt of the coronavirus crisis. Those 27 neighborhoods, people of color in 27 neighborhoods in New York City who got the worst of the coronavirus, deserve their fair share of the vaccine. And we're going to make that a priority. 

So, we need to show that to people that, that equity, that fairness in the distribution will be there. Of course, we got to remind people it's easy to get this vaccine. It is free. And we've got to continue to express that in all the languages spoken in New York City in the community, at the grassroots, and particularly in voices that people trust and believe in. So, today we're gathered by three New Yorkers where I've – joined, I should say, by three New Yorkers who really are just tremendous examples of leaders, faith leaders, community leaders, who people trust, who they believe in, who have led communities in a way that people really see and feel, and folks who have given their whole lives to helping their fellow New Yorkers. These are the voices that will be heard the most. So, I want you to hear from these three extraordinary individuals. First from Southeast Queens, he is a great spiritual leader. I've had the joy of knowing him for many years, also a great leader for social justice, for the work he's done with the National Action Network and someone who is revered for all he does for the community. My pleasure to introduce, Reverend Phil Craig. 

[...] 

Reverend, thank you so much. I love that phrase, IVR. That's informed vaccine recipients. That's fantastic. And thank you, I agree with you and your suggestions are very powerful and I'm going to pursue them with our health team and make sure we get that information out. You're right, people just need straightforward answers to really basic questions. And the more answers, the more trust. So, thank you. I know you've given this a lot of thought. I know you really have your finger on the pulse of your congregation and your larger community in Southeast Queens. And we're going to be leaning on you to keep giving us that feedback and those suggestions so we can improve our approach all along. So, thank you very, very much. I want you to hear – thank you, God bless you. I want you to hear now from another great leader. I have the warmest feeling for him. I've worked with them closely for years on social justice issues like paid sick days and living wage. He has been a strong voice for the empowerment of the Latino community and all communities. And I remember years ago, having really thoughtful conversations with him on something we both are very interested in, which is liberation theology. This is a thinker and a leader and a doer both in the spiritual sense and as a community leader. My great honor to present Bishop Raymond Rivera from the Latino Pastoral Action Center. 

[...] 

Thank you so much, Bishop. Thank you for all you're doing. And listen, I really want to affirm the points. One, we are going to prioritize people exactly like you, who are older and, or have those pre-existing conditions. And I want you to please make sure you take all the right precautions until the day comes that you get the vaccine. We're going to prioritize, for sure, those 27 neighborhoods, Black, Latino, Asian neighborhoods that bore the brunt of the coronavirus. We're definitely going to put out all the information in multiple languages, but a heavy, heavy emphasis on Spanish, you're right, because so many of our fellow New Yorkers speak Spanish as their primary language. And we're going to do that with every possible tool to spread the word, but we need our faith partners to do that every day because, again, you're amongst the most trusted voices in the city. So, thank you. We will partner with you for sure. Lastly, everyone, I want you to hear from someone very special and some people deserve the title, a living legend, Bishop Hezekiah Walker is one of those people. A renowned spiritual leader. When I talk to people of faith around the city, his is one of the names that people hold in particular reverence. He is the pastor of the Love Fellowship Tabernacle in Brooklyn, and he's also beloved because of the way he has spread a beautiful, positive message, and a spiritual message through music. He is a Grammy award winning gospel artist as well, and renowned for all those elements of the amazing work he does in Brooklyn and far beyond. My great honor to present to you, Bishop Hezekiah Walker. 

[...] 

Thank you so much, Bishop. I think it was powerful. I appreciate – I know you always speak from the heart, but what I could hear in your voice, and I hope all New Yorkers could hear it too, was the honest pain of what we've seen over decades and centuries that bred that distrust, but also the hope that if we can give people that good information, answer those honest questions, and allow leaders of the community to speak from that place of knowledge you speak of, it's going to allow us to move forward and I really appreciate your willingness to be a leader in this effort. We have to – we, as the City government, and also our colleagues in the scientific and health community, we’ve got to get really good information out there and we’ve got to answer people’s questions. So, you’re calling us to such an important and noble mission and we’re going to answer that call. Thank you so much, Bishop. 

Everybody, you’ve heard from three renowned faith leaders who are going to a be key part of the effort to build trust and get that information out there. It’s another reminder, the day is coming when we will end this pandemic. The day is coming when we will turn the corner, but we all have to be a part of that solution. Leaders and people whose voices are heard and respected by everyday New Yorkers spreading good information, encouraging each other. In the meantime, doing all the basics, wearing the masks and washing our hands and practicing the social distancing and – I’m going to keep saying it – not traveling for the holidays, keeping those gatherings small for the holidays. We need to do all those things to give the time for the vaccine to be distributed so we can turn that corner once and for all. And I keep saying it, anyone who feels bad about the fact that these holidays won’t be the same as usual, if we do our job now together, next year the holidays will be great. We’ll all be back together. It's not long to wait. Let's do what we can do right now. 

And with that, let's turn to our indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID 19, today's report 160 patients, and we want to be at 200 or below. And that's a good day today. We are seeing a lot of uptick lately, but we're always happy to see a lower number. But the hospitalization rate is not good, 2.89 per 100,000. We want to be under two. So, that's an indicator of the bigger problem we're still facing, and we're going to be fighting for weeks now. Next update on current new cases, again, probable and confirmed together, this is on the seven-day average – today's number 2,813. Obviously, a huge number. We want to be under 550. It's going to take weeks and weeks to get back down there, but we will, especially now that we have the vaccine on our side. And number three, percentage of New York City residents tested positive, this is the seven-day rolling average, 5.51 percent. We need to get under five percent. Again, real work to do on that one. Now, let me give you a few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that let's turn to our colleagues in the media, and please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Reverend Phillip Craig, by Bishop Raymond Rivera, by Bishop Hezekiah Walker, by Dr. Dave Chokshi, by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma, by Dr. Mitchell Katz, and by Commissioner Deanne Criswell. First question today goes to Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Question: Hey, good morning all. Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you? 

Mayor: I’m feeling great, Juliet. What a good day, how you doing? 

Question: I'm doing fine. Thank you. My question regards the vaccine. I was wondering what the schedule is, as far as you know the rollout for the medical workers and the nursing home staff. How many weeks do you think that will take? And when do you think the general public will start getting the vaccine? 

Mayor: I'll start, and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi and it's such an important question, Juliet. Remember, as Dr. Katz said yesterday, this is the first time our medical institutions have ever dealt with a vaccine like this. So, they're quickly acclimating to it and figuring out the best way to work with it. So, the first days will take some warming up, but then you're going to see things go faster and faster. We also expect more and more shipments to be coming in, including from multiple companies. So, this is going to move quickly, but remember job one, frontline health care workers, nursing home staff, nursing home patients – that's going to take us December into January. We want to start getting it out to the communities as quickly as possible, but first we have to take care of the people who are most vulnerable and the people who take care of us. With that, I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And that's exactly right with respect to the timeline. The focus for this week and next week will start with those high risk health care workers, particularly high-risk hospital workers, whom we're very much relying upon as we experience COVID hospitalizations go up. And then starting next week, we'll get to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, both staff as well as residents in those facilities, and then expand to other health care workers and other frontline workers very soon after that. So, that initial phase will take you know, at least a few weeks for us to get through. And then we'll start expanding the circle out after that. But for the part of your question about when this will get to the general public, so much does depend on the supply of vaccine that will be available. We should have a better sense of that by the end of this month or at the beginning of next month. And based on that you know, we're hoping by mid-2021 is when we would be able to vaccinate everyone in New York who wants it.

Mayor: And Juliet, I just want to make sure that last point is clear. We are going to move very aggressively. So the point about taking care of the folks at the highest priority, December going into January, and then building out from there. Obviously we're concerned about all health care workers, first responders, we're concerned about folks over 65, folks with pre-existing conditions, especially folks who have both. That's just going to go more and more each month. The last point that Dr. Chokshi made is, you know, when you get to the end of the spring, we'd like to have seen everybody in New York City vaccinated. That's our goal. But each month you'll see more and more people reached. And what that means is there's less and less place for the vaccine to spread. And that's going to start to make things safer for everyone. That every additional New Yorker gets vaccinated is one step closer to safety for all of us. Go ahead, Juliet.

Question: Okay, great. Thank you. Police Commissioner Shea spoke on NY1 this morning, and he's saying the vaccines for the NYPD will not be required. Does this concern you? Is this City policy and will city workers be required to get the vaccine?

Mayor: Juliet we're going to continue to discuss that matter. But again, with everything we're doing with the vaccine, the best approach is to educate people and get them bought in, answer the questions. There's a lot of valid questions. The more this is voluntary, the better off we are. We're still talking about how we want to approach the City workforce, and there's different elements of the City workforce who do different things. But for now the approach is to focus on education and getting people to buy into this vaccine voluntarily.

Moderator: The next is Katie from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hi, good morning Mayor de Blasio. My questions are about the forecasted snowstorm that is supposed to hit the city starting tomorrow and the structures for outdoor dining. I know that outdoor dining has been suspended by the Department of Sanitation because of the snow alert. But you spoke last night about some of these structures that have been built for outdoor dining. I know that some had been recommended to take the top – their roofs off, or whatever it may be. But I'm curious if it is a safety concern, why hasn't this been mandated? And is there any concern about plows maneuvering around, especially in some streets that are pretty tight already?

Mayor: Look, it’s an important question, Katie, but I'd say, you know, this is something we've tried to communicate clearly to the restaurant community. I talked to Deputy Mayor for Operations Laura Anglin yesterday, who has played a leading role in Open Streets and Open Restaurants. And, you know, we've been very clear to the restaurant community, that when we're getting a larger storm secure everything that could be secured. So obviously it doesn't blow around and it doesn't create a danger to anyone. And if you have the kind of outdoor dining setup that you can bring it all in, that's ideal. If you don't, if it's a restaurant that really has built something much more substantial, they can leave it there, but secure everything they can secure. Department of Sanitation has been for months and months preparing to work around the restaurant structures whenever needed. It's a new reality, but I think the priority is right, that we've said, look, we had to save people's livelihoods and jobs. That was worth a major, major focus. And certainly we can work around that with plowing. It'll take some extra creativity, but we can do that. So I think the restaurant world has heard loud and clear for tomorrow night. Bring in what you can bring in. If you really can't, we will certainly work around it. Go ahead, Katie.

Question: Okay. Yeah, To follow up, I don't know if anyone from the Department of Sanitation is on the call, but I just have a lot more questions. I know creativity can be used in a lot of instances, but looking at – you can't change the size of the street or some of these exterior buildings are pretty sturdy structures. And they've spent, restaurants have spent lots of money to build them. So I don't know if there's any other support being issued to restaurants? And if there's any – if you've spoken to the Department of Sanitation about the actual reality and feasibility of making tight turns with lots more things on the street?

Mayor: Again, Katie, this is a decision that was made quite a while back to support outdoor dining, with the understanding it would take a different approach to plowing. Bluntly that could be only a few times this year. I mean, last winter we saw almost no major snow. We don't know what this one's actually going to be in the end tomorrow. But you know, it could be something we need to address a few times in the course of the winter. But what we know now, we have smaller plows, you know pickup truck kind of plows that we can use in much tighter spaces. And we'll work with what's there. If it's a, I said very clearly, if it's a structure that cannot be easily brought in and it's going to stay out there, we're asking the restaurant owners to secure it to the best of their ability. And we know that Sanitation has been alerted to work around it. And I'm convinced we can make it work. May take a little more effort than normal, but we can make it work.

Moderator: The next is Henry from Bloomberg.

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing today?

Mayor: I'm doing well, Henry. How about you?

Question: I'm good. Thank you. I want to get back to the discussion about closing down a little bit of essential businesses. Have you had any contact with employers around the city? Do you have more details about when this will happen? You said after Christmas, might it be after New Year's? Any businesses that would be expanded as essential that weren't included in that universe originally?

Mayor: Okay. Henry, fair questions indeed. First of all, of course, the State of New York will make the final decisions here. I've been having this conversation repeatedly with the Governor. Our teams are talking. Any final guidance would be, you know, written and clear and include the answers to your questions. But look, here's what I think we're seeing. The Governor spoke about this in the Times interview the other day. Clearly these numbers that I went over a moment ago, they're going in the wrong direction. We are just on the verge of a huge breakthrough with the vaccine, but we're also dealing with a second wave. We got to beat it back. We got to protect lives, we've got to protect our hospitals. So I think, unfortunately I don't say it with anything but sorrow, but I do think it’s needed. We're going to need to do some kind of shutdown in the weeks ahead. Something that resembles the pause we were in in the spring. And I think it would be overwhelmingly what we saw then. There may be some adjustments Henry, but I think it's going to very much resemble what we saw in the spring, essential work only. And look, if we implement that, my nomination would be right after Christmas. If we implement that, with some good luck and hard work and with the vaccine starting to help us, you know, we could be out of that in a matter of weeks, but having stopped the worst of this surge. So lots still to be talked through. But that's an example of something that I think could help us a lot. Go ahead, Henry.

Question: Okay. Thank you for that, Mr. Mayor. Here's another question about the program that isolates or offers to isolate people in hotels. These numbers are rising. You know, they're in the hundreds now. The use of these hotels is comparatively minimal and I'm just wondering, is the City paying for vacant rooms? And is the City encouraging these people to isolate because that may be part of why these numbers are increasing? These people go home and they are contagious.

Mayor: Yeah, Henry clearly folks being in a home environment is a big challenge. That's why we've been so adamant about wanting folks to avoid larger gatherings at home. When there's a family with a lot of people in the same home or multi-generational, that presents real challenges. We've seen that throughout this crisis. The Take Care initiative as part of Test and Trace, and that's led by Dr. Amanda Johnson and she and her team, I think have done an amazing job, helping people to safely separate. You're right, most people choose not to take the hotel, even though it is being made available for free, with lots of support. Most people would rather be with their family. There's lots of ways to help people stay at their home, but still safely separate, get the support they need and be careful about the folks around them. And a lot of work is done to educate people on that, get them support, check in with them regularly. So that can work fine. I do think people should look at this hotel option. The quarantine period in the scheme of things is brief. If that's a better option, you know, we want people to take it and use it. There has been some uptick in that lately. But I think Henry the most essential answer to your question is that people generally want to stay home and I don't blame them. But what we want is everyone to really communicate with the Take Care folks, to get the most support possible and do that in the safest way possible.

Moderator: The next is Michael Gartland from the Daily News.

Question: Morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor:Hey Michael, how you been?

Question: I'm good. A couple of questions. The first one is I think directed more to the health officials on the call today. On this Moderna vaccine, do we know if it will be – will we be able to use it on children under 16, pregnant women? Are there kind of key differences in the Moderna vaccine compared to the Pfizer one?

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Varma jump in.

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for the question. So the Moderna vaccine as people on the call may know, an initial FDA review of the science was published just a few minutes ago earlier this morning. And so we're pouring through some of the details of what was published. But let me tell you what we know right now, particularly emphasizing what's the same and what's different between the Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine. What's the same, and you know the most important point is that it does appear that the safety and the efficacy of the Moderna vaccine is very comparable to the Pfizer vaccine. And both are very good vaccines from that perspective. So that's the headline with respect to what we are seeing with respect to that FDA review. There are some important differences between the two vaccines. And let me just go through a handful of the points on that. First Moderna does not require storage in ultra cold temperatures. It can be stored at -20 degrees, that's in a normal freezer. And that will really help us to expand the places where Moderna can go. It also has a longer shelf life in the refrigerator once it's transferred from the freezer. It can stay in normal refrigeration for 30 days. And that will also help us you know, expand access once the Moderna vaccine is authorized. And then with respect to some of your other questions about the clinical characteristics, the Moderna vaccine was submitted for authorization only for ages 18 and up. That's another difference from the Pfizer vaccine which was already authorized for ages 16 and up. But neither will be authorized for children below the age of 16. And then finally, we will get some additional information in the coming days on the Moderna vaccine about special populations, including pregnant people, people who are immunocompromised, and others. And we'll be sure to keep the public posted on those points as well.

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Varma, would you like to add?

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Nothing additional for me.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Michael.

Question: Thanks guys. The second question I have is on the schools. So we see that more than 120 school buildings were shut down yesterday for a day or more because of multiple COVID cases. And you know, City Health officials have said that, you know, there are concerns about keeping schools open amid high community spread. And there's been disruption in closing these buildings. So I'm wondering how you're kind of weighing these countervailing things? How are you weighing the concern as community spread continues? And does the situation room and the Test and Trace people have you know, the bandwidth to follow through on all these individual cases we're now seeing?

Mayor: Yeah, there's no question the bandwidth is there. And I want to thank everyone at the situation room and at Test and Trace. They've done a really amazing job supporting every school community. Remember that they're focused now on elementary schools and special education programs and pre-K, 3K. So about 878 schools is our universe. The information as of the end of yesterday was 41 were in a longer shut down, but again they will come out of that and keep going as we saw throughout the fall. So, you know, you're going to have some schools shut down at any given point. There's still a pandemic going on. Until we really can turn the corner on the second wave and get the vaccine out there you will have some school shutdowns. But the vast majority of schools are open and serving kids and doing an amazing job of keeping everyone safe. And we're testing constantly. So I have a lot of confidence in our school system and the ability of our health care team working with our educators to keep everyone safe. And the vast majority of schools every single day are open and supporting our kids and families.

Moderator: The next is Narmeen from PIX.

Question: Good morning, Mayor.

Mayor: Hey, Narmeen. How you doing?

Question: I'm doing well, thank you. I'm curious to know as you hear some of the faith leaders speak just earlier, what are some of the immediate points for you, that you see the City has some lapses in? Some places, some things that they mentioned that you feel the City needs to close the gap on in terms of getting the information out there in regards to the vaccine?

Mayor: Really good question Narmeen. I think it's kind of the thing we deal with every day that the government has to speak to the people, has to speak in a really clear, straightforward language. And really answer tough and fair questions. You heard from each of the faith leaders the kinds of questions that people have on their mind, you know, is it safe? You know, prove to me it's safe. Explain to me what this is really going to do and what the side effects may be, all of these kinds of things that people really need to understand. And they need to see proof that it works. And I think what's going to happen, this is kind of the way it always happens in these situations is you know, the very health care heroes that we're seeing get this vaccine in the last 24 hours, they're going to start telling their stories over the days ahead. And from what we've understood, most of them should have no side effects or very limited side effects, but have the great advantage of being protected. And as more and more people start to testify about that, I think it's going to give greater and greater comfort. More and more people will over time, know someone in their life who has taken the vaccine successfully. But we in government have to get that fact sheet out, that is the point that Dr. Craig, excuse me Reverend Craig made that, that fact sheet answering all those core questions and really listening to the questions that come up along the way and giving those clean answers, that's what's going to move people. Go ahead.

Question: Thank you for that Mayor. Also just sticking to that subject just a bit longer. We talked to several smaller community organizations that were kind of born out of the pandemic ones, mainly out of Bronx and Queens who really helped a lot of communities of color, a lot of ethnic groups get the resources that they felt the city lagged on when it came to food and such and even testing. Many of them have said that they've had found it difficult to connect with the city to help them even magnify their voices. What advice do you have to some of those smaller organizations to connect with the city more clearly? 

Mayor: We want to connect with them, Narmeen, and please share contact information with us so that we can get our team in touch with them. Look, I think for smaller organizations, it's not surprising that they may not have as many relationships in the city government, but we want to help them build them. We definitely want to help them get what they need to be effective. We need them, just like we reached out to a lot of smaller community groups in the census, they played an incredibly positive role in helping us achieve what we did in the census which was pretty miraculous during the pandemic, we got to do that again to make sure people get good, clear information about the vaccine, to make sure people get the help they need in addressing all the aspects of the crisis. So we want to connect with them. I would say on testing, we all struggled because there wasn't enough testing available for months and months in the beginning. One of the biggest problems in this whole crisis has been the lack of testing and particularly the lack of federal response on the testing. But when it comes to food, I just want to say, we have said from the beginning, no New Yorker will go hungry. We will make food available to anyone that needs it just by calling 3-1-1, we'll connect them to food. A lot of times that's been through schools that have those feeding programs, it's been direct delivery. So it hasn't necessarily gone through a smaller grassroots organization, but we still want to help those organizations get the food supply they need. So anyone that you're talking to connect them to us and we'll make sure we get them help. 

Moderator: The next is Alex Zimmerman from Chalkbeat.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, how are you?

Mayor: Good, Alex, how are you doing?

Question: I'm doing well. My first question is about enrollment in public schools. I'm wondering if you can provide the number of students who are enrolled in city public schools right now, or if you can commit to a timeline to providing that?

Mayor: Yeah, we can certainly get you updated information. We know this has been a year filled with disruption. We know some families left the city and are now coming back. We know some change the kind of schools they were going to. I think we're going to see a continued movement in our enrollment throughout the school. I think we get to September when people will be coming back in person, that's going to be a much more stable situation. But I'll talk to our colleagues at DOE and get you the latest numbers that we have. 

Question: Secondly, just a quick clarifying question. You mentioned there might be a need for another pause, does that include schools and sort of somewhat unrelatedly to the enrollment question, you know, typically in a school year of schools lose enrollment if they have to give back some of their budgets and it appears that that is happening, sort of in – through the typical process this school year. The principals’ union has raised some concerns about that and has sort of made the argument that schools should be held harmless, and you've obviously said that this school year and next school year are very high stakes school year. So I'm wondering whether you've considered reevaluating that policy and sort of how – and why you think school should be forced to relinquish money? 

Mayor: Yeah, I don't think – it's a fair concern, but I want to also say I'm not sure the union is presenting the whole reality. Alex, we have been really flexible with schools. We've had lots of issues where schools needed different staffing. We've helped them to get that staffing, we've helped them to have budget flexibility. We certainly want to be respectful of what schools have been through. So it's not – it's not business as usual. It is a different approach this year, and it's much more an effort to hear what each school needs and adjust to it. So that's the approach that we're taking. I spoke about this on the question of pause. I spoke about this on NY1 last night. Look, our schools are the safest places in New York City right now. Our health care leaders have said it, and I want to get Dr. Varma and Dr. Chokshi into this point. Right now we're seeing extraordinary success in keeping our schools safe. I want to keep them open. If we do have a pause that will be a decision the State makes, as I said, that could be as soon as right after Christmas, but the schools with all the layer upon layer of health and safety measures with this gold standard of health protections that we've put in place, schools can effectively keep serving kids and kids need it. And I think this is important to hear health care voices talk about why schools are safe, but also why kids need to be in school. Dr. Varma and then Dr. Chokshi? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Great. Thank you, Mayor. I think one of the things that we really committed ourselves to before the school year started was trying to take the best of all interventions that we know about around the world and combine them into a package. And then what we have seen with our data that we get from testing in schools, as well as the reporting of cases occurring in students and any staff outside of school, is that the schools are not increasing the rate of transmission. People's risk of getting infected, if you are a member of the school community, is either similar to, or in some situations, much less than it is for anybody else in the community. And that means basically what the schools aren't going to protect you from getting infected in the community necessarily, but we can reduce any transmission that might occur in those, through all those safety measures. And the other thing that I think that's critically important that the Mayor just mentioned is that health of course is more than just freedom from COVID. Right now we're in this pandemic, that is our highest priority, but there are tremendous health and social benefits that come from being in school, and I think the American Academy of Pediatrics statement on this issue that's been published before is probably really one of the most strongest and comprehensive statements from people who know, physicians who know about the importance of in-person schooling. So I do feel strongly that we can keep the school environment safe even while we have this pandemic region around us. 

Mayor: Go ahead, doctor – thank you – and go ahead, Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll just add briefly, you know, Dr. Varma covered it very nicely. It boils down to safety and health and we've put in those rigorous protocols that Dr. Varma went over from the safety perspective. To add just one more layer on the health perspective, the reason that we as doctors, you know, as health professionals feel so strongly about this is that it is a worthy mission from the perspective of the health of children who are being served in schools. Everything that happens in schools from, of course the learning and the education itself, to some of the services that are provided both for mental health, as well as social services, schools should be thought of as as instruments of promoting health in our communities. And so that's why we have taken those pain staking steps to make them as safe as possible because they promote health. 

Mayor: Thank you very much.

Moderator: Last question for today goes to Matt Troutman from Patch.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing?

Mayor: I'm doing well. How you?

Question: Doing well. Okay, well, we have a major snowstorm coming and schools have more or less been back in session for just about a week or more. What are the logistics of a potential, you know, closure of in-person learning coming up and what's the likelihood? 

Mayor: Okay. Right now, as I've learned with the National Weather Service and predicting the weather, and I have a lot of respect for the National Weather Service, but we have been surprised many times with storms changing at the last moment or being more or less unexpected. So it's still early to make a final prediction. I'll bring in our Commissioner for Emergency Management, Dan Criswell in a second, but I'd say what I'm hearing is from Dan and others, not until later tomorrow, Wednesday, do we see the storm having much effect? So school day tomorrow, as of now, looks good. That goes to the open question about Thursday morning. Again, we're about to potentially experience something we've never experienced before in the history of New York City, which is if we did have a snow day, meaning kids couldn't physically go to school, we still have remote learning in place. Someone said to me the other day they felt kind of forlorn about the fact that it ends the snow day as we knew it as kids, when we look forward to a day off, yes, it's true that that's now going to be a thing of the past, that even when kids are home because of snow, they'll still be learning. And I'm kind of sad for the kids on the one hand, on the other hand we got a lot of learning that needs to be done, a lot of catching up. So it's the right thing to do. But right now I'd say Wednesday looks solid that we can have school as normal. Thursday, still we need to know more as we get closer and we'll certainly alert parents and families as quickly as we have a final determination. Commissioner Criswell, you want to jump in. 

Commissioner Deanne Criswell, Emergency Management: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes. Right now, you know, we are watching the weather closely and I am on the phone with the National Weather Service multiple times a day, and the Mayor is right. Wednesday looks good right now up until later in the afternoon, we are going to start to see some snow come in around the four o'clock, maybe evening rush hour. It'll be light. In the majority of this storm is going to happen in the evening hours and the overnight hours where we will see up to eight to 12 inches of snow with some heavy winds. And it will start to dissipate and move out by the morning rush hour, but we might see some lingering snow through the morning. So again, we're watching this closely, we're communicating with all of our city agencies so they can make the most effective decisions that they can. 

Mayor: Thank you, commissioner.

All right, everybody, as we conclude today, look, let's just take a second to appreciate, we're talking about the vaccine today, it's pretty miraculous what has happened here. Here's a disease, the coronavirus that basically a year ago we had not even heard of, had not been part of the human experience, became the dominant reality on the whole earth and caused such pain, such loss, and then scientists and health care leaders and governments all over the world really put everything they had into achieving a vaccine. And as some of our health care leaders said in the last few days, this normally would have taken years, in this case it took months and multiple companies came up with a safe, effective, vaccines based on what we've seen so far. And now we're going to be positioned to use them. In the very same year the coronavirus struck this country, the vaccine is available in this country. That's never been done like that before. And we need to really appreciate this moment, even though it's been a very painful, tough year. We got to celebrate here as this year, end something extraordinary that happened in our time to fight back and to help people.

So, we now need to do what we can do to take that extraordinary achievement put into action. So, I'm going to ask every New Yorker, work with us. If you need information, we're going to provide a lot, but also, you know, do whatever research you feel is right to get the answers you need, but let's get those answers out there. Let's get people comfortable. Let's get people engaged. Every single person that takes this vaccine, even for the first dose, it's helping to protect you against the coronavirus. If you're being protected, your family's being protected, your community is being protected, here's an opportunity to turn the corner. So, we're going to do everything we can to get the information out there to every community, in every language, in every way, and distribute this vaccine with extraordinary speed and effectiveness through our Command Center and make sure that distribution is equitable. Every one of us plays a part. Every one of you plays a part to make this work for all of New York City and I know we can do that together. Thanks, everybody.

2020-12-16 NYC Mayor de Blasio

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals: Good morning, everyone. We're going to get started in this amazing historic moment. So happy to be here and especially happy to welcome the Mayor. And I want you all to know that during the darkest moments in March and April I was on the telephone with the Mayor, 10:00 pm, 11:00 pm, midnight 1:00 am, 2:00 am. And what his concern is, tell me about Elmhurst, how much equipment do they need? What is the ventilator situation? How many patients are there? And the work was all about how do we get them the staff they need? How do we get them the supplies they need? He very much felt the pain of Elmhurst. I know he was here a number of times during that period. And I want to thank him deeply for that effort, for that caring. And how great that now we could be here to make the pain go away, to be able to protect the heroes of Elmhurst. So, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank Dr. Mitch Katz, who really has seen through this whole crisis our extraordinary public hospital system, public clinic system. Health + Hospitals has borne the brunt of the coronavirus crisis. The men and women of H + H have done an amazing job fighting back this disease and deserve all the respect and appreciation in the world. And they had a great and persistent leader during it. So, Mitch, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you did for this city during this crisis. We're here at Elmhurst Hospital, a heroic place, a heroic place. A place where something extraordinary happened. One of the toughest battles anywhere in the United States of America against the coronavirus happened right here. But Elmhurst Hospital held. Elmhurst Hospital held the line, the men and women who worked here, the health care heroes did an extraordinary job against all odds. That's the story of Elmhurst Hospital. There's a lot to be proud of. You can clap for that. [Applause] 

Elmhurst Hospital has a lot to be proud of. Queens has a lot to be proud of. It is a great pleasure to be here with the new Borough President of Queens Donovan Richards, congratulations. [Applause] 

And Donovan you chose a good time to become borough president. [Laughter] 

Because we're celebrating such an important moment here. The first ever vaccination at a New York City public hospital. And there's no more fitting place than here. This is the place where it should be because this is the heroic place. I really want to emphasize that this is the heroic place. [Applause] 

And I will tell you for the rest of my life, when I hear the words Elmhurst Hospital, I'm going to think of heroes. And I'm going to think of a battle that was fought and won. That's what I'm going to remember. [Applause] 

So, Elmhurst is part of what I can say with assurance is the leading public health care system in America, H + H. And this is the first time we can say that for sure, can’t we? [Applause] 

And we're going to see the first vaccinations in an H + H facility. And the good news is you're going to be seeing more and more people every day getting vaccinated. In the last 48 hours since the vaccine arrived, over 1,600 health care workers have been vaccinated in New York City. That is a huge step forward. [Applause] 

Now, why are we here? We're here to honor our health care workers. We're here to honor Elmhurst Hospital. We're also here to talk about how important our public health care system has been in this year. I'll be blunt for a long time HHC, then Health + Hospitals were ignored in this city. They were too often put down, too often starved of funding. And a lot of folks, unfortunately thought of H + H as something that wasn't their business. And H + H struggled for years and years. Several years ago, before we ever heard the word coronavirus, we made a decision to invest in H + H. Billions of dollars to make sure our public health care system was strong. We made a decision that the future New York City depended on H + H. No, we did not have a crystal ball. We did not know there would be a pandemic. We knew people needed health care. And we knew it wouldn't happen without H + H. So, we spent billions of dollars. And let me tell you that is some of the best money we ever spent. Because we needed H + H more than we ever knew. 

And when that moment came, when literally the city was on a razor's edge, H + H was there for thousands and tens of thousands of New Yorkers. H + H held the line, H + H, Health + Hospitals saved New York City. [Applause] 

And in this next battle, and this will be the last great battle against the coronavirus, I'm happy to tell you. This will be the last great battle against the coronavirus, because the vaccine is here. We will need H + H again, to help us fight back and defeat the second wave but also because this is the place where so many people will get vaccinated. This is the place where neighborhoods will turn and will trust to come get that vaccination. So, it's all going to be happening here. And that's why we're here today to celebrate this important step. This crucial, wonderful moment. Let me say a few quick words in Spanish before this historic moment occurs. 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish:] 

Let's make this pandemic part of our past. Let's get rid of it once and for all. And with that, I will now tell you we are so pleased to be here with Veronica Delgado, who is a lead physician's assistant in the Emergency Department. And William Kelly, a service aid in the Environmental Services Department. And to assist them, Dr. Eric Wei and Dr. Dave Chokshi. Dr. Eric Wei of H + H, Dr. Dave Chokshi, our Health Commissioner have stepped forward. And yet you have office jobs now, but you still know how to doctor. [Laughter] 

So, get ready for the big moment, everyone. 

[Commissioner Chokshi, Dr. Wei administer the first COVID vaccinations to H + H health care workers] 

[Applause] 

Mayor: Come on everyone, this is standing ovation, it doesn’t get better than this. [Applause] 

Mayor: We’re going to be here for all of your medical appointments. You all did a great job. [Applause] 

Moderator: [Inaudible] Q and A.

Mayor: All right, everyone. First of all, again, to William and Veronica, this is – it is not typical to have a hundred people in the room for your shot. So you both did an incredible job staying cool under pressure and thank you. Thank you. Not only for being an example to the whole city of the fact that this vaccine is so important and so safe, but thank you for being part of the Elmhurst family. This family of heroes has done so much. Let's thank them for all of them for all they do. [Applause]

Mayor: All right. We're going to take some questions. Yes? 

Question: Mayor, you talked about 1,600 health care workers vaccinated in the last two days. That means, and correct my math if I’m wrong, 800 a day, over the course of a month that would be 24,000.Don't you need to rapidly accelerate [inaudible] to make any kind of dent in the population, health care or otherwise?

Mayor: Yeah, Andrew, this was just day one, day two. Do not take that for a second as indication of where things are going. I’m going to have Dr. Chokshi speak to this, but you're going to see things expand very quickly. Our health care team had to obviously get to know this vaccine, get used to the details of how to handle it. But you're going to see a very, very rapid expansion and as soon as vaccine comes in, it is going to get distributed. It's going to get used very quickly. Dr. Chokshi do you want to add? 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thanks very much, Mr. Mayor. Yes, just to add briefly to it, remember 37 hospitals received their first deliveries yesterday. Amazing to see. Many of them actually began their vaccinations yesterday as well. Many others will begin them today. So we do expect that clip to pick up, but remember just as what we emphasize with the vaccine is that it is safe and effective. We want the vaccination process also to be safe and effective, and people are making sure that the way the vaccine is transported and stored and all of the protocols are very rigorous, particularly in these early days. We want people to emphasize that. So there's not a single vaccine that is wasted, but we do expect those numbers to pick up. 

Question: Just a quick follow up. How high –what is the numbers you want to see in terms of their activity per day to begin making a difference? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Well, we will start to think about those goals with respect to vaccinations per day. So much of it depends on the supply of the vaccine that we received to New York City. But our general principle, particularly when the supply is very limited in these early days, is to try to get it as quickly as possible into people's arms so that they can start to build immunity.

Mayor: Yeah, Andrew, I really do appreciate the question because I think it's important we show people how much impact is going to have, but I want to be clear, right now it is – it comes in, it goes out, you know, as soon as it comes in, turn around, get to hospitals, get people the vaccinations they need. It's really about making the movement of this as quick as possible, over time and when we see all the different vaccines as we're waiting for the final approval on Moderna, I think Johnson and Johnson is out there, we'll have a sense of what our actual daily supply will be. But for now it's like as soon as it comes in, it goes right back out. Yes? 

Question: Can you talk about any side effects the first 1,600 people have had and – or maybe what you're hearing from around the country? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sure. well, the most important thing is that we have not heard of any serious adverse events, that means very serious side effects in New York City thus far. We are in contact with colleagues at the CDC, as well as other health departments around the country to make sure that we're understanding what they're seeing as well. Thankfully no serious adverse events have have been reported thus far. The side effects that are being experienced are the ones that were also seen in the studies for the vaccine, particularly some some pain at the injection site, you know, some fatigue, some muscle aches, generally those only lasts for the first 24 to 48 hours and are mostly mild side effects. 

Mayor: Where we're watching – hold on one second – we're watching William and Veronica very closely now, any real side effects so far? You're doing good. [Laughter]

They're both answering it looks good. Did you have a follow-up? 

Question: I did. It was a follow-up to Andrew's question. Is there any plan to publish a dashboard so that the public can see how many people are getting vaccinated every day?

Mayor: Yes, and that will be done by our Command Center. So that's going to be coming out in the next few days as those numbers get clear. Go ahead, Katie.

Question: Perhaps could Dr. Katz talk about the distribution of the vaccine within the city's public health hospital system? Is it equitable to that of private hospitals? Are there limits? Just to see – I know we saw NYU and Northwell get it on Monday. I'm just curious if there's a distribution – if there's an inequity within that? 

President Katz: Sure. Happy to answer. The very small number of hospitals, only about five, received it on Monday. The bulk of hospitals, including all the H + H hospitals, received it yesterday, and there are still a few that are receiving it today. So we were in the middle lodge tranche, and in terms of supply as the Mayor has said, ultimately, we need a much larger supply and we think that's going to come in in the next weeks, especially with the second vaccine likely to be approved. Right now, in terms of distribution, we're focusing on people in the highest risk areas, people who work in the emergency room or the ICU as these two great health care workers are, and they're also over 60, so that we're able to – which they may not be – but which – [Laughter] 

We want to get the highest risk people. I have to do two quick shout outs. Danielle DiBari has been – worked all weekend to set this up. She is our Chief Pharmacist, she put together protocols, all the sign-ins, and I can never pass Dr. Moshirpur is our Chief Medical Officer for 50 years at Elmhurst, 50 years. [Applause] 

Mayor: You've been working at Elmhurst for 50 years?

Jasmin Moshirpur, NYC Health + Hospitals: Yes.

Mayor: That’s beautiful. [Applause] 

Go ahead, Katie.

Question: As a follow-up, can we have numbers, looking at Elmhurst specifically, how many health care workers here at Elmhurst will be vaccinated by the end of the day, by the end of the week, and so on? 

President Katz: What I can tell you is that from looking at the numbers, I believe we're going to vaccinate the whole hospital in three weeks, everyone in, in every single unit, just starting at the highest risk units.

Mayor: Okay. Who else? Yeah? 

Question: Mayor, I want to ask you since we are here at Elmhurst, and this was so much the epicenter of what we saw in the spring, how are we doing today as we see numbers slowly going up. Hospitalization rate here, particular capacity here, patient load, and just in general testing wise as well?

Mayor: Yeah. A couple of different things quickly. It's a mix for sure. The amount of testing is good news. You know, now we're going to have the capacity to be up to about 120,000 tests a day in New York City. We still need people to go get those tests. We have rigorous testing in the schools, obviously that's constant, but we need everyday New Yorkers to go get tested more. So that's an area where we can do better. Positivity levels too high. There's no question about it. I'll give you the update for the day with the indicators. Hold on. I may need that on another card, because I don't have indicators in front of you. We'll get that over one second, guys, just write out and hand over. But the point is today's indicators, the positivity levels too high. It's not going in the right direction. Hospitalizations are increasing. Our hospitals are doing a lot better, but, meaning they are better able to handle the coronavirus than they were obviously in the spring, but the hospitalizations keep increasing and I'm worried about that. So it's a reminder to all New Yorkers, we really need people to get tested. We need people to keep wearing the mask. We need people to not travel, keep gathering small, because there is increasing pressure on our hospitals.

And, you know, right now, as the Governor has said and I've said, if we don't see a turnaround, there will have to be deeper restrictions and it would potentially have to be a full pause. And if people want to avoid that, it's important to, like, really double down, get tested, wear a mask, don't travel, avoid the gatherings – that's the best way to fight back the virus, link up to the better times when we have the vaccine more fully distributed, and avoid any kind of shutdown. 

That's the only way we're going to do it, is if people really step up. In terms of hospitals, how they're doing – 

President Katz: I think the Mayor has covered the top lines. We have about a third capacity available, both the ICU and in the regular beds. So, we're in reasonable shape. Just to give people a sense of the numbers, all 11 hospitals together today have about 280 people with COVID. At our peak, we got to almost 4,000 last April. So, you know, 280 – you know, it still – it does strain the system. We haven't seen the huge drop in non-COVID patients that we saw in March and April, which we're happy about. We realize that there was tremendous care that was lost. People who were seriously sick stayed away from all hospitals in March and April, all the New York City hospitals experience the huge drop – that hasn't happened now. And so, we have to watch capacity closely. But we're being able to bring in additional nurses starting on Monday and we believe we'll be able to keep up with the increase in cases that the Mayor has spoken about.

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi, do you want to add? 

Commissioner Chokshi: I'll just add briefly in terms of, you know, what we're seeing with respect to the city-wide phenomena. It really echoes what Dr. Katz just went through, which is, certainly, we're concerned for the reasons the Mayor has laid out in terms of the increase in cases and percent positivity, because we know that that does lead to an increase in hospitalizations. But, thus far, hospitals are able to keep pace with that upsurge and it's up to us to blunt the curve further with respect to those key public health actions that will allow us to reduce the burden on our health care system.

Mayor: Okay. Who else? Yes? 

Question: Speaking of testing, is COVID-19 testing is going to [inaudible] resume tomorrow at noon. Are you concerned about having to take the testing offline for almost a day, given the weather related [inaudible] –

Mayor: Look, obviously, I wish we didn't have to, but this is just a smart precaution. I think it's going offline at two o'clock today.

President Katz: That's correct.

Mayor: Two o'clock, back at noon tomorrow – it's under 24 hours. I don't think it'll make a huge difference, obviously. But this is when it gets complicated, right? A snow storm coming – we want people to be safe. We want people to take precautions, because they need to take the storm seriously. We, obviously, always want to get people tested, but I think when it's a brief window like this it should have a limited impact. Go ahead. 

Question: Yes. And more about your vaccine distribution, understanding – you commented yesterday that you're not expecting the snow to have any impact on the vaccine rollout across the city. And just wanted to follow up on that a little bit more. I think we also got the update around 41,000 doses of the vaccine were available yesterday. It sounds like more and more [inaudible] on this daily. Can you give us a better sense of how many shipments you are expecting today? Tomorrow? For the next 48 hours? And how can you say that the snow is not going to impact that district? 

Mayor: Yeah. Fair questions all around. So, I want first frame it real quick – this vaccination effort is literally in its infancy. You know, we were not even sure until the end of Sunday, beginning of Monday, exactly when the arrivals would begin. So, we're just days into it. The hospitals are learning how to use the vaccine for the first time, as Dr. Katz and Dr. Chokshi had talked about – never had a vaccine like this before. You're going to see a constant ramping up. But, in the meantime, the question of the storm – what does it mean? Well, it's – you know, it's a storm, but it is a storm so far is still staying in a pretty limited range – that, kind of, eight inches to 12 inches range for a limited period of time this afternoon evening into early morning hours tomorrow. That doesn't change anything in a big way from what we're seeing. We expect to keep getting the deliveries and keeping able to turn around and get people vaccinate. Just, I think everyone, again, I never asked New Yorkers for patience, because we're not a patient people. I do ask people to recognize – there's no one with more motivation – literally, no one in New York City with more motivation to get these vaccinations to happen quickly than our health care workers and our health care leaders. They want to get this done. They're going to move this very, very aggressively. But the storm at this point does not present any meaningful change to our schedule.

Hey, real quick on the indicators, everyone. So, let me do this – hospitalizations for the day, the 195 new hospitalizations. COVID positivity, 56 percent among them. And then, the hospitalizations per 100,000 – that's at three now. So, that's gotten consistently higher. So, again, another example of why we do have a problem with these increasing hospitalizations and we’ve got to fight back against this. The new cases combined, confirming probable – excuse me, 2,785 – 2,785 – really big number, another cause for concern. Positivity on a seven-day average, 5.71 percent – so, higher than we want it to be. That number has not been shooting up, thank God, but it’s definitely higher than we need it to be. Who has not gone yet from the media? Let me see if anyone hasn't gone just for a second. Go ahead. 

Question: Hi. So, I just want to hear a little bit more about Veronica and William. You know, where [inaudible] what you're feeling [inaudible]

William Kelly: Well, right now, I feel good. [Laughter] 

Mayor: You look good – [Laughter] 

Mayor: You know, for someone over 60 – [Laughter] 

Question: What about your age – [Laughter] 

Unknown: You can lie – [Laughter] 

Question: [Inaudible] 

Kelly: You want to know my age? [Laughter] 

Mayor: Who’s asking? [Laughter] 

Question: What's your message to the community? What's your message to people who've been waiting for the vaccine?

Kelly: Well, I guess, everybody’s been waiting for so long, so that's why I wanted to do this.

Veronicas Delgado: I'm 65 – 

Mayor: You don't look it. [Laughter] 

Delgado: Yeah. I feel very privileged to be one of the first to get the vaccine. I know there are people that are more frontline and more deserving. So, my message is to the Mayor and everybody, I hope that everybody can be vaccinated quickly. And my message to non-health care providers is also, you have to do your own research and everybody has to make their own decisions, but not to be afraid of a vaccine and not to get information off of Facebook. [Laughter] [Applause] 

Mayor: You win – you win quote of the day award right there. Okay. We've all learned a valuable lesson. Okay. Last call – anyone who has not ask a question from the media? 

Okay. Final one – 

Question: Going off what we were just talking about a little bit of what [inaudible] getting your vaccine, can you talk about that feeling [inaudible] – 

Delgado: Quite frankly, I don't know a health care worker in this hospital who doesn’t want the vaccine [inaudible]. So [inaudible] people to want. What it feels like to me – first thing on Sunday, in the morning, after a very long dark and frightening night.

Mayor: Nicely said – 

Kelly: Well, to me, I want everybody to take the vaccine shot, you know? I mean, it's good to take it, things like that. So, I hope everybody takes the shot, you know, so we can all get back together. Any questions? [Laughter] 

Mayor: Thank you to Veronica and William. And, William, that last line is very powerful. Let everyone get the vaccine so we can all get back together. That's a beautiful thought – so we can all get back together. I also want you to know, William, Veronica, you've really done a great job today and we're going to reward you with a candy cane. [Laughter] 

This should become part of – hold up your candy cane so people know what I'm talking about. This should become part of the vaccine protocol. Okay? You get a candy cane with every vaccine, that will encourage people.

Everyone, congratulations. Elmhurst, well done. [Applause]

2020-12-17 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, the worst of the storm is passed and there's actually some sun peeking through the clouds this morning. So, that's a really good sign. We're going to talk about the storm in just a moment, but first I want to talk about yesterday – so meaningful, so powerful, so emotional – being at Elmhurst Hospital, the place that was the epicenter within the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, the place that was hit hardest all in New York City. 10 months ago, Elmhurst Hospital, going through hell, but what strong people there at Elmhurst, what good people, the health care heroes who saw us through. How amazing to be there yesterday as the first health care workers in our public hospitals got their vaccine. Talk about an amazing turnaround that the vaccine, being given to the very same people who saved lives by the thousands 10 months ago. Two health care workers were the first to be vaccinated in all of our public hospitals, Veronica Delgado, who is a lead physician assistant in the emergency department, and, William Kelly, service aid in the environmental services department. They both were wonderful and they both spoke from the heart about how important it was for their fellow health care workers and all New Yorkers to get the vaccine. And William said something that just brought it all together. He said, I hope everybody takes the shot so we can all get back together. Think about that. That's the simplest most powerful explanation of why we need the vaccine, so we can all get back together. I want everyone to be thinking about that in the weeks and months ahead, about getting that vaccine and helping others, encouraging others to do it. It means we can turn the page and start to do the things we love and get back together with our family and friends the way we've missed so much. So, the approach we're going to take on this vaccine is really to amplify voices like Williams, folks in every neighborhood. We had some of our colleagues from the clergy on yesterday. You're going to be hearing from clergy. You're going to hear from elected officials, community leaders, and every-day New Yorkers talk about why the vaccine is important, why it's safe, why it's easy, why it's effective. We need to get the word out.

Now, we have just started in the last few days the vaccine effort. It's going to ramp up much more every single day, but here's the up-to-date number of people vaccinated in New York City – 5,200; new since yesterday morning, 3,565. These numbers are going to grow rapidly with each day as the approach to the vaccine gets refined more each day and more and more people are brought into play. So, again, first few days is going to be a slow and steady ramp-up, then you're going to see a takeoff. And, now, we have, so far, in New York City 42,900 doses have arrived. So, we have plenty of supply. We're going to be getting that out all over the city.

Now, at the same time, we’ve got to get people good information. Just as important as where the vaccine is, is making sure people understand it, they trust it, they get answers to their questions. We fight back misinformation. There's a lot of misinformation out there, we have to overcome that and we have to remind people of a situation we're living with. The virus keeps causing us a challenge. The rate of infection keeps going up in the city, hospitalizations keep going up. We've got a serious issue here. That's why we need the vaccine to fight the virus. But, in the meantime, we need everyone to do what you know how to do, the masks, the social distancing, no travel, no big gatherings, keep gathering small. These are the things we're going to need to do to keep fighting this virus. And a lot of people have said to me these last few days, we don't want to see another pause, we don't want to see another shutdown – nor do I, but if you don't want to see those things, do something about it. Cancel travel plans, keep the gathering small, wear the mask, do all the things that help us fight the virus so we can try and avoid some of those measures that none of us want to see.

Okay. Let's turn that outdoor dining. A lot of concern about making sure that the mom and pop restaurants out there and all the people who work in the dining industry had their jobs tonight, and so many people rooting for them. Here's the update – it's going to take a couple of different stages to get the final answer today. What we can say with assurance is that in Manhattan, right now – Manhattan did pretty well in this storm. In Manhattan, we're going to have outdoor dining up and running tonight. And, obviously, that's where a lot of the restaurants and jobs are. So, we can tell you right now through the great efforts of Sanitation Department, we'll have outdoor dining up and running in Manhattan tonight. For the other four boroughs, we're going to have an update by about one o'clock today. And it could be different by borough – obviously, different boroughs had different amount of snowfall, different conditions, different realities. We're going to speak to that later on today, after Sanitation has a chance to do some more assessment and come back with the latest updates. So, we will keep the public posted and we'll keep our colleagues in the restaurant industry posted as we get that information over the next few hours. 

Okay, let me go to our indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 174 patients. We want to be under 200 – today, we are. It's been a tough in some of the last few days, but at least that's a little bit better number for today. But the number that's not good, hospitalization rate per 100,000 – today's number is 3.06. We want to be under two, so that is not a good sign. New cases – this number keeps just getting bigger and bigger – probable cases and confirmed cases go to 2,739. We want to be under 550. We’ve got a long way to go and everyone needs to be a part of turning it around. And then, percentage of New York City residents testing positive on the seven-day rolling average – today’s report, six percent. Again, that's an unacceptable number. We need to get under five and keep going down for there. So, six percent is not acceptable. We’ve got a lot of work to do.

Okay. Let me do a few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Hi, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Sanitation Commissioner Edward Grayson, Commissioner of Emergency Management Deanne Criswell, Health + Hospitals CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz, Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, Commissioner of Social Services Steve Banks, Deputy Mayor of Operations Laura Anglin, and Senior Advisor. Dr. Jay Varma. With that, we'll go to Gloria from NY1. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Sounds like sounds like it could have been worse and it's not that bad, so I think everyone is feeling good about that.

Mayor: You are right. Go ahead. 

Question: Thank you. Mr. Mayor, I wanted if you have an update, I know you had to shut down COVID testing sites for the storm. When will they reopen? And did any of them sustain any sort of damage that might, I know cause some of them are outdoors? So, is there any damage to any of the testing sites and when can people expect to be back to get a test? 

Mayor: I'll start with what I know and then see if Dr. Katz or Dr. Chokshi knows anything different? I have not heard of any damage to a site, obviously mobile sites and sites we set up temporarily. They're easy to take down. I think that's what happened as far as I could tell. And the original concept yesterday was have them up and running at around 12 noon. I don't think anything has changed, Gloria. I think that's still true, but let me confirm and see if Dr. Katz or Dr. Chokshi want to add? 

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals: Yes, Mr. Mayor, you have it right. All the tents were taken down. I want to be clear that testing still went on in all our hospital emergency rooms. So that testing itself did not stop. And we do anticipate based on the weather and the site, that the sites will reopen sometime between noon and 2:00 pm this afternoon. 

Mayor: Okay, great. Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Next is Rich from WCBS Radio. 

Question: Good morning. And well I guess it wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be, so that's good, right? 

Mayor: Well, you know what? We finally catch a break around here, Rich. 

Question: Well, I'm wondering in regard to the vaccinations. You know, Britain indicated that they were – it was a slower rollout than they had hoped because it was a little more complicated than thought, than they had thought. Is the pace of getting the vaccines out everything that everybody wants at this point? I mean, I know you're talking about a continued acceleration, but are there any complications? 

Mayor:I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Katz. Rich, I'd say this is just the beginning of something that's going to be huge. And the first few days everyone's being methodical and careful to get it right, to really make sure they understand exactly how to handle this vaccine, which is unusual. It's different. We haven't had one like this before. But I think it's going to be just a steady, steady uptick. And when we really build out, we're going to be all over the city simultaneously serving all different kinds of New Yorkers. So, I think this is just a natural sort of steps it takes to get started. But Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Katz, jump in. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And yes, you're exactly right. I was at Elmhurst yesterday morning. I was at my Maimonides in Brooklyn in the afternoon and Montefiore in the Bronx in the afternoon as well, checking in with their teams on the logistics. Checking in with their pharmacy teams about what they have to do to get the vaccine out of the vials, into syringes and into people's arms. Checking in with the medical teams, you know, to understand their protocols as well. And overall, everything is going as smoothly you know, across all of those dimensions. But as the Mayor said this is a complicated and you know, a dance that we want as well choreographed as possible. Given that it is a new vaccine, it's one that requires this ultra-cold storage and some special steps in handling as well. So overall things are going smoothly. I expect the pace of vaccination will start to tick up in the coming days as more appointments are able to be booked at several of the hospitals that I visited yesterday. They started their vaccination clinics as early as six o'clock in the morning and had a night shift going until midnight. And so, I think all of those things will result in additional health care workers getting vaccinated over the coming days. 

Mayor: Great. Go ahead, Dr. Katz. 

President Katz: I would just add, I think Dr. Chokshi did an excellent job. I just add that we're all very careful to not waste any of the vaccine. And it's because they're in multidose vials that can only be out of the freezer for short periods of time, that especially at the beginning, we have to be super careful. But you know, today for us is just, you know, the early part of day two. And we're going to start, you know, doing way, way more in the coming days as the procedures get easier and easier. 

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead. Rich. 

Question: And I was just wondering, I wondered yesterday. I thought I heard Dr. Katz say that they might get everybody vaccinated in his hospitals within three weeks. Is that true? And what about these adverse reactions we're hearing about, a couple of people up in the Alaska, apparently? Anything like that happening? 

Mayor: Dr. Katz, you speak to your hospitals and anything you want to say on that report from Alaska? And then if Dr. Chokshi or Dr. Varma want to jump in, they should as well. Go ahead, Dr. Katz. 

President Katz: I'll do the H + H and let Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Varma talk about the cases in Alaska. Yeah, we are committed to within three weeks getting everybody who was in the hospital vaccinated. We believe that we can do that. So, you can be sure it will happen. 

Mayor: And Mitch, just clarify for everyone, you're saying across your 11 hospitals? 

President Katz: Yes. All of the staff in all 11 hospitals will get vaccinated within three weeks. 

Mayor: Excellent. Excellent. Okay on the Alaska cases, go ahead, Dr. Chokshi, then Dr. Varma. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you. This is an important question, you know, with respect to the more serious side effects that may occur. But let me start with the big picture, which is that the Pfizer vaccine was shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective. It was reviewed by leading scientists at the FDA and the CDC. The study that was done, the big study of the Pfizer vaccine involved 44,000 people. And there were no serious safety concerns identified among those 44,000 people. However, it's possible that there could be some adverse reactions, including allergic reactions that can occur in very, very rare cases. We're talking about, you know, one in a million type of cases as the vaccine begins to be administered to more and more people. That's why we take extra precautions when the vaccine is being administered, including an observation period of at least 15 to 30 minutes. And the event that occurred in Alaska was actually during that observation period, which allowed her to get medical attention very quickly. We have not heard of any serious adverse reactions like that in New York City. Although we will continue to monitor for them and work in coordination with the CDC, which has a system for these types of serious side effects to be reported. And so we're checking in with them about it regularly as well. 

Mayor: Great, Dr. Varma? 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Nothing else for me. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Next is Marcia from WCBS. 

Question: Mr. Mayor my question has to do with the stimulus being negotiated in Washington right now. My understanding is that Senator Schumer and other officials from New York are trying to negotiate to get some money for New York City as a bridge to when they could get to the Biden administration, which might not happen until February or so. I wonder what kind of a bind that puts you in, in terms of developing your own budget? I think you have to have a fiscal plan sometime in January? Or are you planning on pushing that off as well to see what happens after the Biden administration takes office? 

Mayor: Very important question, Marcia, thank you. We're going to present the preliminary budget in January regardless of what happens with the stimulus. And we will adjust according to whether they have achieved something in the stimulus for this city or not. We'll show people what we have to do. But it's going to be based only on the facts as we have them. We're obviously going to make reference to the fact that there could be more stimulus. But I want to caution, part of why I'm so agitated about the current negotiations is I don't have a guarantee there's going to be another stimulus. We don't know what's going to happen in the elections in Georgia. We don't know what is going to happen in the Senate. We do know Mitch McConnell consistently has been standing in the way of aid to localities. So, there's cities, counties, states, and all over the country that are suffering. And Mitch McConnell keeps blocking help to them. And I'm very worried about that. So, I don't know when the next stimulus is. That's why I want to see this stimulus actually help us get back on our feet. But whatever comes of this, we will reflect the outcome in the January budget. And we're going to put a budget on the table that reflects the reality. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Next we have Andrew from WNBC. 

Mayor: Andrew. Andrew, can you hear us? 

Moderator: Andrew, are you there? 

Mayor: I think he's there, but he's not hearing us. Andrew Siff, we can hear you. Can you hear us? 

Moderator: As Andrew braves the elements, we're going to Nolan from the New York Post. 

Mayor: That's live. That was exciting, dramatic audio of Andrew in the elements. Okay. We'll come back to him. Who we have now? Nolan? Okay. How are you doing Nolan? 

Question: Hi Mr. Mayor, how are you? 

Mayor: Good, but I'm not hearing you very loudly. Can we get that volume up? Try again Nolan. 

Question: Sure. Is this better? 

Mayor: There you go. There you go. 

Question: I’ll just yell. 

Mayor: No, don’t yell, you are all good. 

Question: Alright. So, to follow up on the questions about the stimulus. It doesn't look like there's going to be much in the way of aid for cities and states at this moment. You've banked your 2022 budget around getting a lot of aid. What's the plan if it doesn't show up? Mitch McConnell's answer to we need to plow the streets is cities and states should go bankrupt. Like what's your plan B if the aid doesn't show up? 

Mayor: Nolan, such an important question. Look, first of all, the current negotiations aren't over. So, I'm expressing my strong views, but I also want to be fair, it ain’t over till it's over. Second of all, I have no doubt in my mind that President Biden will work intensely for a real stimulus. He believes in state and local aid. He also knows a hell of a lot about how to get something done with the Senate. Third of all, we don't know what the results of the election in Georgia will be. So, what I'm going to do in January is present a budget based on all the facts. When I present that budget, we will know the results of the Georgia election. And we will know whether there has been a stimulus achieved by the end of this Congress right now. And we'll present what we got to do. We all know there's lots of tough options that we can turn to if we have to, but they would have horrible impact on the life of the city. You know, it would take away the services people need and the things we need to recover. But it's not time to project that yet. It's time to see what comes of this and then make the adjustments accordingly. Go ahead. 

Question: Secondly, with the stimulus package still in flux, you are asking Governor Cuomo and you've suggested to Governor Cuomo that it's time to impose additional restrictions at some point in the near future here in the city. Those restrictions would shut down outdoor dining. And with so many restaurants already hanging on by just the slimmest of threads, what can the City do to bolster restaurants if outdoor dining does close again? Is the City considering offering emergency loans through its bonding authority for instance? 

Mayor: Nolan we've been working with a whole lot of small businesses, including restaurants to get them loans that are available and other forms of assistance. And we'll keep doing that. There's a lot of businesses hurting, not just restaurants, a whole lot of businesses hurting. If look, the challenge we have now is let's go back to just the beginning here. Let's go back to the core of it. It's COVID. And the infection rate keeps rising. That's a big problem. That could lead to more and more stress on our hospitals. That's going to lead to more people losing their life. God forbid, but that's what's going to happen if we can't stop this. And it's going to end up shutting down the economy more and more anyway. So, what I'm saying and I've had this conversation with the Governor. And he and I've been very much of the same view on this. Is if we don't turn this around quickly, the restrictions are the thing that stopped the situation from getting worse. 

We know that from the spring, we know that from the fall in Brooklyn and Queens. The restriction stop the situation from getting worse and allow us to link up to when the vaccine has been spread around the community much more and reaches more and more people. So that's the thinking. But, no one wants restrictions. And I feel for every single small business and everyone who is depending on the job. Even under restrictions, of course, restaurants will continue to have takeout delivery as they did even in the spring in the worst of things. But look if we want to avoid restrictions, I'm going to keep saying it, if people want to avoid restrictions. I do. I want to avoid them. If you want to avoid them, anyone wants to avoid them, wear a mask, practice distancing, do not travel, do not have large gatherings, be tough, be disciplined. That's the best way of trying to avoid the restrictions and help us move forward until we get the vaccine to as many people as possible. Go ahead. 

Moderator: So, we're going to try Andrew Siff again. 

Mayor: Okay. Andrew? Andrew? Okay. It's happening again, winter interlude. Okay. 

Moderator: We hope Andrew's okay. But we're going to go to Melanie with the Wall Street Journal. 

Mayor: Tell Andrew to try someone else's phone because something's not working here. Well, let's come back to him. Who you got? 

Moderator: Melanie from the Wall Street Journal. 

Mayor: Melanie? 

Question: Good morning, this is that question – yes. Hello. 

Mayor: Hey, how you doing? 

Question: Can you hear me? 

Mayor: Yeah. 

Question: Thank you so much. Good morning. This is a question for Dr. Katz. Is H + H planning to suspend elective surgeries, anytime, imminently, and if not, what are the benchmarks that would trigger the suspension? And then can you please give us an update on the surgeon flex planning for hospitals? The Governor has repeatedly said in recent weeks that hospitals need to create plans to make sure no one hospital is overwhelmed and his specifically cited H + H hospitals as needing to have those plans. 

President Katz: Yes, happy to answer all parts of that. So, I'm going to go backwards first in terms of level loading, which is something that we all agree with. Health + Hospitals has already level loaded over a hundred patients across our facilities so that none of our hospitals are overwhelmed – 

Mayor: Mitch, would you define – I'm sorry to interrupt – define that for everyone, just because that's a term you're used to using, but help people understand what it means. 

President Katz: Yes. Thank you, sir. My apologies. Level loading recognizes that patients go to the hospitals they trust, to the hospitals in their neighborhood. That's what happened with Elmhurst last March and April. It's the only major hospital in central Queens. That area of the city was harder hit than any area of the city in terms of early infection rates. Elmhurst being so well trusted in the immigrant black and Brown communities among low-income, uninsured people, so everybody went there. But the hospital then became too full and when that happens, what you want to do is to move patients from the hospital that is full to your other hospitals. It's not an easy procedure, especially if people are sick, it's not simple to move someone, especially if they're in respiratory distress. That was a major problem in March and April. Now it's easier because the patients that we're seeing are not as sick in general as they were in March and April, and we're moving them earlier in the process. So, we're making sure that every hospital maintains adequate reserve beds.

So, to answer the middle question we currently have occupancy about 65 percent in both ICU and in regular medical surgical beds. So, I – a third more patients than the patients we have, would easily fit in without opening any extraordinary spaces. And yes, we have suspended elective procedures. We've made it clear that the only surgeries that we will be doing are those surgeries where – that come in, emergently, such as car accidents or surgeries where somebody's health is directly affected such as when somebody has an infection secondary to gallstones and they're doing poorly because of the infection and the gallbladder has to come out. So, we're doing the necessary surgeries and the emergency surgeries, but we have – consistent with the Governor's request – we have canceled elective procedures and we do have the extra 25 percent capacity the state has asked us for. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Melanie. Melanie? 

Question: Can you – thank you so much for answering the question. So when did you suspend elective surgeries, is that a recent decision or is that an imminent decision?

Mayor: Go ahead, Mitch.

Question: No, it's already happened.

President Katz: It was – we worked on how it would the procedures over the weekends and they were canceled as of Tuesday of this week. 

Mayor: Thank you. Who's next?

Moderator: Next we're going to Reuvain from Hamodia.

Question: Good morning. I have a question for the doctors. Pfizer has announced that it is going to un-blind the study so that people who got the placebo can get the vaccine. I'm wondering whether you agree with this decision, does the study then lose the benefit of the two-year element and whether in New York people who were part of the study will jump the line - the ones that got the placebo will jump the line for the vaccine now? 

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi or Dr. Varma, you want to take that? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sure. I can start on that. Well first let me just acknowledge that we wouldn't be here with the safe and effective vaccine were it not for the volunteers in the study including volunteers who received the placebo. So, we should all acknowledge their dedicated contribution to advancing science for all of the rest of us. With respect to un-blinding the study, what I will say is that I think there are some complicated, you know, values that are at play here. Certainly, we want to make sure that that people that did contribute to the study in that way also received the vaccination at some point and to balance that against the benefits of, you know, additional follow-up and the scientific understanding that we can get. So, this is a conversation that is primarily being had between Pfizer and FDA officials, and I know they’ll be balancing the benefits and the harms in that way. 

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Varma? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, I would just want to emphasize what Dr. Chokshi has just said about –really the courage of the people that participated in this clinical trial. When you participate in a clinical trial, you are making a sacrifice not for yourself specifically, but for the sake of society. You're choosing to the possibility of getting an injection that may have no benefit to you whatsoever, being monitored continuously over months and months without any guarantee that this is going to benefit you personally. So depending on the outcomes of what Pfizer and the FDA agree, I would never ever argue that these people are jumping the line. In fact, they took a courageous risk and there's a lot of ethical grounding in the notion that people who participated in a clinical trial and got the placebo should be among the first to receive a medication or a vaccine if they participated in a trial and it's known to be effective. 

Mayor: Well Argued. Thank you. Go ahead, Reuvain. 

Question: Okay. I also wanted to ask, I know it's hard to predict exactly how many companies will have vaccines and when they will, but is there a target date by which you expect all New Yorkers who want the vaccine to get it, to have it? 

Mayor: Look, I'll start and let the doctors jump in. I think the – a healthy way to think about this is between now and June, just to give you an initial sense. We would like to reach the maximum number of New Yorkers. Now, let's be honest. We know some New Yorkers, no matter what we say to them, will not choose to take the vaccine, but I do believe that number is going to be small. I think the more people see it working and the more they see family and friends take it, they see the positive impact on bringing down COVID, I think more and more people will want to. We're going to move aggressively, but I think if you're talking about millions upon millions of people and reaching the whole city pervasively, I think June is a good working assumption right this moment. That could obviously change as we go along and we can do it faster, we would love to. Doctors, anyone want to add? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, I'll just add to it briefly to say I think that that is right. The unknowns that Reuvain pointed out in his question are – will we have additional vaccines, we hope the second vaccine Moderna which is being considered by the FDA advisory committee as we speak, could be authorized as soon as tomorrow. And there are two other vaccines that are in advanced stages of clinical trials, and we'll get read out some of those, hopefully in the beginning of 2021. That really matters for us to understand just what our options are with respect to expanding vaccination. And then the second part is knowing the supply, even for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are most likely to be authorized this year and making sure that we have enough supply for New Yorkers. With those unknowns, the Mayor has given us a very clear charge which is to ensure that we're doing everything that we possibly can along two dimensions. The first is to make sure that vaccination is smooth and as rapid as possible, so that we expedite for people who do want the vaccine for them to get it as quickly as possible. And then the second is almost equally important, getting the word out, you know, spreading the messages about how important vaccination is, particularly to reach those communities and those people who may be initially hesitant to get the vaccine so that we can have those conversations and advance vaccination along that dimension as well.

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead.

Moderator: We're going to try Andrew Siff one more time. 

Mayor: Third time's the charm. Here we go, Andrew. 

Question: Yes, thank you folks for your patience. I was actually on the air broadcasting at 11 am for News 4 New York, and delightedly surprised to find out that you called on me. I'm happy to be joining you now. 

Mayor: Andrew, where were you? Because we were hearing like outdoor sounds. Where were you? 

Question: I was in Jackson Heights, Queens reporting on the fact that the children had to log-in and do their zoom school today and that they will be able to return to in-person school tomorrow. And also, seguing to my question here, reporting on some collapsing outdoor restaurant structures, this may have been asked, but I did wonder whether you've compiled sort of how much that has been a factor all across the city, structures that weren't taken down that got knocked down? Is DOT out helping folks with that, are restaurants on their own there, or what happens? 

Mayor: I'll turn to Deputy Mayor Anglin and Commissioner Grayson, but let me emphasize that first of all, I think we had a lot of communication to the restaurant community to get ready for the storm, bring in everything they could bring in. We got a lot of cooperation in that generally. We have not heard of many problems with those structures. So, if there are some, of course we want to try and be helpful in every way we can, but generally we didn't hear about a lot of problems, but Deputy Mayor, you start, and then Commissioner. 

Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin, Operations: Sure. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We did track through the night and it looks like the structure is actually upheld pretty well. We did give clear guidance to try to keep them clean, especially at the tops with snow, removing snow from them. So, we certainly will work with Sanitation, DOT and SBS to help any restaurants that, you know, need assistance there, but we do not think that there was a lot of widespread damage.

Mayor: Go ahead, Commissioner.

Acting Commissioner Grayson: I concur with that. Right from the boots on the ground, as we drove past them, most of the restauranteurs that had outdoor dining structures that were tarped and based in roof or tinted roofs, they were removing them or leaving a stress point open for the accumulated weight. We did have some localized reporting. So, it didn't seem like a widespread problem and for the most part they held up. But I am sure that there are some throughout the city that we just may not know about at this time. 

Mayor: Okay. Go ahead, Andrew. 

Question: And then on the issue of whether there's a pause or a shutdown, you had been mentioning right after Christmas, the Governor yesterday talked about the possibility of January. I'm just wondering whether you've adjusted your own thinking timeline wise or whether you're still thinking it's right after Christmas. 

Mayor: Yeah. Look, I've been talking to our health care team throughout. Everyone's very concerned about the increase in the number of cases, we report it to every single day, very openly. The number of cases is too high. The, the infection levels too high. The number of hospitalizations is too high and unfortunately it's just growing. I don't like restrictions. None of us likes restrictions, but I think we need them sooner rather than later. So, we'll keep working with the State, they make the final decision, but I think it's something that has to be put into effect soon based on the very consistent information we're seeing, and certainly right after Christmas is a natural moment when the world kind of slows down a little bit. But we'll keep having that conversation with the state to figure out exactly how they want to proceed.

Mayor: Nicely said. Again, thank you very much, Commissioner, Hey, everybody, let's conclude with this important point. We're seeing New York City at our best. You know, here we are in the middle of a pandemic, and then here we got the biggest snow storm we've had in almost five years. A lot of other places would be thrown off the game, not in New York City. We just keep going and that's because of the strength and resiliency of New Yorker. So, I want to thank everyone. You keep fighting back. That's who we are as New Yorkers. I look around the city today, so many good public workers out there stepping up for their fellow New Yorker, Sanitation, doing an amazing job. City is coming back strong today. And as I said, the vaccine is being delivered to the hospitals. People are getting vaccinated today. It's amazing how much is happening all at once to bring this city back. So, I just always want to offer a vote of confidence and a real thank you to all New Yorkers, because you literally handle whatever is thrown at you, and that's the beauty of this place. So, everyone, let's get out there. Let's clean up. Let's stay safe and we're going to keep moving forward. Thanks, everybody.

2020-12-18 NYC Mayor de Blasio Ask the Mayor

Brian Lehrer: So, a lot to talk to Mayor de Blasio about as he joins us now. Mr. Mayor, welcome back to WNYC. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you, Brian. How are you doing today? 

Lehrer: I'm doing all right. Let's take a call, Trey in Brooklyn. You're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Trey. 

Question: Hi Brian. Thank you for this outlet. Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Good morning, Trey.

Question: My name is Trey. I'm a general manager of a restaurant in Brooklyn. Normally I staff about 80 people and can seat over a hundred people at a time. This week I have no dining customers and a staff of maybe 10 that I have shifts for. I would like to say a big thank you for the street feeding and making it permanent. Although, the real reason I'm calling is if there's an actual plan for this winter to provide security for the workers, many of whom we all know are immigrants and to help keep us open and working. Given that you've just shut down indoor dining, which by your own records, accounting for a whopping 1.43 percent of COVID tracked cases and was the fifth – the fifth leading place yet can't be bothered to tell us two, three, and four, and considering number one is house gatherings. We're in the middle of holiday season, and now you've taken away, the only semi-safe space to get together with friends and family and will only drive more people to each other's houses. What is the plan? You seem to just be holding us as leverage against the federal government that really isn't inclined to do any major changes? 

Mayor: Trey, thank you for the question. I know it's heartfelt. I know not – no one is holding you as leverage against the federal government. The federal government is not doing their job right now by giving us the kind of stimulus they deserve - we deserve – we are not getting a stimulus from them that we deserve, but it has nothing to do with the choices around indoor dining. That’s been determined by our health care leadership yet. Look, the State of New York makes these decisions and the State of New York, it refers to when you did the, you know, number one, number five, et cetera, that's based on a state analysis. City has a different assessment and our health care leadership has been absolutely consistent in saying, when you start to see this kind of increase in the level of infection in this city, which has been skyrocketing, hospitalizations have been skyrocketing that you have to put restrictions in place if you want to stop it from becoming something that becomes out of control. And unfortunately all over the world, indoor dining where people are together inside with masks off is one of the most sensitive and problematic realities. It doesn't always show up in the contact tracing. That's true, but it doesn't, on one level – that doesn't take away the facts that have been determined by research worldwide, that it is one of the drivers of exposure. And so, we don't want to see you suffer.

But we need to do this for a brief period of time and now we have the vaccine. I think the simple way to look at is, particularly if we can do larger restrictions, which we're talking to the State about right now, to stop this horrible momentum in terms of increase in infections. Do that for a certain number of weeks, which traditionally has been somewhere in the two to four-week range, and then come out of that with now the vaccine starting to be distributed out in communities -- that could be there once and for all. So, it is not a big, open-ended thing where you have to keep suffering. It is let's stop this infection increase and get the vaccine out there and then we take the big turn to the post-COVID era. I want to see you guys get back with indoor dining as quickly as possible and we have made – you're right – and thank you for saying, we have made the outdoor dining permanent. That's going to help a lot of restaurants. Takeout and delivery is going to keep going no matter what, but we just got to get you guys and all of us through the next month or two and then I really think it's a new reality. 

Lehrer: Jake, in Brooklyn – a high school teacher. You're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Jake.

Question: Hi. How are you?

Mayor: Hi, Jake. How are you doing? 

Question: I'm doing okay. I'm a high school teacher. Right now, I'm working probably two to three times what my normal hours would b1e pre-pandemic and a lot of that is because I have to call houses for children that aren't coming to Zoom class, students that aren't coming to their Zoom class, or students that are not handing in work. And, right now, I have about 50 percent of my students failing and it's just very difficult to talk to a parent or try to talk to a parent when Zoom classes aren't mandatory. And I understand that we have to give the kids some elbow room, because of everything that's going on. But I mean, Zoom classes aren't mandatory and they can make up the work, because we have a grade [inaudible] we give students that are failing to make up the work later on. It's just very difficult to say to a parent, hey, they can make this up later, but I need it – I would like it now. So, for the kids, a lot of them are failing because of – because there's a little bit too much elbow room. But I understand – I mean, could there be a policy where like, if you guys want the kids to pass, I understand, just tell them that and then we can go in and we can do checkups on the kids, we can make sure that they're doing okay. We can call them for those reasons and possibly get our day down as well, because, at this point in time, by giving an annex and saying you can make things up later on and telling parents that they don't have to come to Zoom, but we would like them to come to Zoom, it's almost like our time is being – is not being respected and that I'm working so many more hours. And like, for example, our time not being respected – sorry, I'm a little nervous – our time not being respected, like we were given a lengthy develop professional development on trauma for children to understand their trauma, and we weren't getting any time to do it – it's like, do it on your own time. Again, which I understand is something we should do, but a lot of the policy seems to be falling on us to try to figure it out. And a lot of it, when it's not working, it's hurting us and the students. Thank you. 

Mayor: Well, Jake, thank you. That's powerful and very honest. First, I think, in your question you're exhibiting something that I really want people to pause and feel, which is just how extraordinarily devoted educators are. I mean, it's incredibly tough what we ask you to do all the time, let alone what you're dealing with now. So, you know, I'm feeling just how tough your job is and I'm sad about that. And I would say a couple of things – one, you know, we could have said everyone passes. I don't think that would have been helpful. I think there has to be some sense of like, there's still consequences and accountability. I think that helps kids stay focused and I think parents want that. We've tried to do that. I do think we've got to tighten up the notion that kids should be attending at the time they should be attending, even though we do give some flexibility. We know there's situations like kids who have to help with the rest of their family and things that requires some more flexibility, because parents aren't home. We try to leave that flexibility, but we’ve got to tighten up the sense that kid should attend whenever humanly possible at the assigned time. So, your point, I really take to heart, how do we keep improving our reality? But then the other thing I think is really important to say to you is, that the plan that the Chancellor and I discussed last week, the 2021 Student Achievement Plan, which explicitly acknowledges there's going to be a COVID achievement gap and we have to go right at it, we're going to be talking more in the coming weeks about the components of that and the pieces that we can start this year, particularly using digital education to help kids recover ground, especially when we're back in-person. Look with the vaccine now starting to be distributed, this school year – there's a lot to play out in a good way. The majority of the school year is ahead. A year – a high school teacher – you know, there's going to be a day when high school comes back in person and that's going to help. We don't know when yet, but that's going to help you to support your kids in a much better way. And then, in September, you know, everyone's coming back and we have a chance to really start to make up the lost ground. Particularly, if we put additional supports in place, mental health supports, digital education supports, etcetera. So, I don't have a perfect answer for you except to say, please hang on. We need teachers like you. We need teachers who are that devoted. This situation will change in January and February, there was no question in my mind. We will turn around the current spread and the vaccine's going to play a profound role. We'll go into the spring and a different situation that will feel better and September will be night and day compared to what we're dealing with now. So, please hang on, and I'm going to follow up with the Chancellor. Please leave your information on WNYC, because I'd like the Chancellor and some of his team to talk to you about the things we can do to provide more support for teachers like you. So, thank you very much. 

Lehrer: Jake, hang on. We'll take your contact off the air. Mr. Mayor, you know, next Friday is Christmas. The Friday after that is New Years. So, we'll talk again in three weeks, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And, as you were saying to the caller, may 2021 be a very different year for the City of New York and for the world. 

Mayor: To you, Brian, and all your listeners, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year. I look forward – when we meet again in 2021, it will not be 2020, and that will be a great thing unto itself.

Lehrer: At least we can say that. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Talk to you then. 

Mayor: Thank you, take care.

2020-12-18 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. We have a lot to go over today.

The snow did not affect something that couldn't be more important – the number one topic right now, vaccine, and the distribution of vaccine. The snow did not affect the vaccine distribution and the vaccine schedule. Vaccines were administered as scheduled yesterday in health care facilities. New vaccinations since yesterday morning, almost 4,000 – number to-date, over 9,000. Again, this is a small beginning compared to where we will be going over the coming weeks. But what we're seeing is continued good results from these vaccinations process is going smoothly. It will take off and intensify in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, we all are dealing with a real challenge, as our indicators make clear, and we all need to focus on wearing masks, on social distancing, avoiding gatherings, not having big family gatherings, not traveling – all of this matters and these indicators will continue to make clear why.

So, let's go over them. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID 19 – now, this is actually a pretty good report – today's report, 158 patients. More than we want, but well under the 200-patient threshold. That's good, but here's, what's not so good – the hospitalization rate per 100,000, now 3.1 percent. That's too high, we want to be under two. New cases, through the roof, honestly – 2,805 when you do probable and confirmed together. Way too high, we want to get under 550. We’ve got a lot of work to do there. And the percent positivity continues to increase, seven-day rolling average – the next indicator – is 6.16 percent – 6.16. That is way too high. We got to get under five. And, everyone, I will keep saying it – everyone has to participate. What you do makes a huge difference.

A few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Good morning, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Chancellor Carranza, Dr. Katz, Acting Sanitation Commissioner Edward Grayson, Deputy Chancellor for Early Childhood and Student Enrollment Josh Wallack, and Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. First question today goes to Jill Jorgensen from NY1. 

Question: Last night there was some guidance issued by the SLA, regarding restaurants and bathroom access for patrons at restaurants who are dining outside, saying that they shouldn't be allowed indoors to use the bathroom. It seems that that policy changed pretty quickly after a bit of uproar from diners who might have to use the restroom. And I'm just hoping you can walk us through what the – what happened there? How that policy came to be put in place and then how it came to be changed so quickly. 

Mayor: Jill, I'll give you the clearest quote of the day. Every one of us needs to use the restroom sometimes. So, yeah, there's no question that was a mistake. I don't know the nuances of how it happened. It's just stupid. Obviously, people need to use the bathroom and, if you're patronizing a restaurant, you have a right to use the bathroom. That's been cleared up. That's been put out publicly that that was a mistake. Sometimes common sense has the rule today. So, to all New Yorkers who go to a restaurant – yes, you can use the bathroom. 

Moderator: A quick programming note. We're also joined today by DOHMH Deputy Commissioner Dr. Hillary Kunins. The next is Alison Kayden from PIX.

Question: Yes. Hi, Mr. Mayor. I just want to follow up on the restaurant regulations. I know it was walked back about using the bathroom, but what about restaurants that have backyard gardens or rooftop dining? You have to walk through the restaurant to get to those outdoor spaces. The current regulations as they are now does not allow for that. So, what happens to those restaurants? 

Mayor: Again, I'm going to speak from common sense. Clearly if you are trying to get to a rooftop or a garden, you've got to walk through someplace to do it. You should walk through and be allowed to walk through. You should be wearing your mask, practicing other safety measures. But that's just common sense. I'll again, let's be fair to everyone who’s trying to come up with these rules. It's all been against an ever-changing backdrop and there's a lot of complexity. And we all cannot wait for this vaccine to be widely distributed so we can go back to a much simpler situation. But if it's not clear in those rules, it should be made clear. Yes, of course you have to be able to walk through to get to the garden or the roof. Go ahead. 

Question: So, do you expect, I mean, do you expect new rules to be written up and put out, just so people have that for frame of reference? 

Mayor: Again, this is, remember this derives from the State. We've been working closely with the State anytime there's something that has to be resolved. I think the basic answer is yes. I do expect the State to clarify that. I have every reason to believe they will. We will certainly encourage them to get that out immediately and clearly.

Everybody, as we conclude, just to say this, we are called to do more and we’re called to address the inequalities that have been made even sharper by the coronavirus, but the good news is we can actually do it. I truly believe it. This is a city has been heroic during the coronavirus crisis, and it will be heroic and making the important changes, the tough changes, but the necessary changes to be a place of more equality and justice. That is our future. Thank you, everybody.

2020-12-21 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, today is something we don't look forward to, it's the first day of winter officially on the calendar and that makes it the shortest day of the year in terms of how much light we're going to have. So, it's the shortest day of the longest year we have ever been through 2020, but today is also a reminder 2020 is almost over, thank God, and we know that every day from this point on, it’ll get a little lighter in every sense. So that's the good news, we're getting ready for next year, we're getting ready for much better things ahead. But let me just comment upfront for a moment on something that isn't good news, and that's what's come out of Washington DC. I can't even call what the Congress has agreed to as stimulus. It's not a stimulus. It's a short-term survival plan. I'll give you that. There's some aid there that I certainly value for everyday New Yorkers, everyday Americans. It's something, but it's months late. It's billions short. It has no direct aid to localities. There's so much missing you can't call it a stimulus. A stimulus would actually stimulate the economy, help us move forward, help us recover. This doesn't do it. This barely helps us to tread water and from the point of view of New York City, and I know New York State's in the same boat, if we don't get substantial help, we cannot provide the services our people need. We can't keep the good people who serve our people employed. We cannot recover. So, if this is what Washington thinks is a stimulus, they sure don't understand what the people of New York need and people all over the country need. I have a lot of faith that President Joe Biden will make it right, and we're going to need something much bigger, much stronger going forward, but let's not kid ourselves. Something that doesn't help us get back on our feet just can't be called a stimulus.

Now that was bad news, but let's turn to good news now. Let's turn to the things that we can do because we do take care of our own people here in New York City, and we are now, thank God, dealing with a good reality, we're in a new era because the vaccine is here and everywhere I go in New York City I talk to people about the fact that the vaccine is here and it's really lifting spirits and has given people hope. So now it's time to focus on how we turn the page on the coronavirus, how we make 2021 a much better year, and that begins with what we need to do for our children. For so many of us, this is our heart, how we help our children, how we protect them, how we help them move forward, and our kids have been through so much. Let’s remember, every adult out there listening, you've been through so much in this horrible year, 2020, but our kids are going through so much in every sense, and it's harder for them to make sense of. They're going through trauma, they're going through a lot of pain and they need our help. And we have to make sure that help reaches every child, and we particularly need to focus on kids in the communities hardest hit by COVID. We always talk about those 27 neighborhoods in New York City that bore the brunt of the COVID crisis. African-American neighborhoods, Latino neighborhoods, Asian neighborhoods that really got hit so hard and all those disparities that came out. We talk about that to focus our energies, focus our attention on making sure we do what the people in those neighborhoods need and that they get the priority going forward. 
We've got to right the wrong by making them the priority.

So, that's what we will be doing as we go into 2021 as we go into the next school year, we talked over the last couple of weeks about our 2021 Student Achievement Plan, how we're going to close the COVID achievement gap, and we're going to do that for every child. We're going to particularly focus on those neighborhoods that have been hurting the most and the kids who need it the most. You know, I will tell you something pretty unusual that happened last few days, something I said a few days ago when we're talking about how we address fairness and equity in our schools, and we talked about how we create more diversity in our schools, how we address a segregated past and move forward, how we create fairness and justice. We talked about that on Friday, and Fox News apparently was very interested in that and they quoted one of the sentences that I said. I said that we needed to recognize if we were going to address all this structural inequality, structural racism, we would actually have to do things differently. And so here's the quote from Fox News summarizing, they said NYC Mayor sees the redistribution of wealth as an important factor toward ending structural racism education. I'm going to say it one more time in case Fox News is watching again, NYC Mayor sees the redistribution of wealth as an important factor towards ending structural racism in education. Exactly right. I don't get to say it very often, but Fox News got it exactly right. Amen. We are going to fight structural racism through redistribution. So Fox News, congratulations, fair and balanced coverage right there. In fact, if we think we're going to deal with structural racism and segregation without redistributing wealth, we're kidding ourselves.

We got to be real about nothing changes unless you put the resources behind it and that's what we're doing. We're going to make sure our kids have the support they need now, and especially in the new school year, when everyone comes back into the school buildings and that doesn't just mean the academic support, it means the emotional support as well. It means making sure the social factor is taken account of as well, social and emotional learning. That's something that a Chancellor's focused on. That's something the First Lady is focused on, but it takes on even more importance as we go into this new school year, September 2021, it'll be different than anything we've ever experienced in our lives. So we have to make sure that we are really looking out for our kids, that we're checking in on them to see what they need and if they need help, we're giving it to them. And this has been an idea that has long been a core notion of Thrive NYC. One of the foundational concepts of Thrive NYC is get their early, help people, particularly young people, early, provide the support, and if you find out there's a problem, you can do something about it. That's what Thrive has been all about. So here to tell you about this really important new initiative for all our public schools and the way it's going to reach all our school kids, the leading champion for providing mental health support to all the people of New York City, the person who brought us Thrive NYC, our First Lady Chirlane McCray. 

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. I don't know if anyone can be happier than I am today to say we are bringing social, emotional, and academic behavioral screenings to New York City public schools. Yes, finally.

[First Lady McCray speaks in Spanish]

This is a huge moment. Our teams at the Department of Health, Department of Education, Health + Hospitals, and Thrive NYC have worked towards this day for a long time. And if you're a parent who sends your child to a pediatrician every year for a physical, you know, the preventive measures that are taken and peace of mind that comes with a regular checkup, but our nation has never put that same emphasis on engaging the whole child when it comes to education or prevention, when it comes to mental health. That means educators and families don't have as well of an assessment about what our children are doing and what they need. So think of these screenings as an expanded health checkup for students to learn how they are feeling, how they are getting along with friends and at home, even in the best of times, this is a best practice. Now, after COVID-19, it is critical than ever.

So, let me tell you about P.S. 89 in Queens, the borough that was earlier this year was the epicenter of the crisis. Dozens of P.S. 89 students back then reported COVID-19 had sickened or taken the lives of their loved ones. These children had lost grandparents, parents, their parents had lost jobs and they were isolated at home. Every New York City student will carry the experience of this past year in a different way. Some will be processing grief and have trouble focusing. Some will rejoice at being back in the classroom while others will feel uncomfortable. These screenings will help school staff create individual plans to move forward and help educators make sure that no child falls through the cracks. There are no grades, there are no labels or classifications associated with how these questions are asked, there is only learning how adults can offer the best support. We will begin with schools and the neighborhoods hit hardest by this crisis, but we want every student to benefit and we urge a federal stimulus that will help expand this support. Today's announcement, along with our social emotional learning and restorative justice curriculum and community schools reflects a generational shift in education to supporting the whole child socially, emotionally, and academically. New York City is leading the way because we know it's easier and less expensive to grow a healthy child than it is to mend a broken adult. There is no better investment than our young people and when our young people succeed our city succeeds. Thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you so much and, Chirlane, I can hear the passion and the joy in your voice. This is a vision that you've had and a lot of other good people have had for a long, long time, and now it will come to fruition starting in September, and we're going to be able to do so much good for so many children. This has been a labor of love for a lot of people. I want to thank our Deputy Chancellor for School, Climate, and Wellness, LaShawn Robinson, who's put her heart and soul into this work and has been one of the architects of so much of what we've done with social emotional learning. Also, someone who's really gotten under the hood and figured out how we could make this work in our schools, day after day, he's a former principal and he's been our Senior Advisor for Education, Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, thank you for the amazing work you've done. I know you truly, truly believe in this approach. Thank you for helping it come to life and I'd like to give you a chance to say a few words about why this is so important, Brandon. 

Senior Education Policy Advisor Brandon Cardet-Hernandez: Thank you so much Mayor de Blasio, First Lady McCray and Chancellor Carranza. You know, today is a historic day and one that is truly exciting for all of us educators and parents who understand the inextricable link between social and emotional wellbeing, mental health and academic success. See, New York City educators, we've always understood that our charge is not just to teach content and skills, but to make sure students have the academic, social, and emotional skills and tools that will allow them to thrive in college and in their careers. And to realize that incredible goal, we have to know our students, truly know them, as individuals and as individuals and as scholars, so that we can teach them their strengths and provide the supports in the areas where they need it. And it needs to be said, educators across the city had been doing just that for decades. And as a former New York City public school principal in the South Bronx and in New York City public school teacher, I know firsthand what it's like to have a student who needs additional supports and then grasping for a way to connect them to the care they deserve. I know firsthand the intense work that educators take on, analyzing and reflecting on how our students are doing and then making sure we aren't missing any signs that that might help us do our job better. And, today, we're launching something that'll make that charge, our charge of educating New York City students, the whole student, easier to realize.

In addition to expanding our partnership with H + H, we're launching 27 new community schools and neighborhoods hardest hit by the pandemic and hiring 150 new social workers to support those communities. And equally as exciting, in September, we're going to launch a simple screening tool, a social, emotional, and academic behavioral screener that that allows us to check in on the whole child, and, for some students, connect them to additional supports they need. It's an honor to be here today and to be able to bring these incredible resources to New York City students, families, and educators. Thank you so much.

Mayor: Thank you, Brandon. Thanks for all the great work you did on this initiative. And now, as I turned to the Chancellor, I want to say, when you have a Chancellor who really values this important work, it happens. And from the beginning, Chancellor Carranza has believed that social, emotional learning and a focus on mental health was necessary to reach our kids. That was true before the pandemic, and we did plenty of work on it before, but we've had so many really, really heartfelt conversations about what kids need now and how much greater it is and how we're going to have to do something truly universal to reach every child and support them. So, again, labor of love is the right phrase here. Chancellor, please let us hear from you about why this is so important.

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to thank our First Lady McCray, thank you for your passion. Brandon, as always, you bring it right down to the classroom and I want to thank you for that as well. I want to begin today by thanking all of the educators that are out in the field, that have been on the front lines of supporting our students' mental health and emotional wellbeing while also looking after your own families and yourselves as you've done. That they have gone above and beyond by taking the tools of trauma-informed education and social, emotional learning, and integrating them in new creative ways into remote learning and our re-imagined in-person learning. As we've charted our path forward out of COVID-19, we are here to take our students who needed the most first. That means driving support to schools in the 27 communities hardest hit by this pandemic with more critically important supports. This is not new – we're building on the foundations we've built through our Resilient Kids, Safe Schools and Bridge to Schools initiatives that were well underway prior to this global pandemic. Critically, we know community schools work and we in New York City are nationwide leaders in building community schools. We know what happens when schools are built on a foundation of community partnership and they have the resources necessary to address the unique needs of their communities. In community schools, we see higher graduation rates. In community schools, we see improved student achievement and we see decreases in chronic absenteeism and disciplinary incidents. I don't know about you, but that sounds exactly like the kinds of supports our students will need in a post COVID-19 educational environment.

By providing each of these hard-hit communities with additional community schools, we are partnering with our terrific community-based organizations who have done truly incredible work on behalf of our young people during this crisis in community schools and beyond, and investing in the long-term social, emotional academic success of students in these communities, we will do right by our students in our communities. As our First Lady mentioned, by using social emotional screens, we are providing a simple, effective tool for educators in schools to assess the general wellbeing of our students. With a parent's consent, these assessments will be used to target interventions and craft personalized care for individual students, helping them heal and flourish academically. In addition, it may be that once we do these screens the student is just fine and they're okay. That's fine too, but it's always important to know so that we know when to act. 

Paired with social, emotional screening, we are going to 150 additional social workers and expand our partnership with Health + Hospitals to provide the direct mental health care to students. This is an addition to the historic investments that have already been made in New York City. Not only does this ensure our students have access to another caring adult during the school day, but these experts will help educators identify and provide targeted intervention when necessary and appropriate. Our goal is to bring these supports city-wide, but to do what we need to do we need federal support. In the meantime, we will continue to double down on our core belief for our students to succeed academically. We must first need to make sure they're okay. Socially and emotionally.

[Chancellor Carranza speaks in Spanish]

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Thank you very, very much Chancellor. And, everyone, one more note on education. We announced on Friday that the specialized high school exams were going to be happening in January. Want to remind all parents, all students that registration for those exams begins today. So, you can start registering literally today. The test administration will begin on January 27th. I want to encourage all young people and their parents who think this is the right choice for them to take that exam. This is a chance for everyone. We want to see as much diversity and inclusion in our specialized high schools as possible. So, everyone who's interested sign up today.

Okay. Now, let's turn to the health care front. Obviously, every hour, every day, the fight against COVID continues. And we now have the greatest tool we possibly could have, the vaccine. So, New York City is focused on getting that vaccine to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Now, it's a brand-new vaccine. Our health care leaders, our health care workers are getting used to working with it. Obviously, it requires some very careful handling because of the ultra-cold storage, but New York City is moving rapidly to get the vaccine out and get people vaccinated. And, right now, based on the data we've received from the CDC, New York City is vaccinating people basically at twice the national average time. We're basically doing things twice as fast as the national average. In New York City, of the doses we have received, 42.2 percent – as of yesterday, 42.2 percent have been administered. Nationwide, it’s under 20 percent had been administered. We are going to keep speeding that up further and further. Our Vaccine Command Center is leading the way and they will provide regular updates on we're doing through their website, which is now live – nyc.gov/vaccinecommandcenter. So, thank you to everyone at the command center. I know they're working intensely to ensure we get the maximum impact from the vaccine. Right now, in New York City, we've had over 18,000 doses administered as of yesterday, that number again will grow rapidly. And good news – more good news – we have a second vaccine. The Moderna vaccine has been approved and will be shipping into New York City very soon. So, what we're seeing is safe and effective vaccines that are going to change the entire reality and help us turn the situation around. And now, not just one vaccine, but two, and we think more to come after that. So, there is some good news right there.

Now, everyone with the holidays upon us it is another time to remember how careful we have to be. It's great we have the vaccine, and with every passing week, with every passing month, that's going to make more and more impact. But the holidays, unfortunately – we love them, we love our family gatherings, we love seeing our loved ones, but the holidays create a danger too. We saw this over Thanksgiving. We all love gathering, but, unfortunately, despite all the warnings people gathered and in some cases didn't take all the precautions. We saw a spike in the number of cases after Thanksgiving. We're really concerned about Christmas and this whole holiday season – New Years – and this is a time where we really could see an intensive spike and we can't handle another spike, so we need to, for all of us, be careful. Everyone, please, you've got to – you've got to wear those masks, practice social distancing, keep those gathering small, do not travel. It's so important. And that would be true if it were not a new fact that there's a new strain of the virus that's been identified England. Even if it weren't for that, all of these warnings would be true. The new strain makes me even more worried about what might happen and how we have to guard against it. I just need everyone to understand, if we hang on for the next few months, if we do the right thing and we fight back, we can turn the corner on the coronavirus. We can avoid having to put into effect a lot more onerous restrictions – no one wants them. And, look, we're going to need help from the federal government, we're going to need help from the airline industry. It's really, in my view, it's time for a travel ban from Europe, given what we're seeing with this new strain, or, at minimum, a requirement that anyone getting on a plane has proof that they have a negative test if they're coming out of Europe. We need to be aggressive.

This is a decisive moment. If we get it right now, if we're careful during the holidays and we give time for the vaccine to be distributed, we really turn the corner. So, everyone, we need your full, full participation.

Now, let me go over today's indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 184 patients. So, that's below our 200 patient threshold, but not by much, so concerned continually about the situation in our hospitals. Our rate – hospitalization rate, 3.1 – excuse me, it’s 3.1 per 100,000 New Yorkers. That's too high, we want to get under two percent. That rate has continued to grow, and that's a problem. New cases on a seven-day average, combining the cases that we have – 2,802 is today's number. We want to be under 550. It's obvious, that's a very, very high number. We’ve got to bring it down. And then the update on the percentage of New York City residents testing positive, seven-day rolling average, 6.05 percent. We want to get back under five and go well below that. 6.05 percent today, we need to work harder, everyone.

A few words in Spanish, I'm going to go back to the important work that's being talked about today in education.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by First Lady Chirlane McCray, by Chancellor Carranza, by Deputy Chancellor for School, Climate, and Wellness LaShawn Robinson, by Senior Education Advisor Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, by Dr. Chokshi, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. First question today goes to Andrea from WCBS.

Question: Good morning, everyone. Happy holidays.

Mayor: Happy Holidays, Andrea. How are you doing?

Question: I’m great, thank you. First question is about the stimulus. Mr. Mayor, you talked about it not actually being a stimulus and the federal government has been pretty consistent in not giving the city what it needs. So, at what point does the city stop putting all of its hope and faith in the feds? And what's your plan financially, moving forward?

Mayor: Andrea, it’s such an important question. Look, let me be clear, I'm very happy that there'll be some additional support for every-day New Yorkers and every-day Americans. And there are certainly some good individual pieces in this, but it's not a stimulus. It leaves out state and local aid and will not help us back on our feet, won't help us restore our economy. It's a survival package. It's not a stimulus. So, my hope rests with President Joe Biden. He has been very clear. he wants a true stimulus. He wants a major stimulus that will energize the economy and support all of us. He knows so well after the experience – after the recession in 2008, that it would have been better to have had a bigger stimulus then. He learned that lesson, I know he will apply it. And so, we're going to see that play out in February and the months right after. That will give us time to make our final decisions on our budget that is due in June, but I'm very hopeful that President Biden is going to really resolve this situation and get us a true stimulus.

Go ahead, Andrea.

Question: Okay. The second question is switching gears to social emotional learning. Just like the plan to address learning loss, it doesn't begin until September. So, how do you reconcile that so many kids right now are falling through the gaps? And are you concerned that so many just maybe lost by the time these programs are available in September?

Mayor: Andrea, very important question. Thank you for it, because we need to realize how much trauma our kids have been through. I'll turn to the Chancellor and then see if the First Lady or any of our other colleagues want to add in. But I would say, first of all, I do not believe our children will be lost from this experience. I believe our children are strong and resilient, but they're really going to need our help. And when we see them in person daily, starting in September, we're going to be able to help them in the most profound way. So, we're laying that framework right now. In the meantime, I know our educators, our social workers, guidance counselors, principals, everyone is watching out for kids who have real needs right now and helping them get connected to the mental health services that are available in every school right now in one form or another, and that's Thrive – a piece of thrive that was so important for the beginning, to make sure that every school was connected to mental health services somehow. Our educators know they can tap into that and I know a lot of them are doing that work right now. Chancellor?

Chancellor Carranza: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Andrea, we're not waiting until September. This is already in place. We're already doing lots of work around social, emotional learning, trauma-informed pedagogy and practices. We've had literally thousands of teachers and principals that have been trained on what to look for and how to support students. We have our Bridge to School program, which has specifically trained our educators around identifying signs of trauma. So, we're not waiting. We're announcing today is that this is part of a systematic – systemic approach, hand in glove with the academic approach, the social, emotional trauma-informed approach to make sure that we are taking care of the whole child as we transition back. So, we're adding to what we're already doing and we're being as transparent as possible about letting parents know, because we get those questions all the time – what is going to be different for my child? So, we want to start previewing for parents, this is what we're going to add to what we're already doing to make sure that we are absolutely laser-focused on the whole child, academic and social-emotional.

Mayor: I want to see if you see if Chirlane, or LaShawn, or Brandon – want to add?

First Lady McCray: I think the Chancellor is exactly right. We are blessed to have launched social, emotional learning this curriculum that deals with children and their emotions last year. So, we were able to get many – thousands of teachers trained, and I'm sorry this pandemic happened, but we were actually well positioned to be able to deal with a lot of the outcomes in terms of how children are reacting to this crisis. So, we're well positioned. We're kind of, you know, ready for this – as ready as anyone could be for this kind of situation. So, the social, emotional curriculum is being delivered remotely in most cases. So, this gives us another tool. It's just another tool to help us assess where children are and be able to build on everything that we've already done.

Mayor: Let me see if LaShawn wants to add.

Deputy Chancellor for School Climate and Wellness LeShawn Robinson, Department of Education: That's right. The Chancellor and the First Lady are 100 percent on point. This school year, over 50,000 educators have completed the training and trauma-informed care. We are building upon existing investments and will continue to do this work to support our children and our educators who have also focused on their own social, emotional development through self-care as well this year.

Mayor: And such an important point, LaShawn, thank you. We care about all the people that work in our schools, our educators, our staff, they've been through so much too. And, you're right, the very same techniques that we have taught them to help kids also is part of making sure we're watching out for them as well. Brandon, do you want to add?

Senior Advisor Cardet-Hernandez: The only thing I'll say is, you know, this is building as well off of, obviously, work we were doing last school year, but also work that we did in our regional enrichment centers this summer, making social, emotional learning a priority there. And, again, as everyone has said, this is just the next step in a systematic – systemic way of thinking about how we are going to be doing school next year.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderatore: The next is Courtney Gross from NY1.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Hey, how are you doing.

Question: Can you hear me?

Mayor: Yeah, how are you doing?

Question: Good. Thank you. I'm well, thank you. So, I wanted to talk also about the stimulus. Is your strategy going to change at all, given what we saw come out of Washington over the weekend? What kind of conversations do you expect to have with the new administration next year? And what is the doomsday scenario? And when do you make a decision on what that doomsday scenario or those budget cuts could be? I mean, you're going to need a preliminary budget, obviously, in January. How many layoffs are we looking at? What specifically are you asking for –

Mayor: Hold on, Courtney, this is becoming a multiple – multiple-part question. Let me try and get to the core of what you're asking. Listen, it's a very troubling reality, Courtney, that the stimulus involves no direct aid to New York City, or any other city or county or state in the country. That means that we're on our own again. When you think about the fact it was back in the spring that the House passed what was a real stimulus package, and we've waited, waited, waited, hoping and believing that something would happen and, you know, half a year has passed and now we get this – it's really a troubling situation. It means in January, we'll present a budget based on what we know and we'll show what the impact is of the absence of federal support. But the final decision will come in June, as it always does with the budget. And we're going to work very closely with the Biden administration to get a true stimulus. And there's plenty of time for the Biden administration and the Congress to act in the spring well before we make our final budget decisions. Go ahead.

Question: And then switching gears to the new vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, you said the city is expecting to receive it soon. Do you know when exactly? And how many doses we should be expecting to get and where those would be directed first?

Mayor: Thank you. And Dr. Chokshi, will give you an update on all of that.

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you for the question. Yes, we're very excited about the Moderna vaccine coming to New York City. As you know, it was authorized by the FDA on a Friday of last week and the CDC formally recommended it over the weekend. And so, they started to get shipped across the country yesterday. We expect the Moderna vaccine to come to our city beginning today through Wednesday of this week. It will be a total of about 149,400 doses for this week. And the people who will be prioritized to receive the vaccine is laid out in the State prioritization guidance that primarily remains health care workers, including people in community health centers – that's the staff and community health centers – as well as our emergency medical services personnel.

Mayor: Go ahead.

Question: The next is Amy Zimmer from Chalkbeat.

Question: Thank you for taking my question. I wanted to ask about funding for the community school expansion program. So, I wanted to find out how much it's going to cost and how you're going to pay for it after cutting community schools this year.

Mayor: The bottom line is that what we have seen with this pandemic in particular, the calls upon us to do something differently, and what we're saying here is that we will make it a budget priority to provide this support in the 27 neighborhoods that were hardest hit by COVID. Whatever it takes, we're going to make it a budget priority even if it means we have to reduce spending in other areas. If we get the true federal stimulus, as the Chancellor laid out, we will then do this universally across all parts of the city. That's what we would strongly prefer, but we would need federal stimulus support to do that. So, you know, this is a situation, we’re now looking at everything that's happened this year and what our kids need, we have decided this is a budget priority and the best way to ensure that our kids are going to be well and able to learn in the new school year. Go ahead.

Question: And can you provide some more specifics about the mental health screenings? So, who will conduct them, how the people will be trained, and then what happens after a screening, if a child needs help?

Mayor: I'll start with the Chancellor and then everyone else can join in on any part of that. Go ahead.

Chancellor Carranza: Yes. So, the screening itself, it's very short. It's evidence-based, it's a questionnaire, less than five minutes. It's done by those who know the child the best in the school. So, it's a variety of people in school that can do the screening. Again, it's a “temperature check” of how the child is doing. We are blessed in New York City that we have an incredibly rich infrastructure called Thrive, where any New Yorker can get the support that they need. We obviously have a very strong partnership with Thrive. We have social workers that we've invested in. There's additional social workers that we will be bringing on board to help support this initiative as well. So, the whole point is that as there are signs that a child may need additional support, we will absolutely waste no time in connecting that child and their family with those additional supports. I also don't want it to be lost that this may also be a good opportunity for this questionnaire, this check, to indicate that the child is doing fine and that they're robust and that they're adapting well, and then that's okay too. But I think even that information is important for families to have as well, so that they know.

Mayor: Thank you. Go again to our First Lady and then LeShawn and Brandon, see if they want to add. Particularly on the note – particularly on the question of the kind of help we can provide to a child if that becomes a need.

First Lady McCray: Well, I want to emphasize what the Chancellor said that this questionnaire is a way of also pinpointing a child's strengths. And I think that's very important to note. We have a variety of resources for our children including the partnerships with community-based organizations that are in neighborhoods, our social workers. Some schools have in-house clinics, and, of course, the expansion with Health + Hospitals will make a huge difference as well. So, whatever the level of a child's needs, we'll be able to tend to whatever that is. We are very well positioned to handle children's behavioral health needs. And I should add that the social emotional learning curriculum is also a way that teachers can address a child's behavioral health needs just in the classroom every day through the coursework.

Mayor: LeShawn, in addition to anything else you want to add, why don't you refresh everyone's memory on the partnership with Health + Hospitals and the kind of services that could be available to a child through that?

Deputy Chancellor Robinson: Absolutely. I'll just add also, the screen is just a way to continue to build strong relationships with families and to deepen our work with students. The questions ask students about their thoughts and feelings about school, themselves, and their relationships with others. And support is readily available and on hand. We're deepening our support systems today through investing in community schools and adding social workers to our school communities. And the partnership with Health + Hospitals is critical, especially in our communities hardest hit by this pandemic, which will allow support in the Health + Hospitals clinic so that young people can be seen by clinicians, social workers, and other professionals inside of Health + Hospitals supporting the whole child with extended supports for families as well.

Mayor: And again, I want to emphasize that it depends on what each child needs, but if a child does need ongoing support, as LeShawn just indicated, you know, we have really tremendously dedicated professionals at Health + Hospitals who will be available, obviously for free, to provide that support on an ongoing basis. Brandon, do you want to add?

Senior Advisor Cardet-Hernandez: The only thing that I'll say is, you know, it's individual work and that's why we're going to take a minute, a few minutes to just check in individually with each kid to see what they need. For most of our students, as you said Mayor, you know, they're not going to have an additional need, but the check-in is just a really good way to show that we care. And for some students that may be an individual conversation with the caring adults, more social interaction with their peers, that the school helps structure, and then for probably the smallest group, it's going to be more support. And, you know, partnerships with H + H allow us to bring that support to reality.

Mayor: Thank you, Brandon. I want to note, you know, really to think about the individual nature of this, as you just said – the Chancellor and I were talking about this earlier. When we talked about closing the COVID achievement gap academically, we talked about how we're going to individually reach each child, how our educators are going to figure out what each child needs to make up for whatever learning loss. We're going to use some new tools like some of the new digital capacity we have to help individualize, tailor-make a program for each child academically. Think of this as the social emotional equivalent, where you can look at a child's situation, and if they have a particular need tailor-make a solution for that child to make sure they feel supported. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Henry from Bloomberg.

Question: How are you doing today?

Mayor: Never a dull moment, Henry. That's all I can say. How you doing?

Question: Doing well. I'm short, it’s the shortest day of the year. So, this is my day.

[Laughter]

Mayor: I like that positive, positive attitude.

Question: You're a confirmed height-ist. So, I thought I would mention that.

Mayor: I'm going to – I'm going to argue with you on that charge. I love people of all heights. We're all in this together.

Question: All right. Well, I stick to my assertion.

[Laughter]

Is there [inaudible] data on how many infections – what the infection rate is in the schools these days? We don't seem to get that number – 

Mayor: Yeah. And we should put that out regularly. I'm glad you are raising that, Henry. So, I'll start and turn to Dr. Chokshi. The last I saw was based on the weekly testing. Remember we now are doing the highest level of testing we've done since school began – weekly testing in every single school. It's been very successful, both in the sense of the testing has been rigorous and available, but also because of what we're seeing. The number I saw a few days ago was 0.7 percent positivity, 0.7 percent. Again, in the city, we’re right now, we're around six percent positivity for the whole city. So, this really emphasizes the point that, arguably, the safest place to be in New York City is in one of our public schools right now. But Dr. Chokshi in terms of making that information available consistently, could you speak to that?

Commissioner Chokshi: Certainly, Mr. Mayor. The information on cases and testing in schools is on the Department of Education's website. We can make sure to follow up with that link and make sure that it has all of the information that you're looking for, Henry.

Mayor: Great. 

Moderator: The next is Katie Honan from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hey, good morning. My question, it goes back to today's announcement. And I wanted to ask, you know, [inaudible] I guess, about the timing of it, but there was a survey released, I think earlier this month, I don't remember, by parents of children with IEPs and various special needs that found that their services were really lacking when it came to blended learning, when it came to when they were getting their mandated services, and that kind of thing. So, how does an announcement like this morning’s square with the reality that a lot of families and students with special needs are facing where they are not getting the mandated amount of time with speech and OT, when they're not getting the services that even though they are legally allowed to, because of these challenges that we have now with the various kinds of learning?

Mayor: It's a very – it's a fair and important question, but also points out, the reason we're making this announcement now is to tell people where we are going. We have a lot of work to do now, but with – all of us have one hand tied behind our back because of the physical reality that's been imposed on us by COVID. Hopefully in the course, even of this school year, we're going to get some substantial relief from that as the vaccine progresses and be able to do better and better during the school year. But we know that the chance to make a more profound difference will come in September. That's why we first announced the academic plan to close the COVID achievement gap, but we're also doing the mirror image, social emotional plan to address the trauma and help kids to be able to get the support they need. And that's going to be so much more effective when everyone is back together in September. We wanted to lay out now what that vision is. To what we are trying to do in the meantime even with all the disadvantages, Chancellor and then LeShawn and Brandon, if they want to add, we could speak to sort of how we're doing our best in this circumstance to serve those kids with IEPs.

Chancellor Carranza: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, Katie, three things that I'll say then I'll hand off to LeShawn and Brandon. So, number one, this is about directionality. So, we're giving you a preview of coming attractions so that we're laying out what the vision is for September. And we're looking at this at a big scale because there is no bigger scale in America than New York City's public schools. So, it's important to understand where it is that we're going. So, this is about directionality. Now that should, in no way be conflated with the idea that we aren't doing anything right now. We are doing everything in our power to prioritize our most vulnerable students of whom students with disabilities are certainly part of that group. What's the evidence? Well, when we came back to in-person learning in September, we prioritized students in D75, students with IEPs. Over the summer when we were providing additional supports to students, especially even in our recs in the spring, we prioritized students with disabilities, in fact, finding very innovative ways to provide them with related services in person.

As we go forward, even currently, we're doing as creative and innovative as we can within the current environment that we have to provide students with the services that they need and that are mandated in their IEP, but we don't look at them as mandates. We look at them as the right thing to do for students in the best way we can. And the third thing that I would add to the answer to this question is that remember we're picking currently from a portfolio of imperfect choices. If we had our druthers, everyone would be inoculated, everyone – we would have the ability to come back to school in person, everybody five days a week, providing the kinds of services that we did prior to this COVID-19. We just aren't there. So, for us, it really gives us a whole portfolio of imperfect choices, and we're picking the least imperfect of those choices, but I have to give a lot of credit to those out in the field who have really been going above and beyond to make sure that those that need the services the most, our most vulnerable students, are being prioritized and are getting those services to the best of our ability, given our circumstances.

Mayor: Thank you. LeShawn or Brandon, do you want to add at all?

Deputy Commissioner Robinson: Yes. What I will add is that I have an opportunity to serve the children of the city in my professional capacities, and I am also the parent of one of our city's children as well. My son is a young person with an IEP and as a parent to have the school reach out for a wellness check, to have the school inquire about my son's social emotional being, and utilize the very practices that we have within the Bridge to School plan, to have the teacher talk about the focus on trauma supports in the school, and making sure that my son, a young person with an IEP, my son is a dyslexic young person, is focused on his social emotional wellbeing first and foremost, even before engaging in the academics has been comforting for my family and really helped my son to re-engage in school this year and has helped him navigate through this difficult time. We know that all children have been impacted and I approached this work first and foremost as a parent of a child in our school system and then as a professional. So, the work that we're doing around social emotional learning is a support for all children, especially our most vulnerable, like our young people with IEPs.

Mayor: Thank you very, very much. Brandon, do you want to add?

Senior Advisor Cardet-Hernandez: Nothing, thank you so much.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Katie.

Question: Thank you. My second question is a follow-up. You know, I recall this summer leading up to the school year, Mr. Mayor, you often said that the 2020-2021 school year would be the greatest in New York City history. It seems like there's now been a shift to September [inaudible]. Can you explain the difference? And can you also articulate a little bit better or clearer what is being done now, especially for teachers who are working with their students and families who are trying to make up for a lot of the challenges with kids that [inaudible] or at least March?

Mayor: Yeah. It's important. Katie, certainly my goal was to see something happen in this school year that was extraordinary. And, in fact, that has happened. It has been the most heroic school year in New York City history because of what our educators and staff and parents and students have done. Somehow keep forging ahead and finding a way to do things that almost no other school system in America has been able to do. New York City public schools opened, opened safely, continued to be safe and healthy throughout. And extraordinary innovation has taken place both in terms of health and safety and academically to keep things moving forward. So, it's been a heroic year for the New York City public schools, but I think you're right to say that the greatness I want to see us achieve really begins in September because we know that in September, we'll be able to have people back in person in a way that hasn't been possible on a sustained basis for so many parents and kids this year. So, what we're now building is a framework to do things, starting in September, we've never done before, to have pervasive social emotional support, pervasive access to mental health support when it's needed, universal screenings, but also on the academic side, the ability to individualize what every child needs and provide them with more instruction than ever before using new approaches. So, I am tremendously excited about what's going to happen starting in September, but I will a hundred percent affirm the heroism of what's been achieved this year.

Moderator: The next is Amanda from Politico.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you?

Mayor: Good, Amanda. How you been?

Question: I'm good. Thank you. So, I wanted to follow up on several of my colleagues’ questions in regard to the social emotional program. So, I'm looking at my notes, it's the metrics that Thrive issued in like 2018, 2019, and the metrics include, you know, social, emotional learning within the Health Department, social emotional learning in pre-K, trauma services for families with young children. And I know several people have mentioned that this program builds on various initiatives that Thrive has done. However, Thrive has undergone some changes. There's been cuts to the program, programs removed. My first question is how is this program different than the other programs? And is it repetitive of previous programs that’ve been funded and since have been cut?

Mayor: Very important question. I'll turn to Chirlane but let me start with a quick frame. I remember the early meetings around Thrive and what was so shocking, this is going back years, is a recognition that there was no functioning mental health system in New York City. And obviously there is not in America. And Thrive came out of a series of discussions with the Health Department, Department of Education, and many others where it became abundantly clear, if we did not provide consistent access to mental health services, we could not help New Yorkers and we couldn't address a lot of the biggest challenges we face, so much of what our kids are going through, and also so many other social challenges that really derive from untreated mental illness. So, Thrive was created to do something that had never existed before. And from the beginning, there was a recognition we were going to take some of the best practices that were known around the world and create some of our own. And we knew some would prove themselves instantly. Some might take some more time, but we also took the chance that some new innovative approaches might prove not to be as effective as others, but we needed to try. We needed to do some experimentation to figure out what would work because it had never been done before. And whenever something's been identified as not good enough, it's been taken out of the program. What has been abundantly successful is social emotional learning, and any of the ways to identify the problem early and get help early. That's been the sort of magic formula in mental health when you identify a problem and connect people to mental health services early. And that unites a lot of the best elements of Thrive that have been most effective and most proven. So, certainly universal screenings in our schools is a – it speaks for itself. You're immediately helping to figure out what a kid needs and get it to them early in their life. And that opens up a world of positive possibilities. So, that's just some of the background, but to Chirlane, to talk about the specifics.

First Lady McCray: Thank you. The Mayor is exactly right that before Thrive most of our most of our services, our mental health services, were handled by the federal government or funded by the federal government and through the State. There really isn't a mental health system, a behavioral health system in this country. And there was a lack of coordination between health care providers and how these services were provided. So Thrive was launched five years ago, after 11 months of talking with people from all kinds of communities in addition to the Health Department and Health + Hospitals and professionals in the field. 11 months of talking to people about what was missing, what we needed to have for people all around the city. And what came out of those discussions was a set of principles. And I’ll only name two of them, change the culture because of the huge stigma that everyone felt around mental health. The fact that we couldn't even talk about it was a problem. And act early. And so social emotional learning was actually one of the first things that we wanted to launch, but we didn't have an infrastructure to build on. And what we've been doing over these years is actually getting ourselves to a place, getting our city to a place where we could actually launch the screening, the last year the curriculum, and that it would be embraced. It would be embraced and people would be invested in it and understand what it is we're trying to do. So social emotional learning is Thrive inspired. It is run by the Department of Education, one of our many agency partners. We have 12 agencies now that work directly with Thrive. But we want every agency actually to be able to deal with mental health in some way. We feel that the best way to provide mental health services is that there's no wrong door. That people, wherever they are, whether they're in the workplace, if they're in ACS or DOE, wherever they are, NYPD that they can get mental health services wherever they are. That's what we're moving to. And in this last year that we have we'll be building on that as much as we can. 

Mayor: Amen. Go ahead, Amanda. 

Question: Thank you. And then my follow-up question is the sounds pretty similar in terms of strategy to the postpartum depression screenings that were done at Health + Hospitals, became incorporated into Health + Hospitals policy. But when I spoke to people who have either received those screenings or providers, I was told that there's just a lack of resources. So if you get screened for postpartum depression, there's no place to send people or there are a few places to send people. How will this social emotional learning screener be different for kids? If they're getting screened and then it turns out that there are a few places to send them, slash does Health + Hospitals have pediatric programs that deal specifically with mental health issues in children? 

Mayor: All right, let me, let me start with a quick frame. I'll turn to Chirlane. And also Dr. Dave Chokshi who spent a substantial amount of time at Health + Hospitals, I think could help us with some of the response. Look, you're raising an absolutely crucial point. So the big frame is this, here's a country that does not have universal health care. Doesn't have Medicare for all. Here's a country that has stigmatized people had mental health challenges for generations. Women with postpartum depression have been made to feel bad about themselves, have been treated like there's something wrong with their character, even though they're dealing with an honest and organic mental health challenge. The backdrop here, Amanda is very troubling. People haven't had access to health care and especially they haven't had access to mental health care. And the whole societal construct is broken. So with Thrive the idea was to first de-stigmatize. Second, give people a place to turn. Whether it was 8-8-8-NYC-WELL, or in the example that you point out with Health + Hospitals to have actual screening, actual dialogue about postpartum depression. And engage a mom and make sure that she knew support was available. We find generally because it's New York City and there are a lot of wonderful providers that we can reach a whole lot of people with the next level of help. And certainly Health + Hospitals has a lot it can provide in terms of mental health support. Is it ubiquitous and perfect? No, but I would contest one part of the question a little bit. I think there are resources here compared to any place else in the country that are superior. And we are able to reach a whole lot of people. But if we truly had a national universal health strategy, we could do a whole lot more. Chirlane? 

First Lady McCray: Yeah, I would echo what the Mayor just said, is that we've made historic investments in this area. And there are places that people can turn. It may not be exactly what they want, but there are many, many places that they can turn for help. For example, NYC Well. People can call NYC Well and actually make an appointment while they're on the line with a therapist or appropriate mental health professional. We've made investments in Health + Hospitals. We're hiring social workers. We're doing as much as we can and want to do more. I'm praying for a stimulus so that we can complete our work. But there's no other city that guarantees health care like New York City. And with that guarantee of being able to get a primary care doctor even if you're undocumented comes the ability to actually be referred to a mental health professional as well. So no one, and I do mean no one, should have to go without mental health care in this city. 

Mayor: Yeah. And Amanda, before I turn to Dave Chokshi I mean, again, let's remember the role – guaranteed health care in this city, including NYC Care, which ensures that even someone undocumented can get health care for free, that also makes it a lot easier for folks to get mental health support or a mom's suffering postpartum depression to get help. It is not the same as if we had a full universal national health care system. That would be superior unquestionably. But I do want to note that once we put guaranteed health care into place, we change the reality, making it possible for everyone to know that they could access health care regardless of their income, regardless of their documentation status. So again, is there everything we want? No, but is there a lot for people to turn to? I truly believe that there are a lot of good options. Dr. Chokshi, you want to talk specifically about H + H and the way that support is provided when those screenings are done? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. Thank you very much. And thank you for this incredibly important question, Amanda and for inviting me to speak to it Mr. Mayor. I wanted to start by pulling out something that the First Lady said, which is this idea of no wrong door for care. And Health + Hospitals has really made considerable strides over the last few years to bring that notion to life. I had the privilege of helping with much of this work, which centered around the idea that people have relationships with their primary care doctor, with their pediatricians, with their obstetricians. And those are very important when we consider the best way to deliver mental health care as well. And so, the way that that's been done is to ensure that resources are embedded in the right places and clinics and in the hospital setting to actually make that real. So, for your specific question Amanda, which was about postpartum depression screening. One of the ways in which this has worked is that when someone does screen in a way that indicates that they need help with a mental health issue there are resources that are directly available. Through an evidence-based program known as Collaborative Care as well as other resources that have been embedded in Health + Hospitals in large part, thanks to Thrive NYC funding. That includes the social workers that the First Lady mentioned, but also other mental health clinicians who are trained to provide grief counseling for depression, anxiety, and other common mental health issues. So as the Mayor has said, there is more work to be done here. But starting with that notion of no wrong door and making it so that there are clear channels for people to be connected to the services that they need, are the principles that have been used.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead. 

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Andrew Siff from WNBC. 

Question: Hello. Good morning. Can you hear me? 

Mayor: Yes. You sound crystal clear Andrew. This is a step forward. 

Question: Great. I want to ask Mayor, on Friday, the Governor displayed sort of a surprising confidence in New York's ability to avoid a shutdown. And it seems to be a little bit of a disconnect from what we've heard from you and your health numbers? You're urging people to cancel their plans. You're alarmed by the seven-day positivity. And yet the Governor's take seems to be despite the increase in recent weeks, the hospital system can handle it. I'm wondering what's your response to that? 

Mayor: The Governor and I have talked about this a lot, Andrew. And he and I spoke this morning. The hospitalization reality, which he's focused on is of course, the single most important piece of the equation. And, you know, when he announced his vision related to hospitals, I joined him for that. And I thought he was right to say, what we learned in the spring was that our hospital system has to be able to handle what's thrown at it. Again, I affirm in New York City hospitals, including all our public hospitals did an extraordinary job in the spring under the worst possible circumstances, but they held. The question now, again, is, as we deal with the second wave, will our hospitals hold? Will they be able to provide high quality care? Will they be able to save lives? I'm convinced the answer is yes. And the Governor's right to say, that's the first consideration. But he's also said, and I've said that restrictions are still a very live option if we don't stop this spread. And that we need everyone to participate. So I don't want restrictions. I don't know anyone who wants restrictions, but we have to be ready for them. If we cannot stop the situation from getting a lot worse. And that means anyone that doesn't want restrictions should be wearing a mask, practicing, distancing, canceling their travel plans, having small gatherings only, helping us to stop this spread. So I think there's a lot of agreement on the basics here. I'm going to be watching very carefully. And if at any point my health leadership, and I feel that the situation is getting, taking a new turn and that we need to more urgently change and move to restrictions. We will call that out immediately. But right now, thank God, again, our hospitals are doing very well. And that's a credit to all the good people who work in them. Go ahead. Andrew. 

Question: At the start of this call today, you said you believe there should be a travel ban on, I will just, I'll get you to elaborate on what you think it should be? If this is just flights coming in from the UK or from other parts of Europe? And as an aspect of that, we expect the Governor to talk about this as well and say, this is the FAA’s job, the federal government. But if this is a really urgent situation, could you not send your own Health Department to JFK Airport and to do something much more aggressive with regard to the folks who are landing even today? 

Mayor: I really appreciate that question because I take a very stern view of this matter. And I'll turn to Dr. Varma and Dr. Chokshi on this as well. Andrew, I think, you know, this is something the Governor's talked about. I agree with him 100 percent you know, way back when, when this started. Trump administration put a travel ban effect for China. I thought that was the right thing to do, but they didn't do it for Europe. That was the huge mistake. And that's what left New York City vulnerable. Now you fall fast forward. I said a month or two ago, there should be a requirement for international and domestic travel that people prove they have a negative test result before getting on a plane. I think that's just common sense. I put that out there. Federal government was not interested in pursuing that. I think they should have then. I think they should do it now at minimum. But now that you're saying, here you have a new strain, apparently even more infectious developing in the UK, already spreading in Europe. I think the best solution is at least a temporary travel ban from all incoming, for all incoming flights from Europe and the UK, to protect us against an exacerbation of a second wave. Why on Earth wouldn't we put that temporary measure in effect? We can't do that, only the federal government could. At least have a requirement for a negative test before getting on a plane. I do not believe we have the independent ability, unfortunately, to turn people back or I would be doing it right this minute. But to the bigger challenge, Dr. Varma, then Dr. Chokshi to talk about this new strain and the challenges we face from it? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Great. Thank you very much for the question. This is a really concerning development. I've reviewed the evidence from the UK and concur with the assessment that there is a lot of uncertainty, but what we know right now is that the strain does appear to cause infections more readily. It does not appear to cause infections more seriously. That is your risk of having a severe outcome does not appear to be changed. There is of course, a lot more to learn. And we may modify those assessments over time. Now in terms of what we need to do here, I think the Mayor is absolutely correct that one of the things we in the global health community have learned is that restricting travel can be a very important way to slow the growth of new infections. I think it's unlikely that we could ever stop this strain or other strains from entering the US. But temporarily restricting travel can certainly do that. The longer-term strategy, however, is exactly as the Mayor has said. We need to really be adopting the measures that other countries around the world do, which is testing before departure, testing upon arrival. And then of course, you know, continuing to enforce the, not only the State requirements, but even having a federal requirement for isolation and quarantine. The last point I will make is really the big picture. And the big picture is how does this happen? Now we know viruses mutate. This virus probably adapts and you know, changes one or two times every month is what we know by its biology. The way we stop this virus from replicating and causing new mutations is to have fewer people infected with the virus. The virus doesn't mutate on its own in the wild, it mutates in human bodies. So, the only way that we can really prevent this virus from mutating into a more infectious strand here in the US, is to reduce the number of infections by all the measures that we've been talking about. 

Mayor: Amen, Dr. Chokshi, you want to add? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Dr. Varma covered all of the high points. The one that I'll just emphasize is how much this underlines the importance of quarantine associated with travel. We take this extremely seriously for the reasons that Dr. Varma has pointed out and because of the holidays we are worried about additional travel occurring over these coming days. It makes it all the more important. Our advice is do not travel, cancel your holiday plans. If for whatever reason it is absolutely unavoidable to travel, the importance of following the quarantine requirements becomes even more paramount. 

Mayor: Amen. Thank you very much. Go ahead.

Moderator: The last question for today goes to David Cruz from Gothamist.

Question: Hi Mr. Mayor. How are you doing? 

Mayor: Good, David. How you been?

Question: Pretty good. So there was a school in Park Slope, an elementary school in Park Slope that had tested only one of two cohorts since the randomized testing program began. And the teachers have explained that they’ve asked the testers to come on different days, but they've been ignored. And at least two other schools that I've spoken with have also experienced the same occurrence. And you've spoken about how rigorous testing is, though this doesn't appear so in at least these two cases. So, what could this months long oversight? 

Mayor: Okay. David, I appreciate the question and I really want to make sure – so first of all, please share the information with our team here, because any school that's not going through the right cohort approach, that's something we want to fix immediately. We can fix immediately. That could be as easy as just changing the days when the testing occurs. I would caution that the weekly testing has only been done recently. That's only since we came back a few weeks ago and put the weekly testing into place. So the months long, I want to be careful when you say that. That we get the facts, I would be surprised if it was something as long as that, but I want to see the facts and act on it. The bottom line is we will do that testing in every school every week. We want different people to the maximum extent possible each week, obviously. And that's what gives us the clearer picture of what's going on. What we do know is the positivity levels across all our schools have been really strikingly low, thank God. It’s a great credit to our school communities, but we need it to be always an accurate measure. So I'll ask Dr. Chokshi to follow up with his colleagues in the Test and Trace team and make sure in these individual cases that we adjust in any way we have to. Go ahead, David. David? Do we still have him? He's gone? Oh, he's on. David, you're there? He's on, but we can't hear him. It's a neat trick. I don't know if you’re mute? All right. Microphone trouble it is. Well, I'm going to conclude, unless you can use the miracle of technology to bring him back.

Moderator: We'll circle back to Dr. Chokshi. 

Mayor: No, I meant the journalist. 

Moderator: Oh, David Cruz. Can we hear you? 

Question: Yeah, I'm here now.

Mayor: There you go.

Question: Well, just want to say, a point of clarification for Park Slope, it's been happening since October. I know they had the monthly program, but it happened October, November and into December. So just want to make sure that that is noted. And unrelated question to that, regarding Times Square on New Year's Eve, what is being done to make sure people don't congregate? 

Mayor: A very good question. And you know, David, I liked the fact that your question involves the words New Year's Eve, because that means that 2020 is almost over. So, let me start with that. It's something we can all celebrate. You're exactly right. New Year's Eve this year is not a place, Times Square is not a place to congregate. We are going to get that message out intensely over the next days, set up a protocol to avoid people congregating. We'll have details on that soon. We have had honestly, pretty good success. I think Thanksgiving Day is a great example of that. Obviously, the Macy's parade, one of the biggest events all year in New York City. Again, thanks to Macy's for the way they handled it. And thanks to the NYPD and all the other City agencies that were involved. It managed to be something that was a really wonderful televised event that people could still feel the continuity and the emotion of it, but not a place where people gathered and that was achieved successfully there. We're going to use a model like that for New Year's Eve. So, details coming, but exactly the right idea. It will be on television. You'll still see the ball drop. But we're letting people know right now, it's not a place to be in-person.

Okay. Everyone, as we wrap up, look today what we talked about is really about people looking out for each other. New Yorkers have been amazing in 2020, truly amazing, having each other's backs, watching out for each other, helping each other through. When the heroic story of 2020 in New York City is written, it will be about the way New Yorkers were just there for each other. Well, what we announced today is about being there for our kids, being there for our parents. Making sure that if a child's going through distress, if they're feeling the effects of the trauma of this year, that we're recognizing it, we're talking to them about it and their family. We're helping them through. We're getting them the support they need. One of the powerful things that's been done over these years in New York City, and I really give our First Lady credit for this incessant work of de-stigmatizing, taking away any notion that if you're having a mental health challenge, there's something wrong with you. There isn't anything wrong with you. There never was anything wrong with someone who had a mental health challenge. It's part of human life. And we need to be able to talk about challenges. When we talk about them, we can act on them. So universal screening is going to allow us to really engage every child and connect with every family. And for any child who needs help, it's going to create an atmosphere where they feel good about the fact that they can talk about a problem and then help will be there. And that's how we move forward as a city, just being there for each other. We've all been through so much. We'll be talking about it for a long time. But what's most important is we're all going to help each other through. And very soon, we're going to be doing that in a brand new year. And we can't wait. Thank you, everybody.

2020-12-22 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, there is definitely good news in this world. Yesterday, we saw the first shipments of the Moderna vaccine arrive in New York City. So, this is really, really important. We already had the Pfizer vaccine now – a whole new second opportunity to keep people safe with the Moderna vaccine arriving. This is going to give us much more capacity, but it's also, again, a moment to appreciate the extraordinary effort that the scientific community undertook in the year 2020 to create these vaccines, to keep us safe – not one, but two now, and potentially more on the way. So, this is really miraculous. It's something to appreciate that these really safe, effective vaccines have been created. And they're going to allow us to move forward. They're going to allow us to turn the page once and for all on the coronavirus.

Now, we are underway with the leadership of our Vaccine Command Center, we’re underway in the largest vaccination campaign in New York City's history. This is going to be a huge logistical operation, but already you're seeing what New York City can do and how New York City sets a very high bar. We're already vaccinating people at twice the national average. There's a lot of focus, there's a lot of intensity in the approach to make sure the maximum people get vaccinated as quickly as possible. So, we need to do that – the logistics, the hospitals, the doctors, nurses, everything has to be coordinated through our command center, but we also have to educate people, we have to get people comfortable with the vaccine. Obviously, very importantly, President-elect Joe Biden got the vaccine yesterday and showed the world that. I think that was a great act and very important. What we're going to do every single day is educate New Yorkers about the importance of the vaccine and we're launching a new campaign to get the word out. 

It's [inaudible] very clearly, NYC Vaccine for All. The idea of this campaign is to let people know this is for everyone, this works for everyone. It will be free. It will be easy. It will be effective and safe. These are the messages that we have to get out – safe, free, easy. We're going to keep saying that over and over again. And we have so many community leaders who are stepping up making clear to people who listened to them, who trust them, that this is the right thing to do to protect every New Yorker, protect your families, protect yourself. We're going to not just talk about, we're going to show through evidence, through the testimony of New Yorkers, trusted, respected New Yorkers that this really works. And we're going to push back against misinformation. We know there will be misinformation. We know the rumor mill will be working overtime. We will the message out using all types of media and different languages, whatever it takes to help people understand that this is the difference maker. This vaccine is what will allow us to move forward. All the pain, all the suffering, all the loss can be defeated through this vaccine. That's what we want to get across and the best way to get the message across is for you to hear from every-day New Yorkers who have received the vaccine and so they can explain why it's so important to them and their families, why it's so important to you.

And so, we've got three folks who work at Health + Hospitals and our New York City public hospitals, and clinics who do such important work for all of us, who really are heroes for what they've done to protect their fellow New Yorkers. And we want them protected, but we want to hear their voices, because they made the choice to get the vaccine, and it's important for you to know why and what it means for you and your family. So, first let's hear from someone who helps every day the people of the Bronx, he works at North Central Bronx Hospital for our Health and Hospitals system – and we welcome Kevin Cruz. Welcome, Kevin. 

[…] 

Mayor: Kevin, I really, really appreciate that. And I think you – I think you just gave all the reasons in the world right there. I just think you spoke from the heart about what we saw, what we know. I really appreciate the point you made, people worry about side effects. We know the side effect of getting COVID and how horrible it can be. We know that that can lead to people losing their lives or lasting consequences. So, I want to thank you for putting it in real perspective, that this is something that people need to do and do it for yourself, do it for your family, but also do it for the health care heroes who were in harm's way, but fought through to save us. Kevin, thank you. That was very, very powerful. Thank you. And thank you for all you do.

Everyone – and I want you to hear from someone who does so much for us in Queens. Suja Mohan is the Director of Nursing for the Emergency Department at Queens Hospital. another place that was right in the epicenter of this crisis. Thank you for all you've done. And tell us what you think about this vaccine, Suja. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Suja. Thank you for all you have done through this pandemic to save lives, to help support all your colleagues. I know it's been really tough, but thank you for your leadership and thank you for your testimony today on how important this. I want you to hear from one more New Yorker, and this is someone who watches out for the people who do this crucial work, watches out for our health care workers, watches out for folks who are in hospitals and need solace and comfort and support. Very, very crucial that we recognize that all the members of the clergy who are there for people in their hour of need, help sustain us and have helped us sustain us through this horrible time. So, he does his good work at Coney Island Hospital, part of Health + Hospitals, a place that also really, really struggled and fought through the worst of the coronavirus crisis and really appreciate his leadership and his voice today. My great honor to introduce Rabbi Jonas Gruenzweig. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you. Rabbi, thank you so much. That's such a clear, powerful message. You don't want to get COVID-19 and you don't want to give it to anybody else. Well listen, everybody, the rabbi said about as clearly as you possibly could, this is why everyone should take this vaccine, because, Lord knows, you don't want to get this horrible disease and you certainly don't want to pass it onto those you love. So, we're going to keep giving you the opportunity to hear from your fellow New Yorkers in the weeks and months ahead to really understand why people believe in this vaccine and their own personal experience with it. I think that's going to be what's most compelling to people. I really want to thank all our guests today for all they do for us and for also helping New Yorkers to understand this vaccine and believe in it. 

All right, let's go over our indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19. Today's report 193, 193 patients. We want to be under 200. We’re barely under 200. But again, the hospitalization rate per 100,000 is a problem – 3.09 per 100,000. We want to be under two. So, again, that number is too high. Case numbers continue to be astoundingly high. Today's number, on a seven-day average, 2,889 against a goal of 550. It speaks for itself. We have a lot of work to do. We got to bring that down. Now, the third indicator, percentage of New York City residents testing positive, seven-day rolling average today 5.88 percent. We want to be under five percent even. We have real work to do. 5.88 percent, a little lower than yesterday, but still higher than we need to be. A few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: We’ll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi by, DOT Acting Commissioner Margaret Forgione, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today goes to Allison Kaden from PIX-11. 

Question: Good morning to you. I want to talk about holiday travel. My first question is, some New Yorkers may be listening, some New Yorkers probably aren't, whether that means getting in their cars, going to the airports, they're going to see friends, going to warm locations, going to family. They will eventually have to come back to New York City. What is your message to them? 

Mayor: Thank you, Allison. Couldn't be a more important topic. First my message, again, you heard it from Dr. Dave Chokshi, our Health Commissioner yesterday, if you have travel plans right now, cancel those travel plans if there's any way you can. Look, some people, I know it may be, literally, an emergency or something that they don't have a choice. If you have a choice, cancel your travel plans. Why? Because we finally have the vaccine. In a few months, it's going to be widespread. Things are going to be a lot safer. Postpone your travel to when it's safe, protect yourself, your family, your loved ones. But let's say someone says, ‘nope, I'm traveling no matter what.’ Okay. Then I say to them, you've got two choices. One, when you travel, of course, you have to maintain social distancing with people around you, wear your mask, do all the things we normally tell you to do. But if you're going to come back and expect to go on with your regular life, that's not going to happen unless you do exactly what the State rules say and you test while you're away and test negative and come back and within the stipulated period of time, test again and test negative. That's the only way you're not doing a quarantine. Right now, that's a two-week quarantine. And we will enforce that quarantine. We'll follow up with every traveler about the quarantine. We expect them to honor the quarantine. We'll help them, but if they don't honor the quarantine, there are serious financial penalties. And we need people to understand that we're not doing this for the fun of it. We're doing this to save lives. So, don't travel, ideally, but if you do travel, get ready to quarantine. Go ahead, Allison. 

Question: My follow-up question obviously is this concerning strain in the UK, a lot of travel between London and New York. We've been talking about this for a few days. Still, it doesn't seem like the federal government is in any rush to stop UK travel. Have you had any talks with the federal government, with our federal leaders, and what is your concern level? 

Mayor: My concern level is high, Allison, because we're looking at a new strain that is more infectious and simply makes the job harder, just when we're about to be able to turn the corner. So, I believe in a travel ban from Europe at this point, a temporary travel ban. I believe in, at minimum, if there's going to be travel requiring a negative test for anyone who gets on a plane. I'm going to be talking to a variety of federal leaders to try and get it done. Obviously, we have not seen much receptiveness from the Trump administration. We will keep trying, but if we can't get it done now, we're certainly going to try and get done under President Biden. But yeah, I'm worried just because it leads to more spread. Let me have Dr. Varma jump in here and just help people understand why this presents a new challenge. 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Great. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I did want to just react to the comments that you made, which is that we have always known and been worried about travel as a threat to our ability to control this infection. So, the more that we can do to, you know, limit the amount of travel that's happening and for people who do travel, ensure effective testing before and after, as well as isolation and quarantine, the better we can do to slow the spread of this virus. Now specifically regarding this strain, what is most concerning to us is the fact – are really two things. One is the fact that the evidence from the UK is reasonably strong that this virus spreads more easily than other strains of the coronavirus. And so again, that means that our room for error is even less. Everything that we do to prevent infections, keeping distance, wearing mask, washing our hands, we need to be even more rigorous about. So that's one concern. The second concern is we are seeing other strains, not the same one, but similar types of strains emerging in other parts of the world, like in South Africa. And all of that again is an indication that the only way that we can really return back to some version of normal is to reduce the number of people infected. This virus mutates when it's inside humans. So, we need to keep it out of humans. And again, so it circles back to the same thing, really being very strict about all the precautions that we normally follow. And we're going to be looking very carefully for introductions of this virus here in the U. S. as well as the possible emergence of similar types of strains. It's something we need to be wary about. But we do have the tools to prevent this. We have a vaccine, and we have all of our individual measures. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Michael Gartland from the Daily News. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor: Good morning, Michael. Are you ready for the holidays? 

Question: I am. I apologize, I've got the television on, in the background. I hope it's not too loud. I've got the kitty crowd control going. 

Mayor: We want to support you in your crowd control efforts. That's okay. 

Question: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. You've – a lot of people have asked you about when you get the vaccine and we've seen some elected officials getting it. I wanted to ask you another question about that. Once you do get the vaccine, what do you plan to do, I mean, differently when you get it? Do you see your behavior changing much? Are you going to be out and about doing things you haven't done since March? What do you got planned once you get it? 

Mayor: It's an important question. I think we all need to just keep being careful because it's the smart thing to do in this moment that we're all going through here. So, what I've found is that the basic health rules we've all been following make sense, and we want to keep everyone in that mindset until we really have widespread vaccination. Want to keep wearing those masks, keep the social distancing, the small gatherings, all those things until our health leadership says, okay, it's time to change now, it's time to relax and approach things differently. Look, we've said, we think it's going to be roughly until about June before we can get really, really widespread vaccination. I think every week is going to get better, Michael. But I'm saying, if you say, when you're really going to be pervasive in New York City, probably give or take June. I'd say from now to June, we should all keep to these basic precautions. And then we'll assess as we get to that point and we'll listen to our health care leadership. But in terms of how, and when I get the vaccine, I am ready, willing, and able. And Dr. Chokshi is going to tell me when it's my turn in line. 

Moderator: The next is Marla Diamond from WCBS 880. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor: Good morning. How you doing? 

Question: Good, how are you doing? 

Mayor: We are – I'm hanging in. Just a few more days to Christmas, so I'm feeling good. 

Question: I got a couple of middle schoolers here who are eager to get back to the classroom. Any guidance on that and on high schools, when you might give us some sense of when the older children will be going back to school? 

Mayor: I would like them back in school as quickly as possible. What I can tell you right now is we're going to look at middle school first and then high school. Right now, we got to fight back the second wave, obviously. We've got to get this vaccine distributed widely. We're going to start looking at January as a first opportunity for middle school, but it will all depend on what's happening with the larger health care reality and what our health care leadership is saying. So. we've got more work to do, but I am very anxious to get our middle schoolers back as you are. I can't give you a date yet. It's going to need some more time, but my goal is as soon as humanly possible. Go ahead. 

Question: And just to follow up on the vaccine, you mentioned at the beginning that you were very hopeful about the Moderna vaccine. Do you have any idea when that might be coming to New York City and who will be getting it? 

Mayor: Absolutely. And we have a lot of idea, and it's the fact that we, now – this is on the playing field right now, the Moderna vaccine, and that's huge. And Dr. Chokshi will go over with you, you know, the kind of number of doses we expect and the impact we think it's going to make. Go ahead, Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and yes, I certainly share the excitement about that Moderna vaccine. A really important point that distinguishes it from the Pfizer vaccine is that it can be stored in regular freezers, which means that we can expand the points of access and distribution beyond places that just have that special ultra-cold freezer. In terms of the timeline for arrival and distribution – actually we got our first few doses of the Moderna vaccine yesterday, about 25,000 of the approximately 149,000 that we expect for this week have already arrived in New York City. Those along with the Pfizer doses that we're receiving as well, will continue to be distributed according to New York State prioritization guidance, which right now focuses on health care workers, particularly health care workers who are at highest risk, as well as nursing home staff and residents. And we're looking forward, as you heard from my amazing colleagues earlier in the call, we're looking forward to getting it to as many people as will benefit from it as quickly as possible. 

Mayor: Thank you, go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Dana Rubinstein from the New York Times. 

Question: Hi Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor: Hey Dana, how are you? 

Question: Fine, thank you. So, you've stopped elective surgeries at HHC Hospitals. Case numbers are in your words, astoundingly high. Is the State waiting too long to shut down as it arguably did last time around? 

Mayor: Dana, it's such an important question and it is something we are all talking about every day. I've had numerous conversations with the Governor. My team, his team have been talking constantly. We have, I think, a complex situation here. The case numbers are astoundingly high. I don't like what I see one bit. I'm really worried. And we are seeing an impact on our hospitals. At the same time, we are seeing our hospitals handle these cases much, much better than in the spring and with much better outcomes. The Governor has presented a plan that really focuses on the hospital issue because that is the single most sensitive and crucial issue. And I agree that that's where you begin and we are seeing better outcomes in the hospitals. But there's also the worry that as the case numbers continue to grow, you have the challenge of the spread of this disease and the question of what will stop it? What will slow it down until we get the vaccine really, really to be widespread? And those bigger restrictions are the only tool we have. So, we keep assessing daily. We keep having the conversation with the State daily. And I think particularly if we see more stress on the hospital system that there is a likelihood you will then see those restrictions. Go ahead. 

Question: Thank you. And then secondly, does the extension of unemployment benefits in the new federal stimulus, does that impact your thoughts on the matter at all, given your concern about people being able to hold on to jobs? 

Mayor: It's a good question, but I'll tell you again – I really, you're asking the question with a whole heart. I try to urge people, not even to call it a stimulus, because it's not a stimulus. It is, you know, barely a survival plan. You know, it's short-term at best. It will not help us turn things around in a substantial way. The amount of direct aid, that's, I'm glad there's direct aid, but the amount of direct aid is so small that for many, many New Yorkers, people all over the country it is not going to make much difference. So no, it does not make me feel that, you know, Oh, that's going to tide people over or everyone's going to be okay. No, I do not feel that. I think we always are concerned about protecting people's livelihoods. I am. I'm really concerned about folks who are trying to save their jobs, save their businesses. That matters, but of course, what matters most is protecting people's lives. So, we're trying to balance all of that. But no, I don't think what happened in Washington gives me much solace. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Ben Evansky from Fox News. 

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor, thank you for taking my question. First question, will you follow Joe Biden's remarks yesterday, give credit to President Trump's administration for getting the vaccine out in such a speedy way? 

Mayor: Yeah. Look, I have many, many criticisms of President Trump in general and specifically his handling of the coronavirus. But I've also been very comfortable saying when I think they did something right. During the worst of the crisis, March, April, May when the President himself and the people around him helped us to get some of the PPE we needed and supplies we needed, I made it a regular point to thank them and give them their due praise for the ways that they helped New York City. I'll also always say when they failed to help New York City. So, you know, in terms of getting the vaccine? Yes, I do think the President and his administration contributed substantially to getting a vaccine in this kind of timeframe. That's a really good thing. I would also say, you know, they dropped the ball profoundly in the beginning of this crisis and exacerbated it throughout with their actions, with their words. And also failed to provide us a stimulus which obviously the President could have been the difference maker on. But if you're saying, did they play a valuable role in getting us a vaccine quickly? Yes, I do believe that.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Yehudit it from Borough Park 24 News. 

Question: Hello. Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you? 

Mayor: I'm doing well. How are you? 

Question: Good, thank God. We want to wish you – we want to thank you for all your beautiful Hanukkah wishes last week. And also wish you happy holidays this week. 

Mayor: I appreciate that. I always appreciate – you have a good energy about you and I thank you for the good work you do. 

Question: Thank you. Thank you so much. You've talked a lot about loans, grants, and other help for small business owners. And you're asking New Yorkers to shop the city. And I know just speaking for myself, I think shopping online, especially with future lockdowns, it is going to be a really hard habit to break. And I think one thing that could really help as I speak to a lot of business owners in the community, are help with the websites because a lot of us are not so tech savvy. And that can be something that I think can really, instead of trying to compete against Amazon, I was wondering if the Small Business Services would ever be able to provide technically savvy people to help small businesses to create websites so that people can keep shopping online? Because I don't know if that's really going to be something that people can stop doing. 

Mayor: That's a really good point all around. First of all, I'm happy to tell you, yes, we're doing that already. But we should be doing a lot more. I want to take your point and run with it. I'm asking all New Yorkers, I know a lot of people are still doing holiday shopping. I certainly am. So I want to say that all New Yorkers shop local, shop your city. You, I hear your point about folks may be tempted to for health and other reasons do all their shopping online, but you can still shop from local stores online to the maximum extent humanly possible. But I think it's a really great point. So Small Business Services is already doing this, but I think they should do more and deeper into communities. I'm going to ask our Small Business Services Commissioner Jonnel Doris to follow up with you about how we can do a special outreach into Borough Park and other communities. But yeah, this is exactly something government can do to help people, provide that technical expertise, show people how to set up those websites. Let's keep these dollars right in the community. So, however you shop, shop local this holiday season. 

Moderator: Last question for today. It goes to Juliet from 1010 WINS. 

Question: Yay. Happy holidays to all on the call. Merry Christmas, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor: Merry Christmas, Juliet. Hi. Have you done all your shopping? 

Question: No way. 

Mayor: Alright, I like that. That was a badge of honor right there. 

Question: Yes. You know what? I’m baking, I think people are getting home-baked goods. 

Mayor: That is the best present. 

Question: But that is not done yet either. 

Mayor: That's the gift of love Juliet. 

Question: Thank you. Thank you. Actually, I wanted to ask you about stimulus money or lack thereof? Because in the short term with your preliminary budget due next month, what are your plans for City services and personnel? Because Politico today is reporting that City agencies have to cut three percent. So, is that translating into service cuts, personnel cuts? 

Mayor: We have a big challenge ahead. What's happening now with our budget is we’re getting ready for a presentation in January. We're turning to all City agencies and saying you're going to have to find more savings. This is going to be a version of what we call a PEG which is an effort to get savings from every agency. What has been put out there initially is simply to get ideas and proposals back from agencies. It's not the final plan by any stretch. That will be developed for the presentation in January but then there's much, much more after January, you know, in April and June. The big X factor, what I hope and believe will happen, that President Biden will come in and really focus on a serious, large stimulus. But until we know that we have to prepare for the worst. So, this year's budget, Thank God we're doing okay from now until June, but next year is very, very tough. And that's why we're saying we have to be ready for anything and everything. We're going to ask every agency to put forward savings ideas. Unfortunately, we have again, talk about something, no one wants which is layoffs, but that's going to be part of the discussion again, unless we get federal or State help. So, it's a very sobering moment. And certainly, this bill, again, I will not call it a stimulus. This bill that was passed in Washington did not change the equation in any big way because it just didn't provide the kind of relief that we need to turn the corner. Go ahead, Juliet. 

Question: Okay, so how long do you think you can hold off on layoffs? And if or when the stimulus money does come? What are your priorities with it? 

Mayor: So, first of all, so far, we've been able to avoid layoffs with a lot of help from labor, defraying some costs that we would have to spend this year. Some things we wouldn't have to address this year, and that's been immensely helpful. I want to thank our labor partners for that. And we've had some other revenue we were able to get. We’ve doing okay so far. But there's so many unknowns here. And there's revenue that we need that if we don't get could put layoffs and other cuts back on the table even for this year. But certainly, if we're talking about next year, starting the next fiscal year, starting in July, unfortunately it is a live possibility. Because there's so many missing pieces here. Over a $4 billion-hole, minimum going into July. And you know, I just want to put it in perspective Juliet in the spring, the House of Representatives passed a true stimulus, a true substantial muscular stimulus that would have helped cities and states get them back on their feet. That was the spring. Here we are now this week, we get something much, much less. It's really disappointing. And it just says to us, you know get ready because if we don't get help from the federal or State government, we're going to have to make some very, very tough choices, painful choices. And choices actually will make it harder for us to recover. I don't want to do that. I want to try and avoid that all costs but right now, you know, all options have to come back on the table because we haven't gotten the help we need. 

Everyone look, as I conclude and that was a sad note there, but I want to go back to the positive. Especially in this holiday season, the positive really comes from voices of our good colleagues at Health + Hospitals that you heard earlier. The incredible work they're doing, the people all over the city who were there for each other, who helped to save lives, who stood up, who just showed amazing compassion. I want to thank everyone who was there for us, every health care hero, every first responder. I had the opportunity yesterday to send out a thank you with Chirlane to all City employees that just do such good work. And you've all been heroic. I'm going to be using the word heroic a lot going forward, because that's the story of 2020 in New York City. And you all did that heroic work. And now here's another chance to be heroes. Let's go out there and get everyone vaccinated. Let's show the world how well we can do that here in New York City, how fast we can do it. How much we can protect each other with the vaccine. And look, we're going to keep telling people it is safe. It's easy, it's free. And when everyone gets vaccinated, the city moves forward. So, let's start building our future right now and get everyone in the game, off the bench, in the game, helping us move forward. Thank you, everybody.

2020-12-23 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, holidays are upon us and there's good news because of that. And people are getting ready to support each other and show their love for each other and give each other gifts. Well, the people of the council district in the Bronx, the 12th Council District have a gift this morning, they have a new Council Member. I want to congratulate Kevin Riley, who was just elected in the special election yesterday in the 12th District in the Bronx. So, congratulations to the people of the Bronx. And congratulations, Kevin. I look forward to working with you as we bring this city back in 2021. So, that's some good news. And definitely the good news is, no matter how tough this year has been, this year is almost over and we are focused more and more on our recovery, our renewal as a city. And a big part of that is going to be our small businesses that we love so much that are part of the heart and soul of this city. And yesterday, I went Christmas shopping, and I went to some great small businesses in Downtown Brooklyn at City Point, the McNally Jackson Bookstore, what an amazing place. McNally Jackson Bookstore is a great, independent community bookstore, a place that I love, I’ve got to tell you, because it just represents neighborhood and community, but also the incredible books they have from all over the world. There is something special when you support a community bookstore. You are doing a lot more than just helping out a small business and helping the people who own it and the people who work there. You are keeping an important New York City tradition alive. Community bookstores represent our communities, make sure that literature it represents all of us, is there for everyone to partake of. This is a crucial part of the personality of New York City. So, everyone, if you're still out there Christmas shopping, or even in the new year, let's make it a point when you're going to go out and buy a book, please go to a community bookstore. Great campaign that the folks at McNalley Jackson started and go to #boxedout and their message is, don't box out community bookstores, don't just have the big power players dominate the market for literature, focus on the little guys and the folks who have always kept independent viewpoints alive. So, please, everyone, want to just passionately urge you, if you’ve got some more shopping to do, go to a community bookstore.

Now, I saw some other great, great, great entrepreneurs, great community members yesterday at City Point in Brooklyn. I went to an offshoot of the Flatbush Caton Market. This is an amazing market that for years and years has been in Flatbush in Brooklyn. Folks from the Caribbean communities of Brooklyn made sure that there was a marketplace that really celebrated the Caribbean culture that's so strong in that part of Brooklyn. That market is being redeveloped. And so, the good folks from Flatbush Caton Market have a section of City Point where they're selling their Caribbean goods, beautiful things. I was honored to get some wonderful gifts there from my family, celebrating the Caribbean heritage of Chirlane’s family. So, thank you to everyone at Flatbush Caton Market. You've been a big part of what's great about Brooklyn and New York City, and I'm glad you're continuing and a great future ahead next year when the market comes back full time.

Also, had a wonderful conversation with a great New York success story. Her name is Tracey Boyce Mahia and the company she owns is Perry Boyce, named after family. And she just does some wonderful, wonderful work. She comes from an immigrant family from Guyana, created this business – fragrances, candles, just wonderful homemade organic products, beautiful stuff she's put together. But here's the kicker, she was really worried about this year, of course, and she was worried about whether her business would survive. And I talked to Tracey about what ended up happening and because she got this opportunity to be a part of the marketplace at City Point. She saw more and more people, new customers that wouldn't have known about her business before. She started a really thriving online business. She said at the beginning of this pandemic, she thought her business might not survive. Now, her sales have doubled this year compared to last year. Now, look, that's not every small business. We've lost precious small businesses that we love. We've lost small businesses that are part of our community, but there's also a lot of stories of people seeing an opportunity to reach new customers and customers coming out really with heart and passion to support small businesses. So, again, this is an opportunity, whether you live near City Point in Downtown Brooklyn, or any other place where there’s small businesses selling things for the holidays, you have a chance, every one of you to contribute to them staying strong, them sticking around for next year. Buy local, shop local.

One more story, and it's a great one. I met a man who really inspired me, his name is Maliksha [inaudible] and he was an arts professor at Kingsborough College in Brooklyn, but he lost his job because of COVID. But he had something else he was doing, I guess you could call it an art side hustle, because he was an artist himself and he was creating his own artwork. And now, he is out selling it at this local market in Brooklyn. And he – was just beautiful images of New York. He's an immigrant from Turkey, but he loves this city deeply and he wanted to portray his love for New York City. He's created really colorful, beautiful, heartfelt visions of New York City. So many good stories, but we have to keep these stories alive. So, again, there's still a lot of us shopping. I cannot tell a lie, I was still doing shopping as a yesterday. Most years, I go right up to the last point on the 24th of December. I think there's a lot of you out there probably in the same boat. Shop local. Go to the local stores if you feel comfortable that. And if you would rather shop online, then shop online, but directly from our local New York City stores. Let's keep that money in the community. Let's give them that boost.

All right, now, let's go back to the main event – every day we talk about COVID. We talk about the fight against COVID. And, obviously, you know, we talked about what our small businesses have been through, what all of us have been through, but now we have a different reality, because of the vaccine. And the news about the vaccine gets better every single day, literally does. We get more and more vaccine arriving every day. And we're seeing the positive impact of the vaccine being distributed every day. It's giving confidence to folks who received the vaccine. It's really moving us forward. There are so many people who need this vaccine and we're going to move very, very quickly to get that vaccine that everyone needs it. One of the examples – the best examples of who needs and deserves a vaccine, our health care heroes and our heroes at EMS – at Emergency Medical Service. Our EMTs, our paramedics, they did amazing work, really, really tough work, difficult work during the height of pandemic, and, of course, ever since. So, our EMS workers have been on the frontline since day one. We want to make sure they get vaccinated right away. We know that every time we get someone vaccinated, we're helping them in their family to be safe and we know that, that is peace of mind, that all those who serve us deserve. I spoke to a lot of EMS workers, paramedics, EMTs, and their officers when we were going through the worst of the pandemic. I went and saw the work they were doing, and I felt for them, because we were depending on them so deeply, they were giving it their all. So, I really want to thank each and every one of them – you did amazing work. This vaccine is now going to give you what I think is so important, both that health protection, but also that peace of mind. Because the vaccine is safe and effective, you're going to know that you're going to be okay.

So, the work of vaccination, we're going to go over it in a moment with our Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro. This is going to protect members of EMS, but, at the same time, as we are celebrating that we're going to be able to provide this protection, starting right away, it's a sad moment too, because, just last night, one of the good people at EMS, one of the people who serves us and protect us passed away. Her name, Evelyn Ford, an emergency medical technician – 27-year member of EMS. She went in in 1994, and she was working in the emergency medical dispatch unit. Very, very sad that, just now, as we finally get to turn the corner, the vaccine has finally arrived, we lose a good woman who served us so well for so long. She is the 12th member of FDNY, EMS to pass away from COVID and our hearts go out to her, her family, her children, a very, very tough moment for this family. A moment where we all remember those who serve us – our condolences to the family and we will be with you every step of the way going forward. 

With that, to talk about the extraordinary work of EMS and the measures starting today to protect all the members of EMS, I turn to our Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro. 

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro: Well, thank you, Mayor. As you said, what was going to be one of the few uplifting days that we've had this year as the vaccine rolls out to our EMS personnel today was saddened by the knowledge that Ms. Ford passed last night of COVID. And it really points to how important the vaccinations are to our members. We have had, in a department of 17,000 folks, close to 6,000 of them have had COVID over the past nine months. It's an incredible number. We have over 600 people right now on medical leave with COVID. So, there's no doubt that this comes at a very important time for us and we hope that we can vaccinate 450 people a day at three locations and start to bring this protection, this miracle that came to us and start to put COVID behind us. It's only a beginning. It's going to take quite a while, but we are very pleased that, today, members of EMS will begin getting vaccinated. This will continue throughout the next few weeks. And as more vaccine arrives and more becomes available to us, we hope to have our entire department vaccinated and protected at some point. So, that's where we are right now. 

Mayor: Thank you. And, Commissioner, I want to thank you. This has been the toughest of years and I think a lot of New Yorkers know this, but I want to emphasize Dan Nigro has served this city his whole adult life, like his father before him at FDNY. He was one of the folks who had to sustain the FDNY after 9/11. He was there on the scene and one of the people trying to do their damnedest to rebuild the FDNY after the horrible, painful losses of 9/11. And Dan has been, throughout this entire administration, leading the Fire Department with just tremendous heart and distinction. And I know this has been a really tough year. I know you feel it personally, Dan, but thank you to you and all the people who serve under you for keeping us safe this year.

And yes, today's a day where we turn the tide and we really make sure that this miracle – as you said, this is a miracle – this vaccine is a miracle – is put together a record time. It's going to save lives, starting right now. So, thank God, your members will start to get the vaccinations right away. And what we've heard from all of the good folks, our health care heroes at Health + Hospitals who have been getting the vaccine now over these last days, there’s just tremendous satisfaction – that they have had a good experience with the vaccine and that it gives them both that knowledge that they are safe, but also that peace of mind. So, we want to get that done for so many good people who serve us and then more and more New Yorkers every single day, going forward.

Now, look, as we get ready for the holidays – joyous, joyous time, even emits the pain we've been through. Joyous time because it signifies the end of this godforsaken year 2020, which we will not miss. But they're also warning signs that we have to acknowledge, because we are going through the second wave, because of this very troubling news we've gotten out of the United Kingdom about a new strain of the virus. We're getting warning signs all over the place that, even though, thank God, we have the vaccine, thank God, our hospitals are doing well, we are not out of the woods. So, let's talk about the holidays and what you have to do. First of all, I'm going to say it again. I know our Health Commissioner will say it a thousand times as well, if you don't have to travel, do not travel. Just cancel your travel plans. Stay local, stay safe. If you're doing any kind of gathering, keep it very small, keep it very safe. Practice distancing. Wear masks. One more time – we are in the final battle here, so all you have to do is get through these holidays. I believe, through January, it's still going to be tough. I'm very hopeful that February, we're going to start to see real, real improvement, especially because the vaccine will be distributed more every day. So, this is one last push, one last sacrifice, and then, next year, we get to bring back our traditions and gather again as we take each step to make safe. But to make sure that people understand, we have to have tough rules, especially if you do choose to travel. The State has very clear rules. If you travel, yes, there is a way to test while you're away and test when you come back and come out of the quarantine. But, otherwise, you are quarantining – that is the State law – and we will make sure that that quarantine is upheld. This is going to be the busiest travel time of the year. When you think about all these days up through New Years, intensive travel time. We need people not to travel. But, if they do, we're going to be very, very stringent about the rules. 

So, first of all, for folks coming in from the United Kingdom, we will have a new approach, given this new strain we're seeing there. Effective immediately, all travelers, literally every single traveler coming in from the United Kingdom will receive a Department of Health Commissioner's order, directing them to quarantine. This will be a personal and direct order to every single one of them telling them they must quarantine. And that will be given to all travelers beyond just those – I want to be clear – beyond anyone coming in just from the UK. Every traveler who comes into the city that we identify as someone coming into city or coming back to the city will also receive that Department of Health Commissioner's Order. Now, that will go out through certified mail. So, it will be going right to where people live, right to where they're staying. It’s going to be confirmed they got it and then people are going to be held responsible for following the quarantine. But, specifically, for folks coming in from the UK, given that particular concern, we're going to have Sheriff's deputies go to the home or the hotel of every single traveler coming in from the UK. So, when they arrive at the airport, they're going to have to fill out the form, notifying us that they are coming into New York City. We're going to provide them with that Commissioner's Order, but then there's going to be a follow-up direct home visit or hotel visit from the Sheriff's deputy to confirm that they are following the quarantine. Or, if they are not, they will be penalized. We cannot take chances with anyone who travels, particularly folks traveling in from the UK. So, to everyone, look, if you don't comply with the quarantine, that's $1,000 fine to begin, day-one. If you continue not to comply with the quarantine, it is $1,000 for each additional day. I want to really make sure I'm getting this point across. We don't want to penalize people. Everyone has been through hell this year. We don't want to, but, if you don't follow a quarantine, you're endangering everyone else in the city right as we're fighting the second wave. So, let's do it again. If you come in, you fill out the form, you follow the quarantine, God bless. If you violate quarantine, $1,000 for the first day. If you violate any day thereafter, $1,000 for each additional day. And we will collect those penalties. We are really serious about the fact that if you violate quarantine, you're creating a danger for everyone else. We're also going to have the Sheriff's deputies out in force. They've done amazing jobs. They will be at airports with our Test and Trace teams, making sure everyone fills out the appropriate form, everyone gets the information, everyone understands they're under a Commissioner’s Order – airports, train stations, bus depots, you name it. Also, Sheriff's Office, the deputies have been pulling over folks at highways coming into the city, that will continue. There's been over 10,000 car stops already. We are going to doing that intensively during this holiday season up through the weekend after January 1st. We need people to understand, if you're coming into the city from outside or you're returning, follow that quarantine. And the Sheriff's deputies are doing an amazing job. They have been a heroes of the fight against COVID. They will be out there in force. You will feel their presence. Listen to them, follow what they tell you to do, and that's how we're going to be safe. The best gift you can give the people you love is to keep them safe. The best gift you can give is to make sure that the people you love will be able to gather together next year in 2021. That only works if we all pay attention to what the doctors are telling us and follow these simple rules and stay safe.

Okay, let's do today’s indicators. One, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 224 patients. We want to be under 200, we are not. So, that's a bad sign. Also, hospitalization rate per 100,000 people – 3.19 people per 100,000 – 3.19 patients per 100,000. That is not good. We want to be under two. That is too high. Obviously, the next one, daily new cases of COVID-19 – seven-day average, way too high, 2,789 – way too high. We want to get back under 550 over time. And the current testing indicator, percentage in New York City residents testing positive – seven-day rolling average, 6.19 percent. We want to get back under five. We have a lot of work to do and these next weeks are going to be amongst the most challenging and we've got to really work hard to make sure that number does not keep growing.

Okay. Few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and the outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: Hi, all we'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Small Business Commissioner Jonnel Doris, FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro, Sheriff Joe Fucito, Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, and Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. With that, we'll go to Gloria from NY1.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Hey, Gloria. How are you doing? 

Question: Happy holidays to you and your family. 

Mayor: Happy holidays. How are you doing today? 

Question: Good. Thank you. I wanted to just follow up on this travel announcement that you are making. If you could just give us a little more detail. How is this – the State, what role are they playing here? And how is this going to work? This is, obviously for New Yorkers who are traveling internationally and coming back, and as well as the UK travelers, just wondering if you could go into it a little bit more. 

Mayor: Sure. I'll turn to Sheriff Joe Fucito in a moment just to say, look, we're working closely with the State of New York, with the Port Authority – a lot of cooperation throughout to make sure that when people come off a plane, it is abundantly clear they have to fill out the forms. That's been working real well. We're making real clear to people, these are orders from the Health Commissioner that they have to follow. And this UK piece, there's real urgency. You heard it from Dr. Varma yesterday, there's real urgency about what might happen if this strain gets introduced on a wide level here. So, we're going to be very, very aggressive about that. Under the Commissioner's health order, we have the power to be very aggressive about ensuring that people follow a quarantine. So, I'll turn to Sheriff Fucito to talk about those home visits that the Sheriff's deputies will be making for anyone coming in from the UK. And, again, really appreciate the work the Sheriff's office has done. And our Sheriff Joe Fucito, I think, has been a really amazing leader in this crisis, agile and quick, moving his folks around where they're needed most, and it's made a big difference in keeping the people in the city safe. Sheriff, tell us about this effort focused on the UK travelers. 

Can you hear us?

Sheriff Joseph Fucito: Good morning.

Mayor: There you go. 

Sheriff Fucito: Yeah. So, first of all, to answer the specific question of the reporter, the interaction with the State is the travel forms go to the State, and it's a partnership. The State relays the information to local government to handle the enforcement aspect of it. And, in these particular cases, travelers, particularly from the UK, are being identified at the airport by the Mayor's Office Travel Unit, they're the ones that are responsible for overseeing all of the type of traveler quarantine enforcement aspects. They are served – the individuals are served with a Commissioner health order that's regarding a mandatory quarantine, explaining what needs to be done. The travel unit follows up with the individuals, particularly if they need any assistance – you know, if they need housing, food, or anything that will help them through their quarantine. And then, of course, the enforcement portion of it is that they disobey the quarantine, Sheriff's deputies would be serving them notices of violation. Those notices of violation carry a $1,000 penalty. And for every day that you violate, it’s an additional $1,000. But the key steps are the sheriffs – deputy sheriffs will be serving you with a mandatory quarantine order, telling you that you have to obey the terms and conditions of the quarantine, and also telling you what services are available to you. That's just equally as important – what services the City of New York are providing for people in a quarantine. And then, obviously, if there's a disobedience of the quarantine, the enforcement aspects of it. 

Mayor: Thank you very much, Joe. Go ahead, Gloria. 

Question: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, we've been getting some questions about the vaccine. We know that, right now, the effort is focused on health care workers and nursing home residents, but we've been getting questions from older New Yorkers who may not necessarily live in a nursing home, but are in that sort of same age bracket, same category of people who are at high risk. I know the State is helping to coordinate this, but is there anything you can tell our viewers at this point, what should people expect to do? Is this the kind of thing that they have to go through their primary care provider for? What's that part of the vaccine process going to look like? 

Mayor: We can give you an initial sense. I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi in a moment, but listen, I think, Gloria, what we're trying to really communicate intensely is the way the prioritization is being done. So, remember, the CDC is issuing national guidelines. The State is deciding the specific rules for New York State. We're working with the State constantly. The focus from the beginning, this has been true national, state, local level, everyone's been in agreement, the folks that have the most crucial role in protecting everyone else need to be protected first. It's like the famous thing on the airline, put on your own mask so you can protect your child and put their mask on. You know, this is to protect the people who saved this city in the spring, but who we’re going to need again as we're fighting back this second wave. A lot of people who are vulnerable are in those nursing homes, as you said, they're a particular priority because that's been the single worst focal point of the crisis, it has been the nursing home. So, of course, that's a priority. And you're going to see more and more people reaching those high priority groups.

But first it's important to get everyone who serves us and is vulnerable because they come in contact so frequently with folks who have COVID or may have COVID, and then keep building from there. So, December is almost over. I think it's fair to say, January will be primarily about reaching all these people who serve us and nursing homes. As you move into February, we're going to start to get out more and more into the general population, February, obviously, into March. More and more into the general population, the folks who are most vulnerable, over 75, folks with pre-existing conditions or both. That's a very broad sketch. As I turn to Dr. Chokshi, Gloria, I want to say everything is in evolution. It will change because we're constantly working through the details with the State and because the supply could be greater or lesser at any given point, the supply of the vaccine, that's the thing we don't know entirely yet. So, there'll be adjustments, but I think that's a sort of good thumbnail sketch of where we're going. Dr. Chokshi, why don't you flesh that out a little.

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Sure. Mr. Mayor. Well, actually you covered just about everything with respect to how we're seeing these initial phases of the rollout. I'll just reiterate one point, you know, to the question specifically about older New Yorkers and, and we'll acknowledge that I certainly understand, you know, as we think about our own grandparents, and I think about my patients who I've taken care of who are older, we want to do everything that we can to get the vaccine as quickly as possible to them to ensure that that they get protected as well. The CDC, over the course of this most recent weekend, did elaborate their recommendations for what's called Phase 1b. Remember we're in Phase 1a right now, which covers health care workers and nursing home staff and residents. The next phase, Phase 1b would include people who are older than the age of 75.

As the Mayor has said New York State will have to formalize a prioritization guidance related to that. And if they do, then those older New Yorkers would be part of that next phase known as 1b. So much of this does depend on the supply of vaccine that's available to us, both in terms of how quickly we're able to move as well as how broadly we're able to get it out to people. But one part of your question was where will New Yorkers, including older New Yorkers actually get vaccinated? And our goal is to have that happen in the places that New Yorkers already trust, whether it's their primary care doctor, a local community clinic, or a local pharmacy so that there's really no wrong door for accessing the vaccine when someone's turn does come up in the line.

Mayor: I want to hold you there one second, Dave, for a little further elaboration, but first I want to say, I really appreciate with Dr. Chokshi and the Health Department and the whole team at the Vaccine Command Center led by Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog and folks from all agencies that she has gathered together to make sure that the vaccine distribution goes well. The transparency has been great, and more and more information is going to be put out over time. I want to thank the Daily News Editorial Board for noting that that transparency was really helpful and important. And, Dave, thank you and your whole team because I know the Department of Health has really been very focused on getting information out about how quickly we're getting the vaccine out there. And we are moving about twice the national average right now distributing this vaccine. And that's fantastic, but to pick up one last piece of Gloria's question, Dave, you started to answer it for sure, but I want to just nail this point for people wondering. If someone's over 75 and they want to find out from their doctor when they might be up for the vaccine or how it works, would you urge people who have those questions to call their primary care physician or call their local clinic and just check in? Give that kind of very personal guidance.

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, thank you for mentioning that. I think it's a very important point because even as we're rolling out a vaccination, people do have a lot of questions, you know, we're fielding so many of them ourselves at the Health Department, but again, the most important thing is to have those questions answered by the clinicians, whether it's a doctor or a nurse or a pharmacist whom someone already trusts and has a relationship with. And so, I do encourage older New Yorkers and anyone else, you know, to educate yourselves with the resources that we're providing. But then if you do have additional questions now is a good time to start those conversations so that you're ready to get vaccinated when it is available to you.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Katie from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hey, good morning, everyone. I have [inaudible] following up on [inaudible] question, and it's about the neighborhoods that are being prioritized by the city. I know there has been a lot of questions from people about how these neighborhoods were selected, some people feeling left out. So, could you explain – you know, I read the Health Department's executive summary on how this is being rolled out. It seems like a lot of factors go into it, but could you and the Health Commissioner explain for the public a little bit about how these neighborhoods were selected? Maybe it'll give a little clarity.

Mayor: Sure, and I appreciate the question, Katie. And that's going to be particularly pertinent as we go into those later phases the Commissioner just described. Obviously right now with a focus on health care workers, EMS, as we talked about today, nursing homes, and that's going to be across the board everywhere. When we start to get out into the general population, we want to make sure there's fairness here. We want to make sure there is more justice compared to the injustices we've seen in the past, and the disparities we saw that came out in COVID, particularly in the spring. So, 27 neighborhoods, these were determined with the Health Department and also our Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity representing all of our departments and leaders of color in all of our departments of the City. They are African-American, Latino, and Asian communities that bore the brunt of the COVID crisis. And we're going to make sure when we go to that broader public distribution that we prioritize the places hit hardest and where we have to do, I'm sure, a lot of work to gain people's trust and make sure people feel comfortable with the vaccine. We're going to have to double down on that work with community leaders and institutions as well. Dave, do you want to speak to that?

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, I'll just add briefly that the focus on these 27 priority neighborhoods really reflects an intersection between what has happened over the past year and what has happened over decades with respect to systemic injustice and particularly systemic racism that unfortunately has affected certain places and some and certain communities more than others. So, it's a combination of looking at the data around who has borne the brunt of COVID-19 the worst over the last few months, along with a time back to understanding that more historical arc. And, of course, these two things are very much related. And that's how we got to those 27 priority neighborhoods. So, the other thing that I'll add is that even though that is a real focus of the broader efforts, as the Mayor mentioned, we will be doing this as a citywide effort. And so, the focus on the 27 priority neighborhoods will be, you know, a leading edge of what we hope to bring to every single neighborhood, every single borough across the entire city.

Mayor: Thank you, Dave. Go ahead, Katie.

Question: [Inaudible] I have to follow up, and [inaudible] a little bit here, because I'm still a little bit confused. I'll use Queens as an example, looking at this list, just because it's the borough I know the best. You include, for example, the 11694 ZIP code, which is a predominantly white neighborhood. You don't include neighborhoods like Elmhurst and East Elmhurst, which actually had, when you look at the death number a lot more. So, and when you read the executive summary that says other prioritizations including where central workers live and other issues and other criteria, it kind of doesn't square with what you're saying right here. So, is there a formula you can specify? Is there anything with the specifics because this doesn't really – people are really wondering why was my ZIP code left off when you were saying it's about racial equity, when that actually doesn't square away with the neighbors that you've listed.

Mayor: I'm going to start by saying we'll certainly – we'll give you the overview answer now. I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, but I do want to say, Katie, we'll have folks go over with you today in detail, how the neighborhoods were determined because a lot of work and a lot of data went into that. I think it's fair to say even though there are clearly going to be communities that were hard hit that are multiple ethnicities, the basic reality in these 27 neighborhoods is these are the places that were hit the hardest and they are primarily neighborhoods of people of color. And a lot of them are immigrant neighborhoods or neighborhoods with folks who have lower incomes and less health care. That's the broad characterization. The fine tuning, we'll certainly go over with you. And if we find there's any place else that needs to be prioritized, we certainly are able to do that. But remember priority means priority. As Dave said, we're going to reach everyone, but we're trying to make sure the folks who are most vulnerable get the help first. And this is a way of identifying where there's particular vulnerability. Dave, do you want to add? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, I don't have anything to add to that. We're happy to follow up on some of the details.

Mayor: Okay, great. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Andrew from WNBC.

Question: Good morning. Hope everyone is doing well. My first question has to do with the Fire Department and the COVID cases that the Commissioner referenced. Commissioner, and I don't know if the Mayor or the Health Department wants to weigh in on this as well, has the Fire Department done its own internal contact tracing? The 6,000 cases out of 17,000, somewhere in the 33 percent range and with 600 people out today on COVID, is the thought that those are from visits to people's homes, emergency response, or is the thought there that a lot of the cases spread in Fire Department break rooms and EMS squad houses because guys are basically sort of potted up with one another.

Mayor: Why don't we have Commissioner Nigro start and then if either Dr. Chokshi or Dr. Varma want to add anything on top of it, that's great. Commissioner.

Commissioner Nigro: I think the doctors will back me up on this, that just like all over society the spread has common in from many ways. I think the fact that it's such high numbers relates to our members constantly, over the past nine months, servicing sick individuals around our city and putting themselves at risk. They're also catching it from their coworkers, none of whom have the luxury of working from home, and they're getting it into their daily contact like others, you know, they they've to go to the store. They live with other folks in their homes. So, that combination of factors increased by the fact that day-in and day-out we're hands hands-on just like the hospital staffs with people with COVID as we've reached this number. Thankfully the vast majority of those people, with very few exceptions, have recovered fully and are back to work.

Mayor: Amen. Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Varma do you want to add about the tracing of folks who work in public service?

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, the only thing that I'll add is that we know from contact tracing efforts more broadly that what Commissioner Nigro has mentioned with respect to the risk of exposure is very important, you know, in terms of people who we see unfortunately being more likely to get sick with COVID-19 and for all the reasons that the Commissioner mentioned that has been borne out in the data, people who have that greater risk of exposure do end up contracting COVID-19 at higher rates.

Mayor: Dr. Varma, do you want to add?

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Yeah, just to reemphasize that this is one of the many reasons that the prioritization that's been proposed from CDC, you know, puts a strong emphasis on frontline workers, frontline essential workers. Even though they may be at a lower risk of a severe illness compared to somebody who's elderly they are at a very high risk for infection and we depend on them for our safety and security every day. So, vaccinating them is both the just thing to do as well as the thing that's necessary for keeping our society running safely and smoothly during this challenging time.

Mayor: Thank you. Doctor. Go ahead, Andrew.

Question: Second question as we try to figure out exactly when the vulnerable population, 75 and up, get vaccinated, I thought I heard Dr. Chokshi say even at people's personal doctors, that that suggests, kind of, a vast distribution network, that certainly doesn't exist today. Is that really the goal that virtually everyone's doctor would have the vaccine in their office at some point?

Mayor: Let's emphasize, as – I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, but Andrew, I want to really emphasize the difference between today and where we may be in a month, two months, three months. This is brand new, a brand new vaccine, different than what's ever been seen before. And everything's being worked through on the run here, rightfully. The priority right now is the kind of vaccinations that will happen in big, organized ways through health care institutions, etcetera, through EMS. Over time, it will decentralize more and more out into communities, including community clinics and other health care providers. But that is really important to emphasize. Even though we're moving rapidly, it will take time to get there. And the more decentralized the better, so long as it's obviously tightly coordinated and prioritized. But I want to emphasize, I think that's something that's several months down the line in practicality. Go ahead, Dr. Chokshi.

Commissioner Chokshi: Thanks Mr. Mayor, you said the most important point, which is what we're doing right now, we'll have to ramp up over the coming weeks and months, and again is dependent on the supply of the vaccine that we’re allocated from the federal government. Once we do get into those later phases, which as we've mentioned will be months down the road. We do want New Yorkers to be able to access the COVID-19 vaccine any place that they are already accessing routine vaccinations, whether it's the flu vaccine or the meningitis vaccine or the hepatitis vaccine. And so, we do want to use all of those existing channels because that's important, not just for the supply chain, you know, actually getting the vaccine into those points of access but again, because it matters so much for the notion of trust and leveraging the relationships that people already have with the clinicians in their communities.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Christina from Chalkbeat.

Question: Hi, Mayor. Thanks for taking my question. We continue to hear of delays and issues with the situation room when it comes to COVID cases in New York City schools. Councilman Mark Treyger tweeted that at one Brooklyn school, it's taken a week to get results back. Why is this still happening?

Mayor: Yeah. With all due respect to the council member, I'd like to see the facts of that case before I assume that's the whole story. But clearly – look, the situation room's been a great success, there's no question. Even folks who were dubious about the situation room have become huge fans of it. And I want to thank everyone, Commissioner Melanie La Rocca and everyone at the situation room, they've done an outstanding job. Now, as schools came back recently, we certainly saw the challenges of the second wave and more cases. We're going to make sure that any additional personnel the situation room needs or any additional training, whatever they need for folks, we're going to make sure we keep up with the challenge. And I am very hopeful that this situation will be greatly mitigated by the growing distribution of the vaccine. But I think the overall reality of the situation room has been – it has been very consistent, very effective. If there are individual cases that weren't handled well enough, we're going to address that individually. And we're also going to make sure if they need additional staffing, they get it. Go ahead, Christina.

Question: So, is it your position that they do need additional staffing? How are you going to make that determination? And when will those staff be brought on?

Mayor: [Inaudible] very clear, and when we staffed up originally, we learned by the first few weeks of operation, what level of staffing was needed. Given right now that we're seeing, of course, more cases out there – we’re in the middle of the second wave – my message to the folks in the situation room is if you need additional resources from agencies and we need to send more people over, you'll get them right away. Obviously, school will finish today and then not come back until January 4th. So, we have time in the intervening days. If they need any additions, we'll get them to them and be ready ahead of January 4th.

Moderator: Next is Steve from [inaudible] –

Question: Mr. Mayor, I hope you're doing all right, and everyone on the call. I wanted to follow up with a release we just got from [inaudible] about an allergic reaction that a health care worker had in receiving the vaccine. I know you're probably limited in what personal details you can provide, but just wanted to get a little more context if at all possible, on some of the characteristics of this [inaudible] anything unique about the situation, and also obviously [inaudible] want to provide context and say that, you know, one out of 30,000 isn’t necessarily with something that people should be freaking out about.

Mayor: Steve, thank you. Really important question. Thank you. I want to just, you know, I always like to give credit where credit is due. When a journalist says up front that they understand and appreciate why there are confidentiality rules, even though I know your job is to get as much information as possible and get it out to the world. I thank you for that sensitivity to the individual involved. So, I appreciate that a lot. Dr. Chokshi, with that important qualifier, what can you tell us? The more that you can tell us the better. But within the rules, what can you tell us about this case and what people should – whatever conclusions they should or should not draw from it?

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I echo your gratitude with respect to respecting the confidentiality of our fellow New Yorkers. So, for those who may not be as aware, let me just start with the big picture, which is that we have administered over 30,000 COVID-19 vaccinations in New York City. In recent days we did receive a single report of a serious adverse event in a health care worker. That was a significant allergic reaction that that person sustained. They were treated for it. They're now in stable condition and recovering. And what I would say about this with respect to the context is that vaccines, including the COVID 19 vaccine, are very safe in general. They do have side effects and occasionally those side effects include some uncommon allergic reactions.

We also know based on the clinical trials and, you know, reports of adverse effects in other jurisdictions that have happened, that these reactions are rare. But they've been reported with the Pfizer vaccine in recent days. So, there's a system in place to track these types of side effects. We do it in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC. This is the first such event that was recorded in New York City. We'll continue to follow up on those events and make sure that we're taking it seriously, but also putting it in the context that you described, which is that this is uncommon, that the vaccines are very safe overall, and to make sure that we're updating all of our public health guidance accordingly.

So, here's what I would say with respect to New Yorkers who are wondering, what does this mean for me if I have allergies. For the vast, vast majority of people who have allergies, whether it's a food allergy or a seasonal allergy, the COVID 19 vaccine will be safe and effective for you. If you have a history of an allergic reaction to a previous vaccine or to any medicine that you've taken by injection, then it's important for you to have a conversation with your doctor before you get vaccinated. But again, for the vast, vast majority of people who have allergies that situation doesn't apply, and the COVID-19 vaccine will be safe and effective for those people and everyone else.

Mayor: And Steve, I want to note having been present at really celebratory moments where our health care heroes got the vaccine, and were excited to get the vaccine, I know the questionnaire that people are asked before they get the vaccine, and it includes the question, have you ever had an allergic reaction to medication or to a vaccination? So there really is a careful effort to see if there's any of that history there, but as someone who, myself, I have allergies, for sure, I can tell you I know the kind of allergies I have are not the kind we're talking about here, and I'm going to get this vaccine for sure. And why am I going to get it? Because I think it is so important that we protect ourselves and protect each other. And there's not a lot of things in life we necessarily feel are certain, but on this one, I'm feeling, this is certain. We have a vaccine that has been really intensively scrutinized. I don't think there's any vaccine in history. That's gotten as much attention and scrutiny all over the world, global health care experts, scientists looking at this constantly. It has been confirmed and confirmed and confirmed and confirmed. It is safe and effective. I want all New Yorkers to understand this, this vaccine is safe and effective. It will be available widely over the coming months. It will be given for free. Our health care leadership has looked at this with a fine-tooth comb. They're confident in it. I'm confident in it. This is going to be the difference maker. So we're going to keep giving people information all the time to help people get all the answers they have to really important and valid questions. But what we do know is it's safe and effective. Go ahead, Steve.

Question: Thanks. And I wanted to also follow up with something of philosophical question in the style of my colleague, Rich Lamb. I wanted to see, you know, what you've learned about yourself this year? Obviously it's a very reflective time and in an unprecedented year, I'm sure from your perspective and from all of our perspectives, what have you learned about yourself, your leadership style, the best qualities, your worst qualities, how would you reflect on this year?

Mayor: You can ask my wife about my worst qualities. She keeps a running list. No, it's been a very reflective time. One thing I'll tell you that I've learned, this is something Chirlane used to lecture me on all the time, that sleep really matters. And I've not been someone who's traditionally gotten enough sleep. And in the beginning of this crisis, it was crazy for all of us. I mean, we were working every single day, very long hours, no one was getting enough sleep. And I really saw that that had an impact. I mean, it makes it harder to fully think through things. And obviously we all get more emotional when we're tired. So, I learned the value of sleep for sure. But look, it's a big, big question, Steve. I'd only give you a very quick sort of synopsis. I look back on this year with just tremendous appreciation for the people who did the work this year to keep everyone else safe. I really do. That's what keeps coming through. And that's what keeps inspiring me. The good, the good in people that came out in 2020. And New Yorkers were just heroic. That's the only word for it. So, I feel a lot of gratitude. In terms of my own work this year. Look, I'm self-critical all the time. My colleagues will tell you that. I think in the beginning we were trying, I was trying to figure out how to communicate all the things that we needed to do, all the things we needed to address in this crisis. I now realize, I wish I had been able to communicate some things better. I wish we all had known some things more. But you look back and you say, wow, if we had just understood that better, if we had had that information and how much that could have helped, that's frustrating. And you know, again through that tiredness and that sense of like, you know, problem after problem after problem, trying to make sense of it. I think I've really reflected on that that leaders need to somehow step out of that fray. This job, as the one of the folks who's running is going to end up in it. And they're in for a very intense education. This job requires so much detail work. So much hands-on work across so many subject areas, that it sometimes makes it hard to think. And you got to stop and slow down and breathe and think. And so I've really learned that lesson. And so I'd say the things I need to do better that I've learned this year are sort of that ability to rise above the fray, get up to 30,000 feet. The ability to really think about are we communicating everything we need to communicate? But what I felt great about this year is the incredible heroic work of so many New Yorkers out there protecting each and every one of us, the people just day-to-day everyday New Yorkers looking out for each other. People in City Hall, I want to give a shout out to folks in City Hall and the folks in so many of our agencies leading the way. I mean, these folks, I just wish New Yorkers could see how hard my colleagues here work. And I drive them hard. But I also want to tell you, they're just amazing individuals. They've given their all this year. And I'm talking about people who have not stopped working for a day since March 1st. And I think it's hard for the public to understand Steve this. When you do this work, it is every hour, every day. It's never out of your mind. You don't take a break from it really. These folks have just kept going. They've been absolutely amazingly strong and focused. And that gives me a lot of heart too. So a lot more I could say. But I'm just proud of the people I work with. I'm proud that, you know, I've been able in some way to contribute to the city holding firm. And I am really optimistic about next year. And that's something I hope I'm communicating to people. I truly believe we're going to do amazing things in New York City in 2021. I feel that in my heart and that's something that makes me proud of the people of this city. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Abu from BanglaPatrika.

Question: Hello, Mayor. How are you?

Mayor: Hey, Abu. How are you?

Question: Good. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, my question is, since Biden elected as president, did you ever talk to him for the future plan, how he can help New York city?

Mayor: I am looking forward to that conversation for sure, Abu. The obvious truth is the president-elect has been very, very busy. I joined with some of my fellow mayors as part of a group discussion with the president-elect about what we needed in terms of stimulus, what strategies we needed to recover. That was a very good conversation with him and the vice president-elect. I thought they were focused on the right things and I thought they felt deeply for all of our cities. Look, the president-elect is from Wilmington, Delaware, vice president-elect is from San Francisco. They understand the life of cities. They're devoted to New York City and other cities. So that makes me feel good. Talked to a number of senior folks in the incoming administration to let them know what we need and how we want to work together. And I really am satisfied with those conversations. That everyone is on the same page. Go ahead Abu.

Question: The second question is, as you mentioned yesterday, about the New York City Vision Zero and all this stuff, which is a very good initiative. But as well, there is a lot of people since the COVID came, city was, you know, shut down, locked down, they've got a lot of tickets. I know few people, they call me yesterday since you had a press conference, that they have even $1,000 ticket. And that they are not able to pay this $1,000. They don't know what to do. What is the way – is there any, anything City’s thinking that, you know, the people who are in that kind of situation, if City can help them? Or any other you know, where they can get out from the situation?

Mayor: Look, Abu it obviously depends on the situation. We understand that people are in a horrible way financially, economically right now. And whenever people are experiencing a hardship, they should communicate. Communicate with the Department of Finance that handles the collection of those penalties. People can call 3-1-1and get connected to Department of Finance and have the conversation. You know, for those who are going to pay something and are having a problem, there often are payment plans and ways to address things. But let's be clear when we talk about Vision Zero, if you're getting one of those higher level tickets, that's because you did something that endangered other people's lives. I'm very firm about this point. If you are speeding, you are putting other people's lives in danger. That's why I always believe – I think about the child who might be crossing a street or the grandma or grandpa might be crossing the street and whose life might be in danger. I think about the people we've lost, who should be with us right now at the holidays. And I have no sympathy for people who speed. So if the ticket is because of speeding or a moving violation that endangered other people, folks need to understand there are consequences. Too often, motorists have felt like there weren't consequences, even when someone got killed. That's not acceptable. We've got to change the whole paradigm going forward, intensive consequences if you kill or injure someone. So that it pervades our culture and changes behavior, and people understand they have to be very responsible behind the wheel. So those kinds of offenses we're going to follow up on intensely. But if you're talking about other things, parking tickets, other things and someone's having a problem, of course contact the Department of Finance and they'll do anything they can to work with you. Go ahead.

Moderator: For our last question we will go to Yoav from The City.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. You said earlier today that in kind of touting the safety of the vaccine, that it was one of the most scrutinized vaccines, I don't know if you said ever, but among the most scrutinized vaccines in the world. I just wanted to check on that. I don't know if by scrutinize you mean studied. My understanding was because of the rush timeline that the typical studies were not conducted for these? I'm just wondering if perhaps one of the doctors can discuss this issue as well?

Mayor: I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Varma and Dr. Chokshi. I don't think in history, I'm not a medical historian, but I think I'm on firm ground here. I don't think in the history of this planet, there has been such focused attention, entire world, the entire scientific community, the entire medical community, the entire journalistic community on the development of a vaccine from the very beginning. The trials, the checks and balances, the different levels of review. I think the consistency of the response, and I'm saying as a layman, but I think it's pretty clear. To see the consistency of the response we've gotten to this vaccine across multiple levels of government, multiple governments around the world gives me tremendous confidence here. It's been intensely scrutinized and the checks and balances have been very strong and they keep coming back with the same answer. And I think you would say as a journalist too, when you check lots and lots of different sources and you get the same exact answer every time it gives you some confidence. So that's why I have confidence. Dr. Varma then Dr. Chokshi.

Senior Advisor Varma: Great. Thank you for the question. I want to really build upon what the Mayor has just said, which is that the level of scientific effort that has gone into creating these vaccines that are currently authorized as well as the ones that are in development right now is really an extraordinary accomplishment in the history of medicine. I can't really think of any example of where a disease was diagnosed and an intervention was developed this quickly. Now that obviously creates concerns for people about if it was done quickly, does that mean it was rushed? Does that mean it was unsafe? And what we know now, both from the data from the trials that has been done as well as now the real world data of tens of thousands of New Yorkers and even larger numbers nationally, is that this is a vaccine that is safe and based on the trials is likely to be effective. Now we also have to be humble. We also know that this disease has not been around very long. People have just gotten the vaccines, you know, small risks could turn up at some point in the future. But they have to be balanced against the very known risks of this infection. This is an infection that causes anywhere from, you know, five to 10 in 1,000 people to die. It causes hundreds of people out of a thousand to potentially get long term side effects. So when you balance these very, very small potential risks of say a severe allergic reaction against the known complications of this infection, I know which side I personally fall on. And I know the side that my wife and my kids will all fall on, which is to get the vaccine.

Mayor: Excellent. Dr. Chokshi?

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you. And I very much appreciate the opportunity to provide some more insight on this. I agree with everything that Dr. Varma said. Will just add four additional facts briefly. First as the Mayor said there has been a lot of scrutiny on the studies that were performed not just here in the United States where the FDA itself, an independent review committee and many, many other external experts actually looked at the science and determined the safety and efficacy of these two vaccines, the Pfizer and Modrena vaccines. So, number one is that scrutiny both in the United States, as well as in Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, many other places around the world now. The second is the size of the trials was quite significant. For the Pfizer vaccine tt was over 44,000 participants. For the Moderna vaccine, over 30,000 participants. That size really matters for us to be able to discern the safety and efficacy profile of those two vaccines. The third fact is the duration of follow up for those studies. Each person who was enrolled in the trial and got the vaccination was followed up for a minimum of two months. And that was picked very deliberately because the vast majority of side effects that can occur would be caught in that two month window. And so both of them followed that rigorous protocol that we require of all good studies. And the fourth and final point is just to echo one thing that Dr. Varma said, which is the technology underlying these vaccines, which is known as mRNA technology. Although it is a remarkable feat of science that that technology was applied to develop this vaccine during the course of 2020, that technology has actually been in development for many years prior to that. Being refined, being tested. And that's why it was able to be applied so quickly during this year.

Mayor: Excellent. Thank you so much, Dr. Choksi, Dr. Varma. You can hear the passion in their voices, and these are two folks who have done an outstanding job protecting the people of this city this year. They know this vaccine is safe and effective. I know it. And this is something that's going to just help us all turn the page. And let's talk about turning the page. 2020 is almost over, thank God. We get to look forward to something better, and the vaccine is going to help us to make the transition to our renewal, to our recovery, to something much better in 2021. Look at this point, it’s a time for reflection. We get up to this point of the year – I cherish this time of year because actually we slow down a little bit. We think a little bit more. We get a little more appreciative of all our blessings and the people in our life. I am thankful to everyone who's done such good and important work this year to protect each other. I'm thankful to everyone I work with here at City Hall and across our City government.

I want to thank everyone. I want to just have a special moment to thank two people who have been just heroes throughout in my life and my work, our First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and Deputy Mayor and Chief of staff, Emma Wolfe. These two folks have been the glue keeping things going for so much of what City Hall and City government does. So, I want to thank them both for their amazing work this year. I'm always thankful for my partner and the love of my life, our First Lady Chirlane McCray, who I think things through all the time with. And, you know, we go through all the challenges, all the troubles and all the good times. And I couldn't be more thankful. But I'm thankful for all of you, everyone who has been a part of just helping us through. And there's something better ahead.

We got a lot to talk about in the months ahead, but we're going to take a break for a few days with these press conferences. Everyone out there, get a chance to relax and spend time in small gatherings and zooms and, you know, being smart, being careful. But be with your loved ones in whatever way works. But stay local, stay safe, get ready for something better ahead. And this is, you know, a time of joy. A season of joy made more joyful by the fact that there is going to come that moment, if you have one of those calendars on the wall, you're going to be able to rip 2020 off the wall. It's going to feel so good. I am really looking forward to that moment. Everyone, a very, very merry Christmas, feliz Navidad, a happy Kwanzaa. I'm looking up ahead, happy Three Kings Day as well. All the wonderful communities of this city, whatever you celebrate, celebrate in a joyful way that 2020 is over and new and better things ahead.A happy New Year to all and a better year ahead. Thank you, everyone. And God bless you all.

2020-12-29 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, great holidays, really hope everyone got a chance to do something that you love to do with family and friends, even if it had to be on Zoom, and connected with the people you care about, had a chance to reflect on this long, difficult year. But the good news is just a few days left in 2020. 2021 is almost here. Now, for everyone, we talked a lot about travel and it's still going to be an issue up through next weekend. Want to continue to say if you don't need to travel don't, but if you did travel please make sure that you pay attention to these very important guidelines to keep everyone safe. So, if you traveled and you're tested while you were someplace else, and you're going to test again when you're here and test out, so you don't need a quarantine, that's great. If you follow those rules carefully, you'll be safe. But if you did not go through that plan, it's really important to follow the quarantine rules for your safety, for your family’s safety. And we make it simple through our Take Care initiative, providing you all the support you need. So, everyone please pay attention carefully to that guidance, follow it. And it's so important to get tested. If you – whatever you're doing, whether you traveled or you didn't get to travel, get tested.

This is going to be a theme even as we're talking about the vaccine finally being here, testing matters immensely. We got to stay focused on it. And we had a really impressive achievement on the 21st of December. Over 100,000 New Yorkers got tested on December 21st. We are continuing to expand testing in this city. This has been one of the great examples of New York City ingenuity, New York City drive. I want to thank everyone who's been a part of our Test and Trace team and all the folks at City Hall and all our agencies, who got together to make sure we could have the maximum amount of testing. We're going to keep building that number up. But over 100,000 New Yorkers were out there on December 21st. Let's keep going farther when it comes to testing. Now, we’re looking ahead to 2021, and the vaccine is going to be the crucial, positive game-changing reality of 2021. We are all excited that the vaccine is here. The results so far have been really great. We're going to continue to expand vaccine distribution. This is going to be the difference maker in 2021. Now, it's also going to be the thing that allows us to move forward as a city, let's be clear, providing that vaccine, distributing it as quickly and widely as possible. It is going to be the foundation for our recovery for this city coming back strong. 

So, this is going to be, without question, the largest vaccination effort in the history of New York City. It’s off to a strong start and it's going to build up more and more each week. We want to make sure that everyone understands the vaccine is safe, the vaccine is effective, the vaccine is free. And more and more people are realizing what a smart thing it is to get vaccinated. And we're going to be spreading that word. We've seen all over the world people showing up to get vaccinated. The results have been great. Last week in New York City on one day alone, on the 23rd, we had over 12,000 New Yorkers get vaccinated. And that's just a beginning. You're going to see so much more in the days ahead, as the vaccination effort really builds out. So, over 12,000 people got vaccinated on the 23rd – total, to date, 67,000-plus New Yorkers have been vaccinated and results, again, have been great. Now, there's going to be more and more people vaccinated, more categories are being approved by the State of New York so we can keep expanding the vaccination effort to more health care workers, more high risk people. We want to see that continue to build out every single day. And we're working with the State as they continue to refine those rules so we can go farther and farther. So, we talked about testing, we talked about the vaccine, and what the vaccine is going to mean to us, how crucial it's going to be.

But I want to remind you of another crucial health care reality we need to stay focused on. And we've talked about it several times in the month of December, and that is the importance of giving blood. This has been a tough year in so many ways and obviously blood drives have not been happening as usual, but New Yorkers really stepped up. We've, several times, made a public call for New Yorkers to come forward to help your fellow New Yorker, save lives. And almost 13,000 New Yorkers have done that in the month of December. We have another 2,000 scheduled for this week. We want to keep encouraging folks to come forward and give blood. It makes such a difference. Literally can save lives. And because so many of you did come forward. Here's the good news – the city's blood supply, the amount we have on hand, got down as low as three days’ supply. It is now 6.5 days. That is much better, much healthier, much safer. We are seeing the highest number of donations lately that we've seen since the beginning of the pandemic. So, New Yorkers, thank you. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for helping your fellow New Yorkers. We need you to keep doing that for the last few days of December and into January so we can protect people. The sites all over the city, open throughout this week, even some open on New Year's Day. You want to do a great new year's resolution, make a resolution to give blood and go out there and help someone in need. And you can sign up at NYBC.org/givebloodnyc. There are still prizes being given for people who sign up to give blood, and tickets to the Jets season opener are still up for grabs and the Jets are looking a little better lately so that's going to be a hot ticket. A lucky winner will be drawn in the sweepstakes on January 4th. So, get out there, give blood the next few days, and you might win those tickets to the Jets home openers, and you will definitely help save the life of a fellow New Yorker.

Okay, now I said, all the things we're doing are going to help us recover as a city, come back strong, the vaccination effort, leading the way that's going to be the game changer, New York City's going to recover, and we're going to recover because of the amazing spirit, the ingenuity, the drive, the entrepreneurship, that is just part of the DNA of this place. And that's particularly true when it comes to our local small businesses, our mom-and-pop stores, the businesses people built with their own hands, family businesses that make such a difference. We want to keep helping our local businesses in every way possible. So, our Open Storefronts program has been a key, new innovation to give people the opportunity to sell their wares out on the street, where a lot of people feel, of course, more comfortable shopping at this moment. I'm going to sign an executive order today, extending the Open Storefronts program through September 30th, 2021. And we're going to add stores and restaurants that sell pre-packaged foods. We want to allow restaurants and other food stores to get out there and make their products available for takeout right out there on the sidewalk. And we think that's going to help them as they continue to fight to survive in this tough environment. So, here to give you an update on why this is important, how it's going to work, our Small Business Services Commissioner Jonnel Doris.

Commissioner Jonnel Doris, Small Business Services: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm excited to join you once again to announce the extension of this program. Our small businesses have been doing everything they can throughout this year to stay afloat, to survive. And we've been there right there with them all along. It's reinforced, this pandemic, a direct connection to public health and our economy. We had to reimagine the way that we look at our public spaces, how we engage our small businesses, our community, customers to make our city come back stronger than ever. So, the extension of the Open Storefronts program will help our small businesses survive this pandemic. It allows, as the Mayor mentioned, the pre-packaged food for outdoors, helping restaurants – the 10,000-plus restaurants we have in our program, to participate in the Open Storefronts program and the new feature of the Open Storefronts program, allowing the use of sidewalk for restaurants to take outdoor operations and also allow them to do takeout from that particular location. This is fantastic news for our small businesses, particularly small business advocates, our BIDs, our chambers of commerce, and so many that we've been working with throughout the year as they brought this to our attention. Look, what we've done so far for these businesses, we have done educational training, seminars, reaching out to the 27,000 restaurants we have, also 220,000 small businesses we contact every single week, our interagency webinars that we do, and the like, and so, look, we will continue to do those. We'll make sure that small businesses know what's here for them, the resources they have, particularly this particular program which again is vital to our survival of our small businesses.

But we all have to play our part. And every time I have an opportunity, every time I get a chance, I want to remind New Yorkers to Shop Your City. This campaign is so important. We want you to engage your local businesses. We want you to go out and speak to them and talk to them about what it means to have their support. We need that right now, more than ever. And so, we want to remind everyone to Shop Your City, and to go and do your part. But also, we know we can't do it alone. We did have a federal stimulus, the PPP program, that came through – $284 million for small businesses. And we're going to help our small businesses connect to that funding. But we need more from our federal government. We did not get any funding for state and local governments, which mean we could have done so much more and do some creative things, but we need them to also pass the Restaurant Act to help us as we do creative things now. We need them to do more, and, also, complete forgiveness, particularly for those businesses in New York City, 87 percent of them who received $150,000 in those programs or less. So, look, the extension of this Open Storefronts program is a breath of fresh air for our small business community, but also it will bring a revitalization that we're looking – the resurgence of our city to come back stronger and better than ever. So, if you're interested as a small business out there to join this program, you can go to nyc.gov/openstorefronts. And, as always, if you need to contact SBS, you can by calling 888-SBS-4NYC. We've already received over 50,000 calls, helping small businesses during this critical time and we will be there for them, going forward. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. And, everyone, please remember the shop your city. 

Mayor: Well said. Thank you, Commissioner. It's 888-SBS-4NYC. And, everyone, small business owners out there, if you need help accessing those new PPP programs and the federal government or any help, Small Business Services is here for you. They can tailor-make solutions. They can find you help of all sorts of different kinds. Thank you, Commissioner, to you and your team. I know this has been a labor of love for you. And, everyone, thank you – anyone who went shopping locally at the holiday season and focused on small businesses and neighborhood businesses, thank you. Thank you. It made a big difference. And please, just keep doing that throughout the year. So, now, with the Open Storefronts initiative extended, and it's going to be available to the food stores and the restaurants, it's going to be even easier to shop and get the things you need in your neighborhood in a healthy way. I want to encourage everyone to do that. And, with that, we are going to sign right now – I'm going to sign this executive order to extend the Open Storefronts program. 

[Mayor de Blasio signs Executive Order] 

Mayor: In this really painful difficult year 2020 people created. People created things that they didn't think of before that they didn't even know they could do before. We saw incredible strength. We saw incredible cooperation. We saw incredible ingenuity all over the city – our health care heroes, of course; the way small businesses helped each other out; so many people came forward in a spirit of charity and supported their fellow New Yorkers. That's what we've seen throughout 2020. That's what gives me so much faith in 2021, and the years beyond, the way New Yorkers handled 2020 really tells you everything you need to know about our people and our city. We also innovated right here at City Hall. We talked about the Open Storefronts program – obviously, Open Restaurants, Open Streets, whole new ways of doing things and there's got to be a lot more like that, going forward, because we found in crisis solutions that, ideally, we would've figured out when there wasn't a crisis, but the crisis gave us that transformative moment to do something different and better, and we need to build upon it. We also found new ways to deepen our commitment, to protecting our people. And in this crisis, we know so many people were trying to figure out a way to keep things going, find a way to keep their employment going, find a way to get around that they felt was safe. More and more people of course turned to cycling as an option, and one of the things that we focused on this year was creating protected bike lanes to really ensure that New Yorkers could cycle about the city in the safest way possible. I'm happy to tell you, we have a record number of new protected bike lanes this year. This year, in all five boroughs, we built 28 miles of protected bike lanes. That is just in the year 2020. And now, with that achievement, combining with what was done previously, 133 miles of protected bike lanes that we've built in the last seven years of this administration. 

So, this city continues to evolve and change. There's so much that we can do to make it a better city going forward. And we're going to be talking a lot about this in the coming weeks, the future of New York City. Again, we're not going back to a status quo, we are going forward to something better, something more sustainable, something more inclusive, something that will really help this city to grow together. That's what we'll be focused on as we enter into 2021 and this city rebuilds and recovers.

With that, let me turn to our indicators for the day. And I want to say up front, indicators are a little unusual because we, obviously, had different patterns of testing because of the holidays. So, the numbers – got a caution from Department of Health, we should take these numbers with a grain of salt, because they don't necessarily reflect the same trends as when we see more regular testing. But let me go over the numbers. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 182 patients. Again, we want to be under 200, so I'm glad it's under 200. I want to drive that number down a lot. And here's another reason why – hospitalization rate per 100,000 people, 3.93 percent. Very much too high, we want to get that under two – I should say three [inaudible] 3.93 people per 100,000. We want to get that under two. Number two, daily number of cases for COVID-19 on the seven-day average – today's number, 3,390 – very high number. We want to get under 550 – obviously, a long way to go to bring that back. And number three, current testing indicator and seven-day rolling average, again, affected by the unusual testing patterns last few days, but 7.45 percent is the number. The goal is to get back under five percent and go lower again.

Let me say a few words in Spanish – 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that let's turn to our colleagues in the media. And please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Hi, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Small Business Commissioner Jonnel Doris, Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson, Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, and Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. With that, we'll go to Ayana from PIX 11.

Question: Good morning, Mayor. How are you?

Mayor: Good, Ayana. How are you doing today?

Question: I'm doing really, really well. Would love to hear some details on the plan and timing to get the COVID-19 vaccine to the members of the NYPD. 

Mayor: Ayana, let me start and I'll turn to Commissioner Dave Chokshi. We want to continue to build out the vaccination effort rapidly. Now, this is something we do based on the State guidelines and we're in constant communication with the State about it. I think the more we can build out those priorities so that we can get to more and more people, the better. Right now, of course, the first focus has been on frontline health care workers and on folks in nursing homes and who work in nursing homes, and that's the right priority. But I want to see us get to our first responders as quickly as possible. So, we're waiting for that State guidance to be clarified. And, as soon as it is, we'll get that effort underway. Dr. Chokshi, do you want to add? 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Sir, you covered all of the high points. We do have State guidance with respect to health care workers and nursing home staff and residents for this week, as well as next week. And as soon as there is additional State guidance elaborated, we'll be ready to continue vaccinating other people as quickly as possible.

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead, Ayana. 

Question: And so, once you get that State go-ahead to vaccinate NYPD officers, do you feel that there's enough of the stock of the vaccine to get them all vaccinated? 

Mayor: So, I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, with simply this point, that what we're finding, of course, is the more authorization we get the more we can move our efforts quickly, because the more opportunities – it's organizationally a lot easier to reach people if you always have other people you can turn to who might want the vaccine. Now, that doesn't mean everyone wants it, Ayana. To be fair, this is a voluntary effort, and some people are still not choosing at this moment to take the vaccine. I think you're going to see more and more people want it as time goes by and they see the effectiveness and the safety of the vaccine. But, unquestionably, if we're given the authorization, we can move very quickly. Dr. Chokshi, go ahead. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, that's exactly right. I'll just add that we have gotten resupplies of the vaccine early this week, meaning yesterday, and we'll continue to get some additional deliveries today and tomorrow as well. And that will help us vaccinate as many people as possible in the groups that have already been prioritized. And then, we'll await further numbers from the federal government with respect to what our allotment will be for January. And I'm hopeful that for both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine, there will be sufficient supply for us to keep expanding as quickly as possible.

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead. 

Moderator: As a note, we're joined by Acting DOT Commissioner Margaret Forgione. Next, we'll go to Henry from Bloomberg. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, how are you doing today? Happy New Year. 

Mayor: Happy New Year, Henry. It's almost here, our dreams are about to be realized.

Question: [Inaudible] a year for you, that’s for sure.

Mayor: A better year for all of us, brother.

Question: Okay, man. So, my question has to do with the pace of vaccination in the city. I was looking at some numbers, Israel has a population of 8.8 million, they started vaccinating on December 20th and they vaccinated 495,000 people so far. Yesterday, they vaccinated 115,000 people in a population of 8.8 million, covering some 300 – I'm sorry, you know, obviously a larger area than our 302 square miles. So, my question is, why is – understanding that we've gone through holidays here, but still we're living through an emergency, why is the pace of vaccination so much lower in this city than it is there? 

Mayor: First of all, I commend them. I don't know the details of what's happening in Israel, but I commend them. That sounds fantastic. I think we need to look at a variety of factors. First of all, the way the federal government mandates the process is very cautious, if you will, and that does add steps into the process that takes time. We need the State guidance in terms of the categories of people and the more that expands, the faster we can go. The fact is there has been real care getting used to this vaccine and figuring out the best way to implement it and I think that's been important in the first days to make sure everyone was comfortable and it was working right. But I want to see this vaccine campaign takeoff. I really do. And I think we're going to see that more in the coming days. I also think – I don't know about other countries and what level of hesitancy they have or don't have – I think we're going to see some initial hesitancy in some quarters, but I think the more people see folks in their life take the vaccine successfully and see it's safe, see it's effective, know it's for free, you're going to see more and more take up. So those are some of the factors we're dealing with, but I feel very confident this number is going to grow rapidly, especially as we get the authorization to go farther. Go ahead, Henry. 

Question: Okay, I just – I do want to say they do have very similar priorities that as we do in terms of who gets it first, but they appear to be going at a much more rapid pace than we are – 

Mayor: Just one second, I'll just say staying on your first question then I'll turn to Dr. Varma, Dr. Chokshi if they want to add anything. Look, throughout the crisis we have learned from other parts of the world, most notably when we put together the plan to reopen our schools, we borrowed health and safety measures from all over the world, we created that gold standard combining all sorts of measures into one. I want us to do the same obviously with vaccination. I want us to look around the world and see what's working, what approaches we can borrow and implement here. So this is just begun. It's going to take off, but Dr. Varma, Dr. Chokshi, you want to add anything?

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Nothing else from me.

Mayor: Okay, Dr. Chokshi?

Commissioner Chokshi: Just to say, sir, that there's nobody more motivated than I am and that I know my colleagues are to have our vaccination rollout occur as quickly as is possible within the regulations and the supply constraints that the Mayor described. And the reason for that is simple, we know that every single vaccine that gets administered means we are one step closer to ending the pandemic, to preventing the suffering, you know, that we've all seen over the last few months. So, we're highly motivated to make sure that this occurs as expediently as possible. We do have to make sure that it occurs fairly and equitably with respect to the priority groups that have been rolled out, and also safely, you know, we want to make sure everything that's happened with respect to the degree of rigor around the safety and the efficacy of the vaccine actually translates into the real world as well. But as the Mayor said, you know, everything that we're doing to prepare for our vaccination campaign will mean that we're ready to expand our circle of vaccination as quickly as possible.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Henry. 

Question: All right. Thank you. My second question goes back to an issue that was discussed during your last briefing, which is the priority for different neighborhoods, disadvantaged neighborhoods, neighborhoods historically disenfranchised in terms of their health care and making them a priority in terms of getting the vaccine. And the fact that there are neighborhoods in the city which have much higher incidents of COVID, for example, Borough Park, 14 percent, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach – I'm going by the zip code data – 14 percent. Richmond Hill, an immigrant neighborhood, which I don't know has been identified, 13 percent. Bedford-Stuyvesant, five percent. So my question is, has your focus on these historically discriminated against neighborhoods have kind of made it difficult for you as a leader, as a governor, to connect with the people you're governing who may see this as, you know, a slight, obviously, you know, some of these Jewish neighborhoods are, you know, they're saying, hey, you took away our our right to congregate for religiously, now you're not giving us the vaccine when – where our neighborhoods are overrun by a virus. 

Mayor: Henry, I appreciate the question because – oh, go ahead. Go ahead. 

Question: What is your answer to those people who feel that you are not – that you're favoring one part of the population over them? 

Mayor: Okay, I appreciate the question because it's a chance to dispel any misunderstanding. No, we're trying to reach everyone. And I think that's been clear throughout the – when we talked about – let's go back before the vaccine, we had a challenge in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, that happens to be a Latino and Asian community. We had a challenge in Soundview in the Bronx that is more of a Latino community. We had a challenge in Southeast Queens, particularly in African-American community. We then had a challenge in Borough Park, a Jewish community. We went around wherever the challenge was and we addressed it with more testing, more outreach, more support. We had challenges in Brooklyn and Queens more broadly. We did a lot of on the groundwork and worked very closely with community leaders and I've said that community leaders were fantastic as partners helping us turn the tide and we did in Brooklyn and Queens. So, I think this is clearly about going wherever the need is and working with everybody.

The vaccine distribution, what we said about that I think has been pretty clear. I actually think most people get it quite clearly. The priorities are the ones starting with the federal standards and the State specific guidance that we focus on people across the board in greatest need, the frontline health care workers, the folks in nursing homes, and we build out from there across all communities. We've had to be really clear about the fact that the vaccine will not be distributed based on wealth or privilege, that is going to go where the problem has been greatest just as much any place else and we're going to make it a priority to make sure there is that fairness. And that's why we focus on the 27 neighborhoods that have borne the brunt of COVID. That's just a matter of fairness. It's not to exclude anyone, we're going to be rapidly providing vaccine in all neighborhoods. It’s to make sure the places that bore the brunt absolutely get their fair share and get the priority they deserve. So I don't get the sense, certainly with working with a lot of community members and leaders, that people are missing that concept. We want everyone to get vaccinated. We just want to make sure the neighborhoods that bore the brunt get their fair share and that's why we prioritize them. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Next is Andrew from WNBC. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor and everyone on the call. My question to you about the vaccination paces, what do you say to an 85 or a 90-year-old person who's at home, who's been told they've been prioritized, but they're feeling very anxious because they don't have specific guidance about what to do next. I know Dr. Chokshi said maybe a week or two ago that they can reach out to their doctor because eventually that might be the point of service, but do you have any specific advice to the huge elderly population about what they should be doing right now about getting a vaccine?

Mayor: Thank you, Andrew. Very, very important question and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi. I just want everyone to understand that what is so important is to make sure that we first vaccinate the folks who are in greatest risk. Obviously, that's folks in nursing homes, we know that from painful experience and the folks who work there, and all of those frontline health care workers who we're all depending on who every day potentially exposed to COVID. So that's why we start there, but clearly in a matter of weeks, we'll be in a position to start reaching older New Yorkers who certainly are vulnerable and we want them to get that vaccine as quickly as possible. We're going to keep telling them it's safe and it’s effective and it’s free, and when that time comes, we're going to be constantly making clear how you get it. But I think you're right to say, we better start laying that groundwork now. So, Dr. Chokshi, you can start laying that groundwork now for older New Yorkers who are not yet in the priority categories waiting for that to happen in January and February, help them understand what they should be doing now to get information and get prepared. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, well, first let me just acknowledge I certainly understand the concern just from the human perspective. You know, as a doctor who has cared for many, many of our seniors here in New York, I understand the anxiety, the anticipation, about, you know, getting a vaccination now that we do have safe and effective vaccines available and we want to get them to our seniors as quickly as is possible. I would just add a couple of other points here. First is that as the Mayor has mentioned, we are rolling out a vaccination in our nursing homes already. New York City was at the very front of the line with respect to activating the National Pharmacy Program to begin vaccinating both residents and staff in our long-term care facility, including nursing homes. That started last week ahead of most other places around the rest of the country and that's something that brings me just a profound sense of hope that we will be able to start averting the suffering, you know, that we've seen in many of those places as quickly as possible.

To the question about what people who are older New Yorkers and are at home right now should be doing during this time. I encourage you to make sure that everyone is up to speed about the facts around the vaccine. Get your questions answered so that when the vaccine does become available more broadly, you'll know where to go, you'll have, you know, a list of things that you may want to discuss with your doctor already checked off and you're prepared to get the vaccine as soon as it's available. The final thing that I will convey, again, you know, out of a concern from seeing our cases and hospitalizations are continuing to be at worrisome levels is that we all have to do our part to protect older New Yorkers until that time comes, when all of them can get the protection from the vaccine. So doing all of the things that we've emphasized with our public health guidance is important, not just for ourselves, but to be able to protect our seniors in the coming weeks and months. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Andrew. 

Question: Can have to do with the seven-day positivity, the numbers are above seven percent now pretty consistently and we haven't even factored in the post-Christmas gathering surge. How concerned are you that that number will above nine percent [inaudible] and essentially schools will not be able to reopen in-person? 

Mayor: I think I heard you, you were breaking up a little bit there, but I think I got the question, Andrew. Look, obviously everyone's watching and we should be watching for any effect from the holidays that will play out well into January. But when it comes to the school's issue, I want to go back to something I said back on December 8th, which is, you know, the State has the standards, the State sets those rules, the State has the numbers that they go by. We'll be working with them. We'll be making sure to monitor what's happening every step of the way. But, right now, I remain confident with all the work that's being done, our schools are extraordinarily safe. I've got now data for you based on just in the few weeks since we reopened in December. So, basically, December 7th to December 23rd, almost a 100,000 tests taken at New York City schools, positivity rate students, staff, everyone combined based on 100,000 tests, 0.68 percent. So, look at the amazing success that we've had in our schools keeping them safe. Clearly New York City public schools one of the safest places to be in all New York City. So, I'm confident that we can and should keep them open. But again, the State will make that ultimate decision based on State data and State standards. 

Moderator: Go ahead, next is Sydney from Gothamist.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. Thanks for taking my question. I have a question on the vaccine priority groups and distribution as well. Just with the expected groups to be people who are at high risk of COVID or older people, I'm wondering, do we know what health conditions put someone at risk to be considered in a priority group? And the CDC recently set their advisory guidelines as an older person, meaning 75 and older, how does that play out at the city level and is the city waiting on guidance from the State to answer those questions specifically? 

Mayor: We turn to Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you for these important questions. Let me start with the first one, which is what are the underlying health conditions that put someone at a greater risk from COVID-19 and particularly from severe outcomes related to COVID-19. We do now have a fair amount of scientific evidence that has shown that people who do have a chronic health conditions, these are things like cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, emphysema, heart conditions, sickle cell disease, those are, you know, a sampling of the conditions that that we worry about with respect to someone being at risk of severe outcomes and I do think that will be a similar list that the CDC takes into account when they determine prioritization for, you know, for people along with age, as well as risk of exposure, particularly for people who are frontline essential workers. 

And then the second part of your question is, you know, as you mentioned the CDC did issue some recommendations with respect to what's called phase 1-E. So, the second part of phase one in terms of prioritization and that included older adults above the age of 75, these are recommendations that the federal government makes then states have to – if you – their own prioritization guidance for. The State has not come out with formal guidance for phase 1-E yet, so we're still awaiting that as we think about what the next group will be beyond health care workers and nursing home staff and residents. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Sydney.

Question: Okay. And then my other question is for you, Mr. Mayor, as well as the Acting Commissioner Forgione. Given the city is on track to see one of the deadliest years with traffic fatalities and as the vaccine rolls out, we're going to see more people commuting again and moving about the city. I'm just wondering, given your bike lane announcement today around the numbers of how many bike lanes were put into place this year, what do you and the active Acing Commissioner plan to do in the coming year to make more progress on those – on Vision Zero goals, and would that include increasing the bike lane goals or more concrete efforts to make sure bike lanes are actually protected as intended in the first place?

Mayor: Thank you, Sydney, I'll start and I'll turn to the acting commissioner. Look, Vision Zero. Let me say at the beginning, it has been a very tough year. It's been a very tough year on so many levels, and it has been a tough year for lives we've lost, including the lives we've lost on our streets. We know there's been way too much speeding. We know we have to crack down on that in 2021. We also know that the more life starts to get back to something like normal. The better ability we'll have to do that, but it's also, to me, a call to arms that vision zero needs to keep expanding rapidly on every front, whether it's protected bike lanes or, or any type of bike lane, whether it's enforcement, whether it's the speed cameras, and obviously we're going to fight in Albany to get that expansion of the timing of the speed cameras. That's absolutely crucial. That's one of the things that's going to save lives the most. So, we have a very aggressive vision, zero agenda for 2021. Specifics will be forthcoming obviously. But I can tell you it's going to be a high priority. Commissioner, go ahead. 

Acting Commissioner Margaret Forgione, Department of Transportation: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As the Mayor said, this was a very bad year for Vision Zero, mainly due to increased speeding that we saw on our roadways with a reduced traffic. So next year as the Mayor has previously mentioned, we'll be working with the state legislature to look at having our cameras on 24/7. In addition, we'll be working to continue all of our lifesaving projects that we have seen do result in fewer injuries and fewer fatalities. We will continue with our protected bike lane work. We hope to do a little bit more than what we've done this year, and this was our best year ever as the Mayor said. So, all of these things combined we look to next year to having much better Vision Zero numbers than we had this year. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Next, we'll go to Shant from the Daily News.

Question: Yeah. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking the call. I hear you, Mr. Mayor, talking about some of the positive developments related to the vaccinations, because I wanted to ask about another aspect of the outbreak. Don't enjoy bringing this up, but I do see on the city's COVID-19 data page, that the number of New Yorkers who have died from the virus surpassed 25,000 recently, the latest number appears to be 25,008. Any thoughts you can share on this? 

Mayor: It's incredibly painful, Shant. Look, every one of these people we've lost are part of our lives. Part of our family's part of our communities and all lost to a disease that about a year ago, we had never even heard of, and, you know, it's shocking, still, it's shocking. We can never get numb to just how horrible this has been, and I think the one thing it makes me feel in particular is resolved to protect every single New Yorker right now with this vaccine and to make sure people know it is safe and is effective and it's going to be available widely, and we need people to get it, to protect themselves and their families. I think that's – that's the thing we can do right now to honor those we've lost. Go ahead, Shant. 

Question: Yeah. Thank you for that. Switching gears to Albany, the state legislature passed strengthened protections from evictions, any comments on that? And is there anything else you want to see from Albany related to helping out New Yorkers financially with rent otherwise at this point? 

Mayor: Yeah. I mean, look, I really want to thank the legislature for the action they took. It's very, very important. You know, folks who have no income, haven't had income for months and months, no fault of their own. If people can't pay the rent, if they just don't have the money, we cannot allow them to be put out on the street. We need to keep a roof over their heads. So, I'm very, very appreciative that the legislature acted. We still need a real stimulus from Washington, and what we, I think need additionally from Albany is further action to help protect people. I've talked before about the payment plan idea to really give a long-term relief and stability to renters. So, they have the knowledge, they can stay in their apartment long-term if they can't afford to rent, now they can pay it in the future when they can. I would far prefer our true stimulus that, you know, put money directly in the hands of renters and landlords to make up anything that's happened. That wasn't any of their faults. But in the meantime if we at least get some kind of payment plan law to make sense of the years ahead, I think that would help, and it's just always state the common sense for those who are blessed enough to have income pay the rent. It's so important for those who don't, you should not be penalized. You should be allowed to stay in your home until life gets back to something more normal and people should have the ability to stay long-term and have a payment plan to make sense for them. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Steve from WCBS radio. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, hope you had a nice holiday. Just wanted to check – I'm about to head out to the FDNY’s first vaccine at their headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn, and you know, the story a few weeks back was that the union did a survey there and found 55 percent of members did not want the vaccine. I know it's a kind of a thorny issue to say whether it becomes mandatory or not, but what kind of becomes the outreach and the education to make sure you get more than 45 percent of the FDNY vaccinated? 

Mayor: Steve, look, I think we should really recognize, even in the last weeks we see in people's experience with the vaccine, very favorable outcomes. We see the word of mouth impact as people talk to the people in their lives about the experience they have, the vaccine that more and more folks are reassured. It's so clear that it is safe and effective, and the public opinion research is showing more and more people around the country are now saying they do want the vaccine. So I think you're going to see a change literally week by week, but our job is to make it available to all these heroes, all these folks who were there through the thick of this, and it's their choice. We do not have at this moment a plan to do anything but voluntary. We'll see how things play out, but that's the plan right now, but I do think you're going to see people get more and more comfortable with it with every passing week. Go ahead, Steve. 

Question: And also, just to follow up on these questions about the pace of vaccine distribution I know you said about 67,000 had been done up to this point. The Governor yesterday said that the city will have about 369,000 doses through this week. So obviously we start to see what those numbers, some concerns about popping up in some places. So just strictly from a logistical point of view, how do you avoid having some of those bottlenecks and having, you know, vaccines, hundreds of thousands of doses sitting on the shelves just simply because you can't get them out fast enough. 

Mayor: Yeah. Steve, we've got real work to do here, but I do not see that scenario taking place, honestly. I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, I'd say it's this simple: again, I mentioned there are some specific federal rules that I think need to be examined to see how they can help us speed up the process. But the other question is just us having the ability to reach more and more constituencies, more and more people, and that's based on the state authorization, that's a conversation that's happening literally every day, every hour with the state to determine how quickly that expansion could happen. But I feel very confident. I've had this conversation in great detail with our healthcare team that as we get authorized to do more and more populations of people will be able to move very quickly. I do not see a time when we have a lot of supply hanging around. I think it's going to move very quickly from when we get it to when it is implemented. Dr. Chokshi? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, that's exactly right. Mr. Mayor. The pieces that we've already talked about, number one the supply of vaccine and then number two, making sure that the categories of eligibility are broadened out and done so rapidly. Those are the major things that we're looking at with respect to ensuring that this happens as quickly as possible with his which was one of our primary goals is as we've discussed. But one other element to this that I do want to mention particularly here in the early weeks, is that it's important to realize that the different access points for vaccination are all coming online in a phased way. So, we started in our first week with hospitals and making sure that the hospital workers are getting immunized that allows those hospitals to deliver the care that we need, but also to start to vaccinate beyond their staff, which we'll start to see in the coming weeks. 

Similarly, last week, community health centers known as federally qualified health centers started vaccinating their own staff. That means that whole set of clinics will come online as a set of access points more broadly for New Yorkers, and this week, now that we have the state go-ahead, a staff in urgent care centers will also be vaccinated. So then urgent care centers will also be able to vaccinate others. So, in these early weeks, it does take, you know, a bit of time for all of those access points to start coming online. But we're seeing that expand, and that will mean come January, we'll have a much broader set of bases that will be able to administer the vaccine. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: For our last question, we'll go to Reuvain from Hamodia.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor and happy new year.

Mayor: Happy new year.

Question: Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to ask as in the coming weeks, as some people get the second dose of the vaccine, will any allowances be made for people who have had the vaccine, maybe though let's say stop wearing a mask or things like that? 

Mayor: I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Varma and Dr. Chokshi we've talked about this. Look, I think the important thing here is to think about this over the first six months of the new year. This is an initial estimate. Obviously, it will change as we get more information, but I think it's fair to say over these next six months we intend to see as, you know, wide swath of New York City vaccinated as humanly possible. We can reach all New Yorkers over that timeframe. We want to see people get comfortable with the vaccine and want to participate. But I think to say, you know, that six months’ window is what makes sense, and during that six months to realize that there was more and more people getting vaccinated, there's still going to be a lot of people are not yet vaccinated. The threat of the disease is very real. Obviously, we are concerned about what we saw come out of Great Britain in terms of a mutation of the disease. So we want to stay on guard. That is my preface to say, we want people to keep wearing their masks. We want them to keep practicing social distancing, and we want them to keep limiting travel, keeping gatherings very small. All of these rules make sense for the next six months, just to keep protecting each other until we are fully clear of this disease in terms of, you know, the impact it's having now. Dr. Varma, then Dr. Chokshi. 

Senior Advisor Varma: Great, thank you for the question, and I agree completely with what the Mayor just said. I mean, the way I like to think about it is that we have different layers of defense. You know, up until this moment, we've been using individual measures, wearing a mask, keeping your distance, washing your hands, and we've been using community restrictions and we've been using our Test and Trace score, which has this incredible milestone of a hundred thousand people tested on a single day. Now we have an additional line of defense, which is the vaccine. But it's the things we don't know are exactly what level of vaccination and what level of mask wearing, what level our restrictions is going to bring us to the level that we need, where people can go about their regular lives, and there's going to be very few or no deaths from this infection. 

So for the exact moment, right now, our recommendation is very strong, and this is the consensus everywhere that even if you've been vaccinated, you need to continue wearing a and continuing to maintain your distance. All of that may change in the future, as we learn more, both at the scientific level about how much and how long people maintain their protection, and as we learn more at this population level about what happens to our case rates and when we can start relaxing some of these defenses until we can get back to a period when we all feel like life is more normal. 

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Chokshi want to add? 

Commissioner Chokshi: Nothing to add, sir. 

Mayor: Thank you. Okay, great. Go ahead, Reuvain.

Question: Yeah. I just wanted to follow up on what Henry asked. Those 27 neighborhoods, so just to be clear, will they in any way to get priority as far as getting the vaccine, or is it only regarding like outreach and education? 

Mayor: No, it's making sure the vaccine gets to where it's needed most look Ravenna. I don't think you'll be shocked if I said historically when there's something like this that could have such a profound impact on people too often things went to people who had the most privilege, the most money did not go according to need. We're focused on – the most dire need has been in the communities hardest hit by COVID. So, we're going to make sure that communities get their fair share and are prioritized to make sure we can keep the maximum number of people safe, and we know where some of the greatest danger has been. The goal is to get every single person vaccinated, and we're going to be working with community groups, working with elected officials, working with community institutions to maximize that in every neighborhood. But we very much want to remember where the pain has been greatest, where the danger has been greatest to make sure that is reflected in how we prioritize.

Alright, everyone, look, as we conclude today, first I want to just say on a programming note, I'll be back in two days on Thursday for the last press conference of the year, and that will be a joyous moment because it means at that point, it will only be hours until 2020 is over. But look, I hope you're feeling what I'm feeling. We're going to turn the page on this godforsaken year. We're going to move forward. There's so much possibility ahead for this extraordinary city, for the people who have been heroic this year, fighting back COVID. Next year is going to be the year of recovery and rebirth and renaissance it's coming. So, I'll see you again one more time this year, and we'll start the countdown then as we get ready to say goodbye to 2020. Thanks, everyone.

2020-12-31 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning New York City. This day is finally here, in less than 14 hours, it will be 2021. I could not be happier. I bet a lot of you feel the same way. We are so ready to kick 2020 out the door. And I just am feeling totally energized that the new year is going to be here and great things are going to happen. Tonight is going to be very special. Don't believe any doubting Thomases that say because there's not going to be a million people or more in Times Square that it's not going to be special. It's going to be actually arguably the most special, the most poignant, the most moving New Year's Eve. Everyone, watch it on television, don't go down there. Watch from home. But it's going to be powerful and think about it. We're going to be honoring our health care heroes and first responders and folks who did amazing work this year. Folks from the Cure Violence movement who did great work this year. All out there, small group observing the festivities and enjoying the festivities. But they'll be the people we truly have in our hearts because they're the folks who saw us through this year.

But think about the performers too. Amazing cast of performers, New York City's own, the Bronx’s own Jennifer Lopez. That's for the Bronx. This is a great moment to have her highlighted as we bring in the new year. And my personal favorite, Gloria Gaynor will be singing, I will survive. I can't think of a more amazing, special and appropriate song for this occasion. I'm going to tell you, it's going to be very powerful, very special. Everyone, tune in. I guarantee you that Chirlane and I will push the button on time. In fact, we will be tempted to push the button early and start the new year early, but we will get there for sure. 2021, right around the corner. And we're going to do great things in 2021.

And I’m going to talk about that today. I want to start with the most important New Year's resolution I could possibly offer you in the month of January 2021, we will vaccinate a million New Yorkers. A million people we will reach in January. This city can do it. The amazing health care professionals of this city are ready. We are going to set up new sites all over the city on top of the many, many sites that are already operational, we're going to expand from our hospitals and our clinics to community clinics, to locations we'll set up all over the neighborhoods of the city. Our goal is to get to upwards of 250 locations citywide. This is going to be a massive effort. This is going to be part of the largest single vaccination effort in the history of New York City. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take tremendous urgency and focus. And we will need help from the federal government. We will need help from the State government. We will need help from the vaccine manufacturers, but we're making clear to the whole world, we can achieve a million vaccinations in January. We get that help, we'll make it happen. We have the ability to make it happen on the ground. And we are anxious to get it done. Look, President-elect Biden said it right. This whole country is behind the pace it needs to be. We're going to need to go faster to beat back the coronavirus, to restart our economy, to protect people's lives, to recover. We've got to go faster. New York City will lead the way. We have the will. We have the sense of urgency. We have the capacity. We have the know-how. This is a chance for New York City to shine. And help achieve the President-elect’s goal.

It is so clear that there's no reason, there's no reason for anything but urgency at this point. And that every single person we reach takes us one step closer to recovery. Now we are doing better than most of the country. That's the good news. But we're nowhere near where we need to be. 88,000 New Yorkers have been vaccinated so far. That's great. 88,000 people is nothing to sneeze at. But we need to go into overdrive now. We need every day to speed up and reach more and more people. And we're committed to doing that. So, we know that we have the ability. We're going to do this with a really decentralized grassroots effort. We're going to go all over the city. We are going to create new hubs of activity. So, number one, new COVID vaccine hubs will be created all around the city on top of the locations we have, Two, Test and Trace sites will start to be locations for vaccination as well. Test and Trace has been very successful reaching to every corner of the city, protecting people. We're going to take that same capacity, use it to help us achieve more vaccinations. And three, we're going to scale up the capacity of local organizations that can do this work. We have so many tremendous partners on the ground. So many community-based organizations that could be part of this. And have the ability to reach people, move people, motivate people. They are going to be a part of this in a big way.

So, all of this will be coordinated by our vaccine command center, lot of moving parts. But we can get it done again. Again, we need the federal government to be there with us, to be committed to this goal, to help us achieve it, to give us flexibility. We need the State government to work with us to keep this moving. We need the manufacturers to keep providing the doses. But that can be done. All those things can be done and we're going to make together, something very special happen here. What we will not allow to happen in New York City is for people to jump the line, use their wealth or their privilege to get vaccines that they should not be getting. We're already seeing this, unfortunately, around the country. Congressional staffers, jumping the line, even if they're not in a category that should be a priority. We're seeing pharmaceutical company executives jumping the line. We want the people who need the vaccine most to get it first. And we're going to stick to those priorities. And we're going to be aggressive about it. So, right now, of course, the focus on health care workers, the folks who have kept us safe, our heroes, who we need the most to keep safe, going forward. Focus on nursing home staff and residents. We're going to keep building out from there faster and faster. But we're going to make sure the distribution is based on equity and fairness. And as we get out into communities, that we focused on the communities hardest hit that unfortunately bore the brunt. They had the most cases, they had the most deaths and have the most need. So, we can do it in New York City, all of us together. And the person who's going to help us to lead the way with the incredible effort of his team, the Health Department, and they have a lot of great history, a lot of great success historically in vaccinations. Very, very proud to introduce on this auspicious day, our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi.

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Well beating a virus is a team sport and we need every position on the field to come together. I saw this in such a poignant way yesterday when I visited a nursing home in my neighborhood in Queens. Residents and staff alike were getting vaccinated. I heard one resident say she couldn't wait to get her shot, but she asked her regular nurse to stay by her side while she was getting it for moral support. These are the small and large ways our health care heroes have quite literally moved the needle for the past couple of weeks. Resulting in over 88,000 vaccinations to date. But we will need to further accelerate our efforts to turn vaccines into vaccinations. One key to doing this as the Mayor mentioned is expanding points of access across our entire city. Our goal is to double the access points for vaccination within a month from hospitals to community health centers, to urgent care clinics, totaling at least 250 sites across the five boroughs.

Part of our strategy includes launching the first dedicated City vaccine hubs in the coming weeks. These are City operated vaccination clinics stood up rapidly as points of distribution in school gymnasiums and other sites. The first sites will launch in mid-January administering 45,000 doses per week with plans to expand over time if we get adequate supply of vaccine. We are picking the locations of these sites to help ensure access in our priority neighborhoods for the places and the people who have been hardest hit by this vicious virus, most often communities of color. In addition, the City has built an unprecedented testing apparatus through the Test and Trace Corps that can also be leveraged to administer vaccines at certain sites. Again, with a focus on hardest hit communities.

Finally, the most essential partners have always been community organizations. Activating them by providing nurses and pharmacists to vaccinate onsite, in communities will provide capacity for several tens of thousands of vaccinations per week by the end of January. This is the kind of thing we do every year during flu season, supporting events at churches and community centers. But this would be like our flu campaign in overdrive. Growing capacity through these initiatives, along with our existing hospital, clinic, and pharmacy infrastructure gets us to the ability to administer a total of one million doses by the end of January. I do want to specify that these are aggressive goals. And this historic vaccination campaign is a team sport as I mentioned. We'll need blocking and tackling to run at the pace that we want from a number of partners, but particularly our colleagues in State and federal government. Swiftly extending guidance on the populations eligible for vaccination is particularly important. From hospital workers and nursing homes to other health care workers, first responders and of course our seniors. And we need a sufficient supply of vaccine with a clear roadmap of what New York City can expect to receive from the federal government, not just for next week, but for the months ahead. But if these elements of the game plan come together, we can move fast and travel far.

Finally, we need New Yorkers themselves to choose to get vaccinated, but we'll help you by making sure your vaccine questions get answered, endeavoring to dispel misinformation, and doubling our access points to make it more convenient for you. Mr. Mayor, it's a particular honor for me to be able to join you on this last day of 2020. I wanted to conclude with some brief tailored messages. To my fellow health care workers, thank you so much for all you have done during this really tough year, but if you've gotten your vaccine, I have one more task for you, be sure to tell the story of why you got vaccinated and reach out to people who may still have unanswered questions. Our website nyc.gov/covidvaccine has the resources you need. To hospital leaders, COVID-19 is not taking the weekend off, so I strongly urge you to schedule vaccination clinics over the weekend, too. And to all New Yorkers, I remain quite concerned by the increase in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths across our beloved city. It's not too late to cancel your New Year's Eve gathering plans and stay safe by staying home. And finally, to the year 2020, good riddance. I'm looking forward to a better year ahead.

Mayor: Well said, Dave. Listen, I want to say to our Commissioner Dave Chokshi, thank you for your extraordinary work this year, for your team's amazing work, some of the other colleagues here as part of this press conference today, Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, and Senior Advisor Jay Varma, and CEO of Health and Hospitals Mitch Katz, you've all been heroes this year. You really have been. You're all very modest people, so maybe I'm making you blush, but the fact is all of you have been heroes of 2020. All of you are going to be part of the history of this city, and you're going to be in the history books as people who made a tremendous positive difference for the people in New York City and your whole teams. Thank you, and I'm thanking you – I'm thanking you as individuals, but I'm also thanking you for the amazing teams you've assembled and the amazing work you've all done.

And listen, talking about team, I'm going to pick up right word Dave started, talking about team. This is going to be a team effort to reach one million vaccinations in January. We're going to work with the whole community. We’re going to work with the whole health care world. We're also going to call all city agencies to be part of this. So, as Dave mentioned, you know, you talk about a school gymnasium, Department of Education is going to be a part of this. Think about public housing, NYCHA, our community centers. We're going to be out there in NYCHA developments over the months ahead there are going to be a crucial piece of this as well. We are going to focus intensely on the communities that need help the most, communities that bore the brunt, and our public housing residents certainly bore the brunt of this crisis. So, in January and beyond, you're going to see this grow, be more and more grassroots, more and more people getting involved, leaders, agencies, institutions, parts of the community, you name it. This is going to be an extraordinary effort. I wanted to do a special thank you to the State of New York. We've been working really closely with our State partners over these last weeks, determining how to do something that's never been done before. This is a brand-new vaccine, brand new type of vaccine. We've had to be really smart and careful about getting it implemented. We're working well with the state to figure out the steps and we're working together to figure out how to do this as quickly as humanly possible. So, thank you to everyone in the State government who has worked so hard throughout this year, Governor Cuomo and his whole team, we appreciate all the work we've done together. And we are going to, together, find a way to push harder and we're all together going to push the federal government to do its share and the manufacturers to do their share, so we can really go into overdrive here.

All right, now, there’s a lot of good news, a lot of good news ahead. 2021 is going to be a good news year, but 2020 is going to go down in history as one of our saddest, toughest years, arguably the toughest year in the history of New York City. Thank God we all came through those of us who made it, but we got to remember those who didn't make it. We got to remember those we lost, and we've got to be there with their families every day. All the families who lost loved ones, my heart goes out to you. You're in our thoughts and prayers all the time. We know this has just been incredibly difficult to go through this pain without the chance to mourn in so many cases, without the chance to be with loved ones. So, it's important that we have a day of remembrance. It's important that we have a day going forward in the future of the city to always remember what happened in 2020, to remember those we lost, to honor them, to honor their families. And, of course, at the same time, remember all the heroism, all the people who did so much good to protect people. The day we lost our first New Yorker to COVID in this year was March 14th, 2020, next March 14th, 2021 will be a day of remembrance in New York City. We need to recognize 25,000 of our fellow New Yorkers gone. That's something we have to always mark going forward. And we got to remember them by one, being there for their families, by two, honoring those who did so much to try to save them and three, by working to make this city better all the time in their memory. So many we lost were victims of the disparities and inequality in our society and this is not a shocking statement to anyone who's been watching. So many people we lost had never gotten enough health care in their lives and didn't get their fair share no matter how hard they worked. So many people we lost were victims of still too much discrimination and racism in our society. We lost people of every background. We lost people of every income level. Every neighborhood, this tragically was a disease that affected everyone, but it did not affect everyone equally. So, on March 14th each year, we remember also the painful lessons we learned but it’s a time to rededicate ourselves to making a difference and changing things. A day to look back, but it will always also be a day to look forward and say, how can we do better so we never lose people again, and we have a city that is there for everyone going forward.

So before – I now move forward to what we do every single day, which is our daily indicators. I do want to take a moment since it's a very special time of year, obviously we've had holidays of many faith, traditions, Christmas, and Hanukkah, and so many important holidays that people have celebrated, so many times when people restored faith and hope. And we of course are looking forward to tonight and tomorrow, but here we are still in Kwanzaa, and it's so good to talk about Kwanzaa and the Kwanzaa principles. And this is something we're really highlighting this year. We're going to do in a very big way next year, because these principles say so much to us, so much positive, so much helpful, and that is really moves us forward and helps us think about where we need to go. Each – at the beginning of the day, the phrase Habari Gani, which means what's the news? And then the answer is the principle of that day, today is Kuumba, and that means creativity. And I want to celebrate the creativity of New Yorkers, the resourcefulness, the ingenuity of New Yorkers in the year 2020. It was unbelievable. The things people did this year to help each other. Talk about making a way where there was no way. In the year 2020, New Yorkers had to create like never before, whether you're talking about what our health care heroes have to do to protect people and save our hospital system and our first responders, what they had to do and the incredible challenges they overcame. Or you’re talking about the way this city ended up creating its own ventilators, its own PPE, its own processing labs for tests, things we didn't have before. We created them all here, New York City know-how and we did it in record time. That's what New York City is all about. And just the way people helped each other and the way people expressed their own personalities, their own hope, their own belief, whether it's the design of a face mask or the ways people celebrate and supported each other, the cultural activities put together to support people, give them hope. This was a year for creativity if there ever was one. So, a lot to be proud of when it comes to the creativity of our people and we're going to see it blossom in 2021.

Now we're going to go to our indicators. I'm going to, again, as we go through indicators, put a bit of a qualifier on that we've seen some pretty aberrant numbers the last few days. We obviously had the situation, a lot of people getting tested in advance of the holidays and then during the holidays test numbers were uneven, so you get a different kind of sample. But that being said, even though these numbers look somewhat skewed, they are still very cautionary and it’s important we focus on them. So, first, number one, daily number of people admitted to the New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report 199 patients. Obviously, the goal was 200, so we're just there. We want to drive that down. Hospitalization rate per 100,000, still way too high, 3.93, we want to get that back under two. Number two, daily number of new cases for COVID-19 seven-day average, today's number 3,259, way too high against the goal of 550. And number three, percentage of New York City residents testing positive for COVID-19 seven-day rolling average, very high number today, 8.87 percent. Again, that is probably aberrant based on uneven testing with the holidays, but still cautionary and troublesome and something we need to focus on, something we all need to act on. We want to get that number below five percent and keep driving it down. So, what can you do? You just heard your doctor, the people's doctor, tell you if you're thinking about going to some kind of large holiday gathering, just don't do it. I will borrow from Nike and modify the phrase, just don't do it. It doesn't make sense. Next year, you'll be able to celebrate all you want if we get this right, but if people keep getting sick because of doing the wrong thing, it's not going to speed our days of recovery to say the least. So please avoid large gatherings tonight. Keep it small, keep it simple. Stay home, stay close. Let's be healthy. Let's help each other. A few words in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that – and Feliz Año Nuevo while I'm at it. With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi, by Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, by Dr. Katz, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today goes to Hazel Sanchez from WCBS.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, Happy New Year to you.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Hazel, how you feel?

Question: I'm good. I'm good. You're launching an aggressive campaign to vaccinate New Yorkers in January. Why wasn't this kind of plan ready to be rolled out in December when you knew the vaccine would be arriving?

Mayor: Hazel, what we said from the beginning was we were going to get this right. Our doctors have spoken about this many times. This was a brand-new vaccine with realities we never experienced before, including the need for ultra-cold refrigeration and very tight standards about how it could be utilized. One of the things we're saying here is that we need the federal government to really be committed to speeding this process and looking at all those standards. We want everyone to be safe, but we have to have a focus on speed and urgency. So, the first weeks were about getting it right, making sure everything was safe and proper, but we knew we wanted to go a hell of a lot faster. So, I'm perfectly comfortable at the first weeks were about really testing to make sure everything worked right and you've seen the results. People have been getting these vaccinations safely, effectively. We've had very, very few side effects. We've had a very successful experience. We've shown the world that. Now it is time to take off. Now is time to race and we're ready to do it. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Matt Chayes from Newsday.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. Happy New Year – early.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Matt. How you feel?

Question: I'm doing okay. How about yourself?

Mayor: I am ecstatic. Dreaming of this day.

Question: Excellent, you love to hear it. Under your NYC Vaccine for All campaign, will the vaccination itself be available to a person in one of those 27 neighborhoods at a greater rate, on a faster timeline, or in any different way whatsoever than a person not in those 27 neighborhoods? Yes or no?

Mayor: So, first let me frame it. We're going to follow, of course, the guidelines that originate with the federal government and then are codified by the State, and we're going to work with the State to keep expanding those guidelines constantly. So, to get to the point where we're talking about every-day people, senior citizens, folks with preexisting conditions, that still, of course, has to happen within the State guidelines. But we're going to work with the State to speed that along, because we want to be able to always jump ahead to the next group of people when we find there's more vaccine available. And we have gone through one group, we want to immediately move on to the next group. So, we need that State guidance to do that always. But the bottom line is, we're going to make sure that the priority neighborhoods get the vaccine when it is for the general public. They have to be the first wave because they're where the most people suffered, there were the most cases, there were the most deaths. By definition, that's where you need to protect people the most. Go ahead, Matt.

Question: I have another question, but I do need to stay on this one. You say that they have to be the first wave, will they be the first wave in New York City?

Mayor: Yeah, we’ve been saying that for weeks and weeks. Matt, let me flip the equation here – where else would you go, but where the need is greatest? Of course, when it comes to going out to the grassroots, we're going to go to the places that suffered the most and are still the most vulnerable. Absolutely. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Samantha Lehman from 1010 WINS.

Question: Hi, good morning, Mr. Mayor. And Happy New Year.

Mayor: Happy New Year. How are you doing today?

Question: I'm good. How are you?

Mayor: Couldn't be better.

Question: So, let me ask you on a personal note – I know you said that the new year's resolution was going to be to get those million vaccines next month, but on a personal note, do you have any resolutions?

Mayor: All I can tell you is I want to make 2021 an amazing year in New York City. I have so much energy right now, I'm going to burn my way to the finish line this year. And on December 31st, 2021, we're going to look back and say, we did amazing things in New York City in 2021. We turned the tide. We started our recovery. We reached people and protected people in ways never seen before. That's my resolution. I feel very, very confident we can do that. Look, a million is a big goal. I want to be clear about this, saying out loud – this was not something we did lightly – saying out loud, I'm going to say it again, our goal is to vaccinate 1 million New Yorkers in the month of January, 2021. That's a very big goal. That's a very tough goal. That's a very ambitious goal, but it's a necessary goal. And all we're saying to everyone else out there that we rely on is, join us and we can do it. We're going to drive and drive and drive and we're going to get this done. 

Moderator: The next is Erin from Politico.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Early Happy New Year.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Erin.

Question: I think we're all glad to have this year over with soon. I'm hoping you can just tell us a little more about how the logistics will work in terms of this vaccination campaign. For instance, if we're doing a million shots, what segment of the population do you expect that to get us up to? Will it be anyone over 65? Or, any essential worker? Or, where will that get us up to in the line? And is this going to be by appointment or is it just going to be people lined up? And, kind of, where the number's going to come from with, you know, I think you said 45,000 a week at the gymnasium type sites – that doesn't add up to a million. So, how are you going to –

Mayor: Hold on, Erin. You’ve got a lot going on there, let me try and pull out the core of what you’re saying. Suffice it to say our Vaccine Command Center will be constantly providing updates and that the specific, how each center will relate to the overall number, how the different categories – suffice it to say, you'll be hearing more and more about that with each day to come. I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, but I did not expect him to be able to give you the perfect chart of how all million will be done in January yet. I also want to say at the outset, it's a voluntary effort, meaning you will decide how many people in each category, depending on how many people volunteer in each category. The more people come forward among health care workers or first responders, the faster it goes in those groups. But if fewer people come forward, you move on to other groups. That's what we want to set up, the ability to keep moving to the next group. It is voluntary. I am hopeful, Erin, that as people see how successful this is how safe it is, how effective it is that classic word of mouth thing will happen – more and more people hear from people in their lives, more and more people want it. But we want the ability to jump ahead constantly to the next group. So, I can't tell you exactly which groups we’re going to cover, because it really depends on that uptake rate. But what I can say, as I turn to Dr. Chokshi, is the first priority remains – the folks who are most vulnerable, particularly in settings that have been dangerous, like nursing homes; the folks who serve us, who we need to stay safe so they can keep us safe. And then, as we work through all those categories, we start out into the general community for the folks who are most vulnerable. Dr. Chokshi?

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, you said all of the high points. I'm just going to pull out a couple to elaborate on. One is, we're in what's called Phase One-A right now. As the Mayor mentioned, this is primarily health care workers, as well as nursing home staff and residents and those in other long-term care facilities. The estimate for New York City is that we actually have a million people just in those categories. And so, our goal of putting the 1 million for January is to be able to say we want everyone in that category who is eligible to get vaccinated to actually have the ability to get vaccinated. In order to do that, we do have to expand out the eligibility from where it is currently, which focuses on hospital workers as well as nursing home staff and residents. We want to get to other community-based health care workers, including home health workers, for example, and do that as rapidly as possible. And that's the other key point that the Mayor has already emphasized, which is for us to move quickly, as is our intent, we have to be able to expand the circle of eligibility swiftly as well so that we can match up the capacity that we have with that eligibility.

Mayor: You know, I want to also turn to Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, who's done just outstanding work organizing the command center, the Vaccine Command Center, because one of the crucial things here is to constantly move with what's going on at the grassroots level and all of these locations. They have to all be tracked and we have to constantly make moves to reach deeper into each population, then go on to the next. So, in terms of the work of the command center and how we're structuring that, Deputy Mayor, why don't you jump in?

Deputy Mayor Melanie Hartzog, Health and Human Services: Sure. Good morning, sir. Can you hear me?

Mayor: Yes.

Deputy Mayor Hartzog: Okay, good. Just wanted to answer the question a little bit more in detail, we have existing capacity per week for about 150,000 doses that's through hospitals system largely. What we're going to be doing over the course of January is actually doubling that capacity, growing to 300,000 by the end of January. And that includes three major components – our community vaccination partners, these are partners who contract – we contract with, they go into community-based organizations, as the Mayor talked about, in our hardest-hit communities and we can scale that capacity to a 100,000 per week. Then we have our own community hubs, that's another 45,000 per week [inaudible] on board. And then, our Test and Trace Corps. That's going to bring another 4,000. So, that's how we get to that overall doubling of capacity.

Mayor: Excellent. Thank you. Go ahead, Erin.

Question: Thank you. And then, I also just wanted to ask about – we have a story out today about the 219 – I'm sorry, 298 City employees who have died from the coronavirus, you know, disproportionately Black and Latino. And there have been, you know, a number of complaints that folks didn't feel that there were well-protected enough, obviously some of that dates back to the spring. But just wondering if there's anything more the City can be doing, especially with this second wave now underway to protect its own frontline workers?

Mayor: Yeah. We're absolutely adamant about protecting our folks. And, look, we lost so many people and that's why this day of remembrance is so necessary. But let's remember what happened, we all were here alone in New York City. We pleaded back in January for testing, we didn't have it. We didn't even know – we had no way of knowing that throughout February, the disease was already spreading widely in the city. We did not have testing capacity from the federal government. We did not have PPE from the federal government. We were left on our own and we did our damnedest to reach people and protect people. But I think history is going to show very clearly, you cannot deal with an international pandemic on a local level. You need support from the national government. And we lost people that, had that support been there, those folks would still be here today. So, it's horrible. But the minute we were able to get the information we needed, to get the testing we needed, get the PPE supply, we made sure that folks got what they needed and we've continued to build that. That’s why we have a reserve now where we have a lot of PPE in stock at all times and why we are constantly working to protect people, most especially by getting them vaccinated. And this brings us right to the urgency of this moment. We need to protect everyone, but we want to vaccinate as many of our frontline public workers as possible, as quickly as possible so they're safe and their families are safe. Go ahead.

Question: The next is Stacy from FOX 5.

Question: Hi. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. And Happy New Year.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Stacy. How are you doing?

Question: I'm well, thank you. Knowing that, you know, the city – you're laying out this plan to have a million vaccinated in the next month [inaudible] there's still this perception among a lot of health care workers, some of the private health care workers we've talked to, some dentists, even the NYPD, having their delay in the vaccine, that here in New York the vaccine is being delayed for these groups where they're seeing their colleagues, other dentists or other pediatricians in New Jersey or Connecticut getting the vaccine. And they're still waiting here not just to get it, but even to get an update on when they can get it. And knowing, you know, talking about group one-a about the health care workers and the nursing home staff and residents being able to get it in that group, and what about these other health care workers who still feel like the city is, you know, and the State perhaps is leaving them behind the curve?

Mayor: Yeah. Stacy, we're ready. We want to get this done immediately. I want to see all health care workers reached. I want to see all appropriate first responders reached. I mean, there's no question the more people we reach the faster, the better. It's just plain and simple. So, we need, again, that cooperation all around to just smooth this out and make it simple. But we have amazing capacity in this city. There's just, you know, the ability of New York City in general is legendary, but our health care world in particular showed us in 2020 they could do amazing things in the city. We have the tools, we simply need the right authorizations, and we need the supply of vaccine and we can make it work. So, everything you're talking about, that can be resolved in the month of January if we get the support we need. We have this very rigorous goal, and within that goal is the ability to reach a huge number of health care workers and first responders, and that's what I want to see happen. Go ahead.

Question: So, when you say the support we need, are you referring just to supply of the vaccine and perhaps for Dr. Chokshi will, you know, dentists and the private health care workers, pediatricians, or, you know, even you know, dermatologists, whatever it is, will those doctors being for sure included in the one million in January?

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, thank you for the question, and, you know, allow me to answer it by starting with the fact that I'm a primary care doctor myself, and I know that people who have been practicing in the community, whether it's a pediatrician or a dermatologist you know, people have been taking care of patients over the last few months and doing so with a risk of exposure in delivering that care. So, I certainly understand the need for that prioritization. The state, earlier this week, did issue guidance saying that those community-based health care workers, independent providers are eligible for vaccinations starting next week, and so we are prepared to ensure that that those workers will have access to the vaccine beginning next week as well. That will ramp up to the other categories as they get approved by New York State. I mentioned, for example, home health care workers, the rest of the health care workforce, which totals well over half a million people across New York City, and so we want those categories to be expanded as quickly as possible, so that again, we can match up our capacity and get them vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Katie Honan from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hey, good morning, everyone, and Happy New Year, Mayor de Blasio. It's your last year. How do you feel about that? Well, that's not my question, don't count that as a question. I'm just kidding.

Mayor: Katie, you caught yourself there, I’m impressed.

Question: Don't count that. I have much more important questions to ask. So the first one is to get the, using a sports metaphor, I'll take the [inaudible] is, focusing back on the priority zones that you've identified. Some people have criticized it because the list was formulated in the summer, and it doesn't take into account the second wave that we're we experienced in the fall and maybe continue to experience. So, will you be adding other places to this list or what's the plan there?

Mayor: Yeah, it's a great question, Katie. We're definitely going to look at a reality of the second wave too. Absolutely can add, I think we will add. We want to look at the whole picture. I will unfortunately remind all of us that what happened in the first wave, indescribably horrible, that the second wave has been worrisome, but nowhere near what we went through in the first wave, and we got to really understand that that first wave laid bare, where the vulnerabilities are and the amount of people we lost, and the fact that so much of it had to do with folks who had not had enough health care in their life historically. That's where the danger still is. So we got to keep focused on that, but absolutely, we're going to look at the neighborhoods and look at the priorities with all the latest data and we'll make revisions as needed. Go ahead.

Question: And my second question – can you, can you hear me?

Mayor: Yeah, there you go.

Question: Can you hear me?

Mayor: Yep.

Question: Sorry. My second one is about this vaccination plan that you've announced particularly specifically the using school gymnasiums. Will these be in schools that are open or will be in schools that are closed, you know, middle school and high schools, and will that affect any kind of future reopening plan for these schools?

Mayor: Will not affect reopening plans. What we will do is obviously to be worked out over the coming days. But the fact is that we're going to use every and any space we need – that is a part of what the city government has and, you know, hospitals, local nonprofits, we're to use whatever we need, whatever it takes, and there's lots of ways to put this together in a way that both allows all the other operations to keep going around it, but allows us to get the vaccinations to people who need them. So, I'm confident we can strike that balance, but those details will be worked out in the coming days.

Moderator: Last question for today, it goes to Steve Burns from WCBS 880.

Question: Hey, Mr. Mayor. Honored, I guess, to have the last questions of 2020 here. Happy New Year's Eve to you.

Mayor: It is a position of great honor, Steve. Happy New Year to you.

Question: Yes. Yes, it is. I'll try and do it justice. First on the vaccine distribution plan, where they've gone so far, hospitals, nursing homes are obviously controlled environments, but when you move them out to say a school or public housing lobby, a place where the public can access them, what goes into the verification of knowing that this person is eligible right now, they have the job they say they have a, so when you move it into those public spaces, how do you verify, you know, that this is someone who should be getting it right now?

Mayor: It's a good question, Steve, and look, I want to start and I'll pass the Dr. Chokshi by saying the idea of using whatever spaces will get us out in the communities at the right time, again, depending on the priorities, and as we get through one priority going on to the next, going on to the next, but the more we get to the grassroots, the more successful we're going to have reaching people. We have to do it in a way that works and, you know, think about – schools are in every community for example. If what we need to do is have people come in on the weekends to a school, we can do that. You know, if we find a certain case, we don't think the school day makes sense, we can still do vaccinations on a weekend. Public housing, again, you have community centers, we can dedicate space specifically for vaccination. So, I would just want everyone to hear the fact that this is only going to work if we get out to the grassroots, but we're going to do it in a way that is safe and smart now to the verification of people, and there are categories, I want to state the obvious as I pass to Dr. Chokshi anyone who has identification, including IDNYC has a birth date on it, and that tells you immediately one of the categories, that's going to be a priority, which is older folks. But for other types of priorities, conforming, Dr. Chokshi, can you give us a flavor of how you're going to do that?

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes, sir. Thank you, and I'll just add a couple of points as well. The first is to build on what the Mayor said, you know, between hospitals and what we'll be doing out in the community, including at schools, there are many other access points that that are also controlled environments, whether they're urgent care centers or pharmacies. These are the places where the everyday miracle of vaccination happens, whether it's our influenza vaccines or vaccines for children, and so we're going to be taking advantage of all of those access points in between those two poles that are described.

With respect to eligibility screening. You know, I want to take a step back and just you know, speak to my fellow New Yorkers to say we all need to think about this, yes, as an issue of fairness and justice, but also just think about who is being prioritized and why. We want nursing home residents to be prioritized because we know they're most at risk. We know we want our health care workers prioritized because they are the ones that we're depending upon when we get sick, and this is an incredibly important message to have spread as widely as possible. So that people take that into account as they think about where their turn is in line. The state will have some additional requirements with respect to eligibility screening, which of course we'll be sure to follow, and that will you know, become more important as we expand out the categories, which we hope will happen as rapidly as possible.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Steve.

Question: Thanks, and on an entirely different topic, I'm sure you saw the Governor is allowing a limited number of fans to see the Buffalo Bills playoff game in a couple of weeks, and he said that could be a pilot for similar events in venues. Would you be on board if that kind of a pilot program were to be tested, say at Madison Square Garden, or a few months down the line at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field? would that be something you'd be open to?

Mayor: I'm pro-outdoors. Anti-indoors is my initial view of the world, and I think, I think I've listened to the teachings of Dr. Chokshi and I think he is said a thousand times to me and Dr. Varma and my other colleagues, Dr. Katz, etcetera -- outdoors, crucial difference from indoors, mask on crucial difference from not having a mask on. As I understand the plan. This is, you know, outdoors, plus distancing, plus mask, plus testing. That's a good, thorough plan. That's great, and I'm really happy for those Bills fans, and I think the Governor did the right thing because it's a thorough plan, but also, you know, as a fan, I can say 25 years is a long time to wait to get back to the playoffs. I know people in Buffalo are really, really excited at this moment. So, I think this has been done the right way, the careful way, but with indoors, I would be much more cautious until we get to the point where there's really very, very extensive vaccination. Now we want to make that again, happen very aggressively, but I think we got to walk before we run. Let's get people vaccinated. Then we can start talking about the future of indoor venues.

With that, everyone, look, we're New Yorkers. We're proud. We are often the center of the universe. Tonight, we're definitely the center of the universe. Eyes of the whole world will be on New York City tonight, and it's going to be a joyous night if ever there was one. Goodbye 2020, here comes something better: 2021. I know that when we look back, we're going to say, as painful as the year was New Yorkers should be proud. Everyone out there, you should be proud. This city showed the world how to be strong, how to be resilient, how to look out for each other. It was an incredible display of all that is good in New York City. 2021, we're going to show people what it looks like to recover to come back. We're going to do what New York City has done so many times before to show people, not just a comeback, but making things better than they were before. Fairer, stronger, more inclusive of all of us. We will do that in 2021. I'm not even saying we can do that. We will do that in 2021. That's who we are as New Yorkers. I have total faith in the people of this city. So, I cannot wait to get started. We are now just about 13 hours away. It's going to be amazing, and to everyone, a very, very Happy New Year, Feliz Año Nuevo a todos, [inaudible], any language you want to choose of all the languages spoken in this beautiful city, it all says the same thing: we are turning the page and going someplace better. Thank you, everybody.

2021-01-04 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. Happy New Year. Welcome back. This is a great day, because it's a day that has the number 2021 in it. And I'm so excited that it is a new year. It is a better year already. Really great things are going to happen in New York City this year. So, everyone, look, this is a year we're going to have to do great things to recover, to come back strong. That's what new Yorkers do. This is a year where we have to do transformative work, work that is going to change the face of health care and public health, that's going to be crucial to what we need to do for fairness and equality and social justice. This is going to be a banner year, an extraordinary year, and it all begins with the biggest vaccination campaign in the history of New York City. I want people to be clear about this, we put down this goal of 1 million doses by the end of January. Why do we put down on this goal? Because we are convinced we need it and we can do it. And this is what is crucial to understand here, this is a moment where we're going to ask everyone to join together in the spirit of extraordinary efforts of the past. And we have this new poster that epitomizes this energy, hearkening back to the days of World War II. We're going to ask all New Yorkers to be part of this effort, every city agency, every hospital, every part of our society has to pull together to make these million vaccinations happen by the end of January, and then much, much more beyond. To get this done, we need help. We need flexibility from the State of New York. We need support from the federal government. We need the federal government to simplify the rules and to join us in making things move quicker. We need the manufacturers of the vaccine to keep delivering on schedule. There is so much that can be done if everyone acts in partnership. And I think that's what everyone's impulse is, that's the good news. This is part of a bigger reality with a vaccine that's truly historical – world historic how quickly this vaccine came together, how much the global scientific community worked together. But now, to actually implement the vaccine, we need federal government, State government, manufacturers, City government, everyone on the same page, and that's what we will create in the month of January. We need to move quickly. We need to move urgently.

Now, look, I want us to immediately get to work expanding the number of people, the kind of people who can get the vaccine. I want in the month of January, in the next few weeks, I want us start to vaccinate educators and school staff. I want to see us vaccinate first responders of all kinds – cops, firefighters, across the spectrum. We're focused right now on our health care heroes. We're focused on nursing homes, but during the month of January, we need to expand those categories. We need to reach many more people quickly, urgently, and it can be done. That cooperation at all levels of government can make it happen. There's going to be concern that this is such a crucial and important moment, can it be done? I know I'm going to get those questions today. Let me remind everyone of what we just did together in 2020. When this disease hit, we didn't have the testing capacity, and this city was thrown back on our heels, we all worked together, our hospitals held. We all worked together, we got the PPE we needed. And we couldn't find it elsewhere in the country, elsewhere in the world, we created our own. We all held together, we created the biggest Test and Trace Corps. in the United States of America. We all held together, we opened our schools when almost no other major city in America even dared to. We have a track record in New York City during this crisis that we take on big goals and we make it happen. So, you're going to see an intensive speed-up in the month of January, and, then, of course, beyond. But we're going to need everyone pulling together to achieve that outcome.

Now, we want to make sure that New York City gets our fair share of doses. And as we expand, as we give more and more doses, we need to make sure that the federal government keeps allotting for us the amount that we can actually use. Some places can use more and more quickly, other places can't – it all depends on the infrastructure they have, all depends on the approach. As we continue to speed up this process, we need the doses to be reserved for us. We need them to be delivered. That's something we're going to keep pushing for throughout. But what we do know, and this is progress, that, as of today, more categories of individuals have been approved by the State of New York for vaccination. That's good news and I thank the State for that. We want to keep expanding those categories. The more people that we can reach quickly, the better. The more options we have to spread out the effort and make sure that vaccinations happen where they’re most possible, the better off we will be. Remember, every single additional person who gets vaccinated – one more step towards defeating the coronavirus.

We're going to be doing a variety of things to expand sites where we will have, through our Department of Health, pop-up sites that will be focused on health care workers. We're going to have sites created by Health + Hospitals, our public health system. We're going to have vaccine hubs created and three of them will be open on Sunday. This is the shape of things to come. You're going to see a lot more like this, using public school buildings as hubs for a larger community. So, in Brooklyn at the Bushwick Educational Campus; Queens, at Hillcrest High School; the Bronx, at South Bronx Educational Campus. This starts Sunday. This is a model to start getting us to the grassroots where we can make so much impact. We want to make sure that whatever it takes logistically and whatever it takes in terms of community outreach, we're going to be able to get to this goal and then build from there. To tell you about how this is proceeding and how it will build in the weeks ahead, our Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi.

Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, sir. The new year does feel like a new door is opening. And as a city, we'll be opening our doors in the days ahead for even more facilities to get eligible New Yorkers vaccinated. And, this week, in another ray of hope, the first New York City health care workers will get their second dose of the COVID vaccine. But, as the Mayor said, we must do more together. Overall, our plan is to double the current capacity of about 125 sites where New Yorkers are being vaccinated today, to at least 250 sites by the end of the month. We anticipate getting to at least 160 access points by the end of this weekend. For instance, today, the Health Department is booking appointments for COVID-19 vaccine clinics at two locations in Manhattan for the next two weeks. On Wednesday, five Health + Hospital sites will start vaccinations for newly eligible health care workers, namely East New York and Cumberland in Brooklyn, Gouverneur in Manhattan, and Belvis, in Morrisania, in the Bronx.
The City is also connecting with small community providers in priority neighborhoods to connect them locally to available appointments at 16 community health centers and 15 Urgent Care sites. These are all in addition to the hospital sites that have already begun vaccine operations. At these new sites, we'll be ready to welcome newly eligible individuals, such as unaffiliated health care providers who don't have employer-based access to vaccines. These include not just nurses and doctors, but also phlebotomists, dentists, physical therapists, coroners, funeral workers, and staff at specialty clinics like dialysis centers. If you are one of those unaffiliated providers, you can find out how to get vaccinated by visiting nyc.gov/covidvaccine. Working through this weekend, we've also moved up the timeline for our city vaccine hubs, which will launch this coming weekend with three sites that have the capacity for thousands of vaccinations, ramping up over the following week. Health Department staff, other city staff, and the Medical Reserve Corps. will operate the site and we are ready to roll up our sleeves so that New Yorkers can roll up theirs for the shot.

Now, last week, you heard us set a bold goal for the end of January. This requires many factors to line up for it to be possible, including more flexible eligibility guidance, a consistent supply of the vaccine, and a quickened pace from private providers. We must do more together. As we continue to vaccinate health care workers and nursing home residents, New York City would also like to begin vaccinating our seniors, namely those over 75. The sooner we can get them protected, the sooner we will save lives. We also need the federal government to pick up the pace of vaccination through its programs, like the nursing home program operated by CVS and Walgreens. Just as I've asked of our hospitals, we need them working seven days a week and on holidays, which I should point out they did not do this past weekend. We all need these bold goals and to pull out all the stops in order to reach them.

I know it won't be easy for us or anyone else. I know that this is going to be an intense month as we scale up capacity to meet both eligibility and supply, even as we continue fighting back the second wave. We also want to make sure that New Yorkers can get their questions answered about who is eligible and other natural questions, like what kind of screening is required and how to book an appointment. You can do that by visiting our website nyc.gov/covidvaccine. And, of course, we'll be back here as well to share what we know with you, the media, so that New Yorkers get the latest on where to go and what to do to get vaccinated. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you very much, Dr. Chokshi. Everyone, let me make a couple of points really clear – what Dr. Chokshi is saying. First of all, to everyone, to all our partners, this is got to be a seven day a week, 24 seven reality, going forward. We understand that in the first few weeks there was tremendous caution and care about making sure people understood how to use the vaccine, the refrigeration issues, there was a lot of care to make sure things were done right and safely to make sure that we saw good responses from the folks who were vaccinated. All that happened. That's done. Now, from this point on, seven days a week, 24-seven has to be the attitude and the approach. We're going to do that in the public sector. We need our private sector partners to do the same. Second, essential workers, across the board – I mentioned first responders of all kinds, I mentioned schools, teachers, staff – all essential workers, all the people who have been the heroes throughout this process, we need to reach them and reach as many of them as possible in the month of January. We need that flexibility in the rules to allow us to do that. We're ready to keep expanding outward. With that flexibility, we can reach so many of those folks who did so much for us and who need this protection now so they can keep serving us and protect themselves and their families. So, that's the shape of things to come and that's what we want to see happen over these next days in New York City.

Okay. Now, let me go over to today's indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for COVID-19. Today's report, 234 patients. Obviously, we've gone by the 200-patient threshold. That's a real concern. Now, the overall situation in the hospitals, I went into great detail yesterday with our health care leadership on this. Hospitals still doing very well in New York City, still holding the line, have built out capacity, working closely with the State of New York. This has been a strong area, even though these numbers are too high and we want to drive them back down. So, hospitals holding, but numbers still worrisome. The hospitalization rate per 100,000 also worrisome – 4.07. We want that below two. So, that's an area we’ve got a lot of work to do. January, absolutely crucial month, coming off the holidays. We hope to see in the course of the month of January, downward pressure on these numbers as the effects of the holidays and the gatherings decrease. We also, obviously, hope to see downward pressure as more and more people get vaccinated. But these numbers are still too high, obviously. And the same for number two, daily number of cases – seven-day average 3,976 – that's confirmed and probable together. That's a very, very high number. We want to get under 550, ultimately. And then on the percent – number three, percentage of people testing positive city-wide, seven-day rolling average, huge number today, nine percent even. We obviously want to get back below five percent. We're going to push hard to get this number back down in the days and weeks ahead. Nothing will be more important than the vaccination effort to help us get there.

Okay, a few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, I’ll turned to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, Health + Hospitals CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz, and Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. With that, we'll go to Emma from the New York Times.

Question: Hi. Good morning, Mayor. Happy New Year.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Emma. How are you feeling?

Question: I'm good. I'm good. So, to start out, it seems like you're sort of acknowledging today that the rollout of the vaccine hasn't been going as smoothly, as quickly as you would like. What specifically do you need from the State? What do you want them to greenlight in terms of the next population to get the vaccine?

Mayor: Yeah, this is crucial. Emma, thank you for the question. Look, we've been constantly working with the State, my team talking to the Governor's team. I've been talking to the Governor. Everyone wants to move urgently. No question about it, a lot of cooperation. Here's what we need to do. We've got the category one A, we're working on now, obviously highlighted by health care workers, folks in nursing homes, and folks who staff nursing homes. That's crucial and we're going intensely at that. But we need to get into one B right away. We need to focus on essential workers across the board. Like I said, a whole range of first responders. Obviously EMTs, paramedics have been crucial already. We got to go farther. Police, Fire, first responders across the board, Correction officers. We've got to get into teachers, school staff, the whole range of folks who are there at the frontline, all those essential workers who have been serving us, including folks in grocery stores, other essentially workers who have been a crucial part of this. We need to start moving into as many of those categories as possible in the next few weeks. And having that flexibility is going to allow us to speed up our effort. The more places we can go, the more options, the more we can make the logistics match up. Again. I want to go 24/7 with this, seven days a week obviously. Having more and more options allows us to do it. A lot of these folks rightfully are clamoring, give us a chance to get vaccinated. This is a way to do it. And as Dr Chokshi said, we want to start reaching out to those over 75, who are so vulnerable at the community level. So, if we can get not just one A, but one B immediately it gives us the flexibility to use the supply we have very efficiently, very effectively, very quickly. Go ahead Emma.

Question: And you talk about wanting to move it to 24/7 but why hasn't it been? This is something you knew is coming. You all have been preparing for weeks or months for the vaccination effort. Were people off for the holidays? Why has the first three weeks been so slow?

Mayor: Yeah, Emma, as I said, I think the reality that we have to be keenly aware of is first of all, our health care professionals are dealing with an entirely different vaccine. A vaccine they have never had before. The refrigeration requirements alone have caused a huge number of logistical challenges to get it right and learn how to work with the vaccine properly. The fact that there was a real public concern, a trust issue that had to be addressed, put a real premium on making sure the first few weeks were steady and careful and smart and effective. So, when I look at the first few weeks and I see what was, thank God, a very smooth rollout. Meaning the issues were addressed, the refrigeration was handled properly. The vaccine was handled properly. Those who got the vaccine had a good experience. Almost no instance of a negative reaction. That has allowed trust to build. That's allowed people to see and feel comfortable in the vaccine. Getting it right in the first few weeks was the trendsetter. And that's the thing that was going to give confidence. Now it's time to sprint. All that's been done, logistical groundwork has been laid in the last few weeks while that was being done. From this week on, I expect these numbers to increase intensely. So, this week, for example, previous to this week, about 100,000 vaccinations. In this week, I expect more than 100,000 vaccinations, just in this week. By the time you get to the end of the month, I expect us to be a clip of about 400,000 vaccinations a week. So, the groundwork is laid. Now it's time to put this into action on a 24/7 basis. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. Happy New Year.

Mayor: Happy New Year Juliet. Are you ready for 2021?

Question: I am. I'm ready. I'm back in the saddle.

Mayor: Alright.

Question: Thank you. So, my question is, first of all, do you have the supply for a million vaccines this year – of this month? And also, there's been a proposal by Council member Mark Levine to open sites 24 hours. Is that on the table?

Mayor: Absolutely. I want to see 24 hours sites. I want to see, obviously from this point on seven days a week. Again, I understand that the first weeks had to be very careful because our health care professionals were dealing with something they had never dealt with before and they had to get it right. But from this point on, look, that's all behind us now. It's now time to sprint. Seven days a week, wherever possible, 24 hours a day. Everybody, everyone who could be a part of this needs to be a part of this. So, I am confident now that we have all that we need logistically. As you heard from Dr. Chokshi 160 sites by the end of this week, going up to 250 sites minimum by the end of January. That's a tremendous amount of projection capacity. And as for supply, we do not yet have the supply we need to get to a million. That's a crucial point, Juliet. We need the federal government to keep allocating supply to New York City. We need the manufacturers to keep producing it and delivering it. We have enough to get through this week and going into next week. We do not have enough to get through the whole month yet. And we need those deliveries. Go ahead, Juliet.

Question: Okay. And switching gears, I know this is so important, vaccine is a priority. But what about an economic recovery plan for New York City? You know, there's so many empty storefronts, obviously restaurants are struggling, people are not working. Do you think you also need to roll out some idea of an economic recovery plan for New Yorkers so that they feel that there's a plan in place or at least a starting point? You know, as we start in the new year and as the vaccinations are getting rolled out?

Mayor: Absolutely Juliet, it's a crucial point. Look, first of all, nothing will help our recovery more than an extraordinary vaccination effort. You know, as I said over these last months was job one was fighting back the coronavirus. So, the economy could reopen, so we could recover. Overwhelmingly New York City has done very, very well. The summer was extraordinary, in the fall now into the winter, thank God we're still doing better than a lot of other parts of the country. And that's because of what New Yorkers have done, which has been heroic. But this vaccination drive is the key to our recovery. So that's job one. But what I'm going to do in the State of the City address is provide that vision of where we go from here on economic recovery as well. And we talked about a bit in September, the focus we're going to put on health care going forward as a huge growth area of our economy. But also, an area where New York City is going to provide particular leadership in the world because everything we've learned from this crisis. So yes, economic recovery plan, absolutely crucial. That'll be coming out this month, but it will be undergirded, the foundation of course, of anything that's really going to reach deep into our communities has to be this fast, effective vaccination effort.

Moderator: Next is Marcia from WCBS.

Question: Mr. Mayor, how are you doing today?

Mayor: I am a very happy person Marcia. It’s 2021. How are you?

Question: I'm good. Good and happy New Year. I hope we have a good year coming up. So my first question has to do with the vaccine. And I'm wondering why you're not having the vaccines being given out at CVS, Walgreens, and other drug stores that are easily accessible to people in the community?

Mayor: Well, I think that is the shape of things to come Marcia. I’ll turn to Dr. Chokshi. Because one of the things he referred to is the role that those outlets play in the federal program. And we love that, but we want to see a lot more of that. We haven't seen enough yet. That needs to be on a 24/7 basis. But over time, the vision is to go deeper and deeper to the grassroots, have more and more partners participating, especially as we're trying to reach in the community level, seniors and folks with pre-existing conditions. So, Dr. Chokshi, if you could reiterate the concern about the federal program and then go into the role, you see those pharmacies playing going forward?

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you very much for the question. And that's exactly right. We expect pharmacies to be a pillar of our vaccination efforts. With respect to the federal program that the Mayor referred to, the federal government has contracted with CVS and Walgreens to roll out vaccination in nursing homes. We want the pace of that vaccination to accelerate rapidly. Because we know how lifesaving it is for as many people in nursing homes to get vaccinated as quickly as possible. Having CVS and Walgreens vaccinate in the communities across New York City, not just through that nursing home program, does also require some federal coordination. And we have been very aggressive in petitioning for New York City to be the very first place where that will be activated. Which I expect will happen as soon as, as next week. Beyond CVS and Walgreens and some of the other larger chain pharmacies like Rite Aid and others, those are all part of our plan for the next two to three weeks with respect to ramping up as many access points as possible. And I will make note that another very important piece of it is those independent pharmacies that exist in communities, particularly in the priority neighborhoods which will be very important to extend the reach of access to vaccination.

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Chokshi. I want to amplify that point. Independent pharmacies, mom and pop pharmacies in communities that in many ways, depend on them even more than communities that have a lot more health care options available. A lot of places, the only place to turn is that independent pharmacy. And they've been there for their neighborhoods year after year, generation after generation in some cases. So, I want to thank all the independent pharmacists, all the folks that work in the independent pharmacies. We've needed you long, long time for things like flu shots and everyday help. But now we're going to need you to play a crucial role in the fight against COVID going forward. Go ahead, Marcia.

Question: So, my second question, Mr. Mayor, sort of switching, switching gears. Many schools decided to keep doing this learning remotely until after Martin Luther King weekend, giving families time to quarantine after the holiday break, if needed before returning to in-person learning. I'm wondering what went into the decision here to send New York City public school students back into the classroom today, instead of waiting two more weeks?

Mayor: We're confident based on the standards we put in place. So, let me just refresh everyone's memory. The holidays, of course, we've all had other better things to think about. But the testing initiative we put in place in December when schools came back – about 100,000 students, teachers, staff got tested across the entire school system. 100,000, the positivity level was 0.68 percent. Much, much lower than anything we're seeing anywhere else in New York City. So, the safest place to be in New York City of course, is our public schools. We see that and we know it's working and so we want – absolutely know our kids need to be in school. They need the benefits of in-person education. And a lot of families really wanted that for their kids. So, January 4th was the day we planned to come back and we're confident that this is the right way to go. And that testing starts again today. And it will be every school, every week to make sure everyone's safe. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Rich Lamb from WCBS Radio.

Question: Happy New Year, Mr. Mayor, and everybody on the call.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Rich. How do you feel?

Question: Well, I've been off for a couple of weeks. So, I feel good.

Mayor: You feel good. All right.

Question: So, I'm just wondering how much resistance are you getting to the vaccine? You know, have you done any kind of a survey to find out who's willing? I mean, I've run into people from plumbers to a dentist who says, you know, they really wonder about it. And they're – and you know, they're concerned. So, I'm wondering whether any kind of a survey has been done or whether there's any experience in the field to see that people are saying no?

Mayor: It's just such an important question, Rich. Thank you. Look, first of all, there's a lot of independent public opinion research that's been done. I think we're seeing here in New York all over the country is there was a lot of concern and mistrust a month or two ago. But that situation is starting to change rapidly as people are actually seeing folks get the vaccine, seeing that there's not a negative impact and that it is giving safety and protection. They're seeing what they needed to see. They needed to know it was safe. They needed to know it was effective. Obviously really important for people to know it's being given for free. It's quick, it's easy. So, folks have been seeing that with their own eyes, more and more people getting vaccinated. The word is spreading, word of mouth. People are hearing from family, friends, neighbors, that's going to magnify and magnify. So, we're quite confident. Now with that said, Rich, do I think there's going to be ten percent or 20 percent of the population for the next few months, that's going to be hesitant and not necessarily willing to be in the early wave? Yeah, of course. But that doesn't change the basic trajectory of what we're doing because we have so many people who are ready, willing, and able that we're going to have plenty of people to give the vaccine to. And the more we give the vaccine to, the more people who have a positive experience, the more people who will want it. Again, we need that flexibility to be able to have as many different people included as possible. But I don't think the quote unquote hesitancy issue is going to stop us from achieving our goals. Go ahead, Rich.

Question: So, just wondering, in regard to the possibility of you taking the vaccine as an example, or you and your family. Are you still going to whatever it is, wait your turn was the original phrase? Or do you think you ought to move it up and do it publicly?

Mayor: I think it is really important for public officials to show that we wait our turn like everyone else. Again, what we're seeing more and more is more and more acceptance, more and more desire for the vaccine. So, some of the hesitancy issues are starting to reduce. That's good news. But what I think is important is people see there'll be fairness and equality in the way that the vaccine is provided. So, there are folks who deserve it and need it more than me. Our first responders, our health care heroes, our seniors in nursing homes and the folks who work with them, all of our essential workers. And folks who are older and have pre-existing conditions. My view is the best thing to do is defer to those who need it most. And when my time comes, then I'm certainly going to be very public about it. But there's a lot of people already starting with the President-elect who have shown folks in this whole city, this whole country that it's safe. I think that message is being sent, you know, loud and clear.

Moderator: Next is Juan Manuel from NY1.

Question: Good morning Mr. Mayor, and Happy New Year.

Mayor: Feliz Año Nuevo, Juan Manuel.

Question: Muchas gracias. Feliz Año Nuevo. I want to start with just a clarification because you talked about how by the end of the January, you want a million vaccinations, and I'm guessing that means half a million New Yorkers vaccinated by the end of the month. But my question is now that we have the silver bullet, given the importance of vaccination, are you planning on including number of vaccines and the city’s possession, but at any given time and the number of doses distributed in your daily indicators?

Mayor: Yeah, I want everyone to understand exactly how this is progressing, Juan Manuel, and I want folks to understand the speed with which the increase is going to happen. That you're going to see again about 160 sites by the end of this week, going up to 250 sites, you're going to see this week, at least 100,000 or so doses given, going up to the end of the week, as you may end of the month, closer to 400,000 per week. So, we want to show that trajectory. What the concern is now, which is a very honest and real concern, you know, use every dose we have. I want to see that happen immediately, but I want to tell people what we're going to be talking about in a few weeks is not that in a few weeks we're going to be talking about where's our supply, where's the next supply coming from? We need the federal government to keep up with us. We need the manufacturers to keep up with us. That's the concern later in January, will they be able to meet our demand? So we definitely want to show those numbers and show everyone how it progresses in the course of the month. Go ahead.

Question: And yeah, just again, the half a million – million vaccinations or people, if you can clarify that and will lower priority New Yorkers have earlier access to the vaccine if higher priority New Yorkers refuse to get vaccinated? Is there a system in place for that? Because a lot of New Yorkers are already asking after three weeks of the vaccine being here in New York City, when is my turn coming?

Mayor: Yeah, and again, three weeks is a very brief period of time when our health care professionals are dealing with a brand new vaccine and making sure that they know how to use it properly, they know how to store it properly, that they understand that it can be used safely and they're doing it through real experience. That was a very, very important period of time to get everything right for now what will be an intensive push. But to your point, look, one, yes, we'll be giving second doses to our health care heroes and all the folks who are appropriate in that first category will continue to get second doses as we can do that, first doses for everyone else. We're going to be moving both those efforts simultaneously, and that makes all the sense in the world. The first dose gives you about 50 percent protection. The second dose, almost a hundred percent protection. The first dose immediately is a benefit, but we want that whenever we can, as quickly as possible close the loop, get that second dose to many people as possible. But in terms of categories of people, this is why we want the flexibility to have category 1A and 1B both authorized so we can move simultaneously. Wherever is the most effective, efficient place to go. If you think about a seven day a week, 24-7 effort might be that for example, on an overnight shift with our first responders is a great time to get people done who are right now in category 1B, and we're not allowed legally to give the vaccine to. I want to give them the vaccine right away. If I have that authorization, we can be doing that on overnight shifts as a way to be very, very efficient. So there's lots more we can do if we have both those categories approved. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Shant from the Daily News.

Question: Yeah. Good morning, everyone and Happy New Year—

Mayor: Happy New Year.

Question: Thank you, sir. So far, so good. Wanted to ask about the idea of getting to the point of 24-7 vaccinations. I know the city was planning to ask municipal workers to volunteer at the sites at schools and elsewhere. Can you give an update on how that's going? Also, you know, at least one councilman has called for the Medical Reserve Corps to be activated to get to the point of 24-7 vaccination. What would you say to that?

Mayor: I think that's great. I will have Dr. Chokshi talk about the public employees volunteering to be a part of it. But look, this is a “whatever it takes” situation, and again, Shant, I harken back to the other “whatever it takes” situations we've been through in less than a year, we had to save our hospitals and make sure they held during the early part of the crisis. That was whatever the hell it took. We were going to do it. We did. We had to get the PPE and when we didn't get it from the marketplace, we had to build our own. We did. We had to make sure we had a test and trace quarter could reach every corner of the city. We did. We had to open our public schools when a lot of other places didn't dare. We did. We're going to do this too. So, I want every hand on deck, and that means city employees. That means Medical Reserve, anybody and everyone who can help us get this done. Go ahead, Dr. Chokshi.

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir, and that's exactly right. It's all hands on deck. We've already issued that call for city employees, and we've gotten a very robust response with respect to people who are interested. We're categorizing that and matching them up with our plan for those vaccine hubs that that I've described. Those vaccine hubs will also involve the Medical Reserve Corps which is a group of about 13,000 New York City personnel, nurses, doctors, other health care professionals, who will be a big part of the workforce for the city vaccine hubs as well. But as the Mayor said, that's just the start. If we need more manpower, there's nothing more important than this vaccination effort, and we'll seek whatever additional manpower we need to get it done.

Just one final note with respect to making sure that vaccination is happening across the entire day, several of the hospitals that I've already visited are doing a very late night and early morning vaccination. They found that that's actually the best way to maximize throughput for people who are either coming in to their night shift or leaving their night shift, and several of the hospitals have started overnight vaccination as well. I encourage as many hospitals as possible to ramp that up this week, if you haven't already.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Shant.

Question: Yeah, so another question about the vaccination hubs, three high schools starting this weekend, it sounds like there could be more schools utilized down the road. Obviously in-person learning isn't happening at high schools, but what can you say about safety for students and educators? If there's a scenario in which vaccinations are being given out simultaneously to the return of in-person learning, if that happens?

Mayor: Yeah, it's a good question, Shant. First of all, let's say, remember on weekends, of course, we don't have any overlap with our public schools so we can do that freely. You're right. middle school and high school right now. We were working on that plan. But job one is to get this vaccination effort going and to fight back this immediate wave we're having with the coronavirus, our hope and prayer is in the course of January, you're going to start to see the case numbers come down because of the effect of the holidays starting to reduce. But if we are not open in middle and high schools, they become a very, very effective option for us. There's a lot of other good community locations we can use. So, we're going to be mindful, always. We've got to keep our schools safe that are open. That's been a strong suit. That gold standard of health and safety measures has worked. The testing has worked. We're going to be very, very careful to keep the schools safe at all costs. We have a lot of other sites we can work with for sure. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more. First, we'll go to James from PIX 11.

Question: Happy New Year, Mayor.

Mayor: James – there you go. Happy New Year, James. How you doing?

Question: Ah, great. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that you're taking my call. First, look, I'm a journalist. I'm not a mathematician. This is a follow-up on the NY1 call, though. You are still saying a million inoculations by the end of the month. The numbers that you've given though, they to my mind, don’t add up to one million. Are we saying it’s half a million people with two doses, or are you convinced that one million people will get both doses before February 1st?

Mayor: One million doses, one million doses. But remember, depending on when people get their first dose, there's a waiting period you have to go through before the time you can get your second dose. So it's not a choice of, is it one million people or as a half a million people it'll be something in between in terms of people number, but in terms of doses, it will be one million doses. That's the plan, and again, we need help from the federal government, simplifying the rules and ensuring our supply. We need the manufacturers to deliver. We need the state to give us flexibility. We can do it. We have the capacity. If we're going to be at 250 sites, I mean, you're, you may not think you're a mathematician, but I know you can do the math with me. If you're at 250 sites that is 4,000 – 4,000 vaccinations per site. Now we're not at 250 yet, but just put this in your mind or what gets you to a million? 4,000 vaccinations is something that can be done very quickly at an individual site. So we're going to have the physical build-out. We have an incredible infrastructure in this city, but we need the rules to be flexible and we need the supply to be guaranteed. 

Moderator: For our last question, we'll go to David from the Queens Daily Eagle.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, Happy New Year.

Mayor: Happy New Year. How are you doing David?

Question: Good, thank you. When will vaccines reach homeless shelters in supported housing sites? And what will that roll out look like for staff and residents?

Mayor: Again, we want to make sure that we're reaching folks in any kind of a group setting like that. Very important to keep people safe. Dr. Chokshi will go over the, the, where that falls in the scheme of things, but I want to keep emphasizing, this is another reason why we want the flexibility of having a, both categories, 1A and 1B, approved so that we can move expeditiously wherever the need is greatest and have the most options to be able to keep getting people vaccinated. Dr. Chokshi.

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thanks, David, for the question from the health perspective, this is certainly a concern of mine as well, with respect to making sure that people who are experiencing homeless as well as the staff who care for them are part of our vaccination plan. The current recommendation is that both staff and residents would be a part of phase 1B. So that's the phase directly after the current one that involves health care workers and nursing, home staff and residents, and we would support as the Mayor has said, moving as expeditiously as possible to opening up a phase 1B so that those people and others who are in that group can get vaccinated.

Mayor: Well, everyone, as we conclude today, look, I don't know about you, but I am feeling a ton of energy because of this new year. It is 2021. I hoped and prayed and dreamed we would get to this year. We are here. We now have a lot of momentum. We in New York City are going to do amazing things in 2021, and we're going to defeat the coronavirus, starting with the biggest vaccination effort in the history of New York City, and that goes into full gear right now. So this is a chance for us to protect people. It's a chance for us to start our recovery. It's a chance for us to show the world just how good New York City is, and we're going to remind people once again, why this is a very, very special place and that's going to be why our recovery happens as well, because the magic of New York City, once people are reminded, they will, once again, gravitate here, support us, invest in us. We will build, we will rebuild. It all starts now. So 2021 is going to be an amazing year let's show what New York City can do. Thank you, everyone.

2021-01-05 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Let me start by telling you a story and it’s a story of heroism, our health care heroes, our health care leaders, the folks on the ground and the folks who organize the massive effort to protect the people of this city, to save this city, to fight off one of the most difficult foes we've ever seen in our history, the coronavirus. Our health care heroes saw us through those horrible months of March and April, dealing with an absolutely unprecedented challenge. Our hospitals held, our public hospitals at Health + Hospitals did amazing work, all our hospitals around New York City, we honor the heroism, the folks who had everything thrown at them, but they held the line. They saved lives. And then as we move forward, there was challenge after challenge. We didn't have enough PPE in this city, we couldn't get PPE from anywhere in the world. Our federal government wasn't there for us, but we kept finding supplies anywhere we could. There were a lot of heroic efforts by New Yorkers in the government and beyond who made things happen and we partnered with the private sector, with the universities, with anyone who offered help to create PPE here in New York City, ventilators as well, whatever it took, we created a whole pandemic response lab in this city. All of these efforts came from the heroic desire of New Yorkers to protect and save New Yorkers and time and time again, they saved the day and I honor them for that. Then it came time to create what we knew would be key to fighting back, a Test and Trace Corp. We created the biggest, strongest Test and Trace Corp. in this nation. Our health care leaders, our health care workers did that, people contributed to make that work. Then it came time to open the nation's largest public school system, and once again, our health care leaders, our health care heroes, our health care workers were their working with educators and staff, together doing what many said was impossible. Not only opening the schools, making them the safest places in New York City.

This is a clear record of achievement and I want to speak up for our health care heroes, I want to speak up for our health care leadership and let everyone know how exceptionally they have performed. And I think it's about trusting the people who have actually done the work, trusting the people who have accomplished so much time and time again, trusting people who have devoted their whole lives to protecting and saving the lives of others. That's what we're doing here in the city and it has worked time and time again, and it will work again going forward as we mount the largest vaccination effort in the history of New York City. Trust is crucial and I want to express to everyone, I want express clearly my trust in our health care leaders and our health care workers, all the health care heroes, and I want to say very clearly, there are health care heroes in cities and counties all over New York State doing the exact same thing. They should be trusted – they need to be trusted too. They should be respected too. Look, all the people that frontline have done the work deserve our trust and respect, and we need to listen to them. We need to listen to them to know what will work. So, to all those City health officials all over the State of New York, all those county health officials, thank you for what you do. Let's all work together to vaccinate people and move forward.

Look, this is a moment for cooperation. This is a moment for trust. This is a moment for partnership. What we need is the freedom to vaccinate. We need to listen to our health care leaders and our health care workers who are saying, give us the flexibility to vaccinate more and more people, let us have the ability to do our jobs the right way, give them the freedom to vaccinate, and they will vaccinate thousands, and tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, then millions. What they don't need is to be shamed. What they don't need is more bureaucracy. What they don't need is the threat of fines. If the State of New York says, well, you get a million-dollar fine if you move too quickly and you get a $100,000 fine if you move too slowly, that doesn't get anyone anywhere. That just paralyzes people. Why don't we stop talking about fines and start talking about the freedom to vaccinate, letting the professionals do their jobs. So, we are going to move with every conceivable speed, capacity, creativity, flexibility to do what we can do, but we need help from the State government. We need help from the federal government and I'll speak to the federal piece as well, because there really are crucial things that we need from the federal government to make this work. But the bottom line is our health care leaders, our health care workers are doing the job every single hour of every day. And by the way, there's a lot of people that want the vaccine. There's also people who don't want the vaccine yet, and we need to be aware of that in our plans. And that's okay if they don't want it yet, we'll get them later. But right now, now we want to reach everyone who is ready, willing, and able to get vaccinated.

Here to tell you about the efforts of our public health care system, again, our public hospitals and clinics have been heroic. Our health care heroes throughout have sustained us. The investments we made years ago, we put hundreds of millions of dollars into Health + Hospitals to make it strong well before we ever heard of the coronavirus, those investments were worthy because our health care heroes were there for us. Pleasure to introduce the CEO of Health + Hospitals, Dr. Mitch Katz.

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals: Well, thank you so much, Mr. Mayor, and you know, our staff was so honored when you came, it will be three weeks tomorrow that you came to Elmhurst Hospital and we started vaccinating those health care heroes and we started, as the State has asked, with the people at the highest risk, those two people you remember, sir, were one worked in the ICU, one worked in the emergency department were people have breathing tubes, which put people at high risk. Both of them you'll remember were over 60 – 

Mayor: Yes.

President Katz: Right. So, we started very narrowly. But in these last three weeks, I'm happy to tell you, we have vaccinated everyone in all 11 hospitals who have patient care responsibilities, so they are protected. They can go and take care of their patients and know that they are not themselves going to fall ill to this illness. Now starting yesterday, the State gave us approval to vaccinate everybody in the hospitals. So, by the end of this week, sir, we are going to vaccinate everybody in the hospitals. All staff who want to be vaccinated, we are going to do it. I was pleased to follow in the footsteps of those two great heroes and get my own vaccine when we opened it up to outpatient doctors and when I see my patients this Wednesday, because it's been 10 days, I will know that I'm not going to transmit the virus to them and I can take care of them without the same worry that I'm going to bring home that virus to my family or elderly parents.

But there's so much more, sir, that we really want to do. We're going to be starting this week to take care of vaccinating the affiliated – excuse me – the unaffiliated physicians, that those are the physicians who worked so hard in the community. They are often taking care of patients from low socioeconomic areas. The dentist, the physical therapist, the home health care aides, the optometrists, we want to vaccinate all of those people so that they too can do their patient care work without worrying about getting infected themselves or worrying that they are going to transmit this virus to someone else. But I have to say, sir, what will make me most happy is when I can vaccinate my own patients. I have several patients who are over the age of 75 with diabetes and heart disease. I want to be able to vaccinate them. We have the ability to do it at our health centers and our hospitals. We simply need the approval from the State so that we can get going on these other groups. The health care heroes deserve to be first. They were at the greatest risk. They gave up – sadly – many of them gave up their lives in order to be able to care of the patients, but we next want to go to the highest risk people, which we know are elderly persons. I want to be able to do those patients in my patient panel who I'm the primary care doctor for. I want to do all of the patients of Health + Hospitals. I know the other hospitals want to be able to offer it to their patients. I think, t00, of my 98-year-old father, you know, World War II vet, my 93-year-old mother, I want them vaccinated. We are waiting our turn, of course, but I want that turn to come and I feel with your leadership, sir, we are ready. We are ready to do those people at greatest risk and we look forward to working with you in the coming weeks to see them vaccinated. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Katz, and what a beautiful story of Mitch Katz’s is 98-year-old dad, World War II hero – thank God, still with us. And, Mitch, I have really admired your devotion to your mom and dad, it’s something I love about you and appreciate about you. But, everyone, listen, his 98-year-old dad is not allowed to get the vaccine right now, that just doesn't make sense. Let's all work together. Let's create the flexibility. Again, give the city the freedom to vaccinate, give our health care heroes the freedom to vaccinate. So, if someone's 98, let's get them a vaccine. If someone's in one of Mitch Katz's hospitals and they're over 75, they should automatically have the right to be vaccinated. We can do more than one thing at once. We can focus on vaccinating all the health care heroes who want the vaccine, all the folks in nursing homes and who work at nursing homes who want the vaccine, while simultaneously expanding the categories, reaching folks over 75, reaching educators, reaching police officers, reaching all of the folks who we need to get the vaccine as quickly as possible. Look, it just is common sense, because we want to get the folks who want the vaccine, but there's a lot of people who are not yet ready. That's okay. Again, that's okay. But when we look at these numbers, we've got to keep in our minds the fact that there's still a substantial number of New Yorkers who are going to take a pass in the first round. That's another reason we need more flexibility, because if you've got a group of people you're authorized to give a vaccine to but a lot of them are not ready to do it and say no, you need to move on to the next group as quickly as possible. You can't be bogged down. That's why we need that greater freedom.

Okay. Now, the federal government – crucial, obviously, in this equation. And what we need the federal government to do is to clear the way, make things simpler, make them clearer, solve some of the problems that are bogging down this effort. I've said very clearly, Operation Warp Speed actually achieved something very, very important and crucial in working with the global scientific community to get these vaccines to all of us in record time. But we need that attitude of warp speed to now be about how quickly we vaccinate everyone. Other nations around the world are showing us great examples. We need federal leadership. I sent this letter to Vice President Mike Pence, and this is online so everyone can see it, and I said, look, we've got a challenge, because, right now, in New York City, we don't know when we're getting future shipments. We can't plan. We need to get a million doses done in the month of January. We don't know where those doses are coming from yet. We need the federal government to fully use the Defense Production Act to maximize production, to give us the most possible clarity about the schedule so we can plan accordingly. But beyond that, we need the government to do much more to make sure that nursing home residents and staff are vaccinated. They've created an initiative with pharmacies. That's great, but it's not moving quick enough. We need the federal government to step in. I sent a letter to Vice President Pence as the leader of Operation Ward Speed, but also the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, and the Director of the CDC Robert Redfield. We need all of them to help move these goals forward. So, the pharmacy effort has to be a lot stronger. On top of that, right now, there are real supports and real incentives for health care providers to provide testing, but not for them to provide vaccines. We need to clarify that, give them the same incentives, give them every reason to want to get vaccines to people in the priority areas. Finally, something the FDA can do – the FDA – I want to tell you, we've been working closely with the FDA and with Stephen Hahn who runs the FDA, has been a great partner. I want to thank him. But we need them to do something our health care leadership has been raising to me for days now. We need the FDA to give approval and to health care providers to pre-fill syringes so vaccination can go much more quickly. We can create a positive vaccination assembly line where a lot of people get vaccinate once because those syringes are ready. Right now, the FDA does not allow hospitals and health care providers to do that. They need to, to help us move. So, look, we can all work together. We can all get all these pieces worked through and work as one – federal, State, local government to get things done. That's the spirit we need to bring to this. So, what I hope we will see is clear answers from the federal government in these next few days. I know the current administration is leaving office in about two weeks, but there's still a lot of good they could do and help us to reach as many people as possible with the vaccine.

All right. Now, what are we going to do? Well, we're going to take a next step in our effort beyond hospitals and clinics and the sites that we've set up already, about 125 sites in New York City, going up to about 160 this week. We to start a new kind of site, a mass vaccination site. We want to create public sites where anyone in the appropriate categories can come 24-seven and get vaccinated. They'll be an all five boroughs. And look, we think if you create sites that anyone can come to any time, they know the vaccines free – I want to emphasize to all New Yorkers, the vaccine is free, it's safe, it's effective. Starting in a few days, these sites will be set up. And what you're going to see are a place where anyone can come any hour of the day, get a free vaccine, get it quickly. Sites will be, again, in all five boroughs, but we need State approval and support to move this effort. We have the capacity. We have the personnel. We need support. And I'm particularly thinking about those folks over 75, and, of course, I'm thinking about all of the essential workers, the public workers, the first responders, the educators, but also the grocery store workers, the folks who have been with us through this crisis, the folks who are at the frontline of help make sure we all get food; transit workers, the folks who bore the brunt of this crisis in so many ways, but we're there for us. I want it to be easy for all of them to get vaccinated. Again, with State support, with State approval, we can move that in a matter of days and open up a whole new front. Some of the sites – so, again, they'll be in all five boroughs. We'll be announcing sites as they’re ready, but some of the sites that are being planned right now – Brooklyn Army Terminal, the Annex Building in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; the Bathgate Industrial Park in the Bronx; La Marqueta in East Harlem. These will all be public sites, City-owned sites and we'll be getting details to you about exact schedules and locations as they come online. And again, this is in addition to all Health + Hospitals facilities, to the vaccine hubs that we've been setting up already, including in public school buildings and Department of Health pop-up sites. We're going to have capacity all over the five boroughs. We want to make it easy and quick and accessible to all.

Now, one more point, and this is a challenge we all face, which is while we've been ramping up the vaccine effort – and, again, we know the capacity of this city, because we saw it time and time again. We saw it with Test and Trace Corps. We saw it with opening schools. We know we can do it, but we've got a new foe now, this new variant that first was identified in the United Kingdom. We all should be worried about this. Thank God, not because it's more deadly, but because it does spread, unfortunately, even faster. We need the federal government to step up here and ban all travel from the United Kingdom to the United States of America. And I'm, obviously, specifically most concerned about the three airports serving New York City. It's time to stop the half measures. I mean, right now, you can still get on a plane in London, not even have proof that you have a negative test and merrily come over to New York City and spread the disease. Why? Why is that going on? Why still after all these challenges and problems is this madness still going on? This new variant is tremendously troubling. Let's have a travel ban right now – a travel ban from the United Kingdom to the United States to protect all of us. Buy us time to get the vaccinations done and protect people. But if we don't have a travel ban, then we're literally inviting this new, horrible variant in the door even more and that makes no sense. So, I call upon the federal government to act now while we can. The amount of inconvenience it causes to travelers pales in comparison to the danger this variant poses to all of us. Let's shut down that danger right now.

All right, today's indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 210 patients. Obviously, we want to be below 200. That number is still too high. Hospitalization rate 4.07 per 100,000, still too high. Again, that being said, hospitals are doing amazing work right now. Whether you're talking about public hospitals, independent hospitals, voluntary hospitals, they're all doing really extraordinary work. They're holding the line well. They have capacity. So, even with these daunting numbers, kudos to our health care workers, our health care leaders, our hospital systems for the great work they're doing. Number two, daily number of new cases of COVID-19 – today's number, 4,600 – excuse me, 4,064 – 4,064, way, way above where we want to be. And percentage of New York City residents testing positive, seven-day rolling average – today, 9.03 percent. Again, way above where we need to be. We need to turn that tide and the vaccine is the best way to do it.

A few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. And please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi, by Dr. Katz, by Dr. Long, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today, it goes to Andrew Siff from WNBC.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call. Mayor, I want to drill down on your argument about flexibility from the State. Are you really making the case that the sole reason that City hospitals have not used all of their allotted vaccine is because you don't have the flexibility to vaccinate people outside the 1-A category?

Mayor: Andrew, I appreciate the question a lot. Look, there's two points here. First, we needed the freedom to vaccinate. We need to listen to our health care leaders. They are saying, give us freedom and flexibility and we'll be able to vaccinate a lot more people who are all high-priority people. But second, of course, we want to always do better, and that's why we're ramping up this effort. The first few weeks, we had to make sure that things were safe, that we really could use this vaccine properly – brand-new vaccine, brand-new reality, different refrigeration reality than we've ever had before, etcetera. We needed to make sure it was safe. We needed to make sure we could do it right. But now, we have got to sprint. So, that's on us. That's on me, personally. I take full responsibility. I know the health care leadership of this city does too. Within each category, we have to do the most possible. And I'll turn to Dr. Katz to emphasize this point off your question, Andrew, we cannot leave out of this discussion the point that there are a number of folks, even in the health care world, who do not yet choose to be vaccinated. So, I want to use up every single dose we have, but we can't give a dose to someone who is not willing to take it. That's part of the challenge here. Dr. Katz?

President Katz: Andrew, last week we walked through the hospitals, through all of the clinical areas and we told people who hadn't been vaccinated, come vaccinate now. We'll cover your patients. On work time, come vaccinate now. We've had amazing, amazing take-up from our physician staff. But among the nursing and support staff, as the Mayor has said, there are people who have justifiable concerns. They need some more time. They worry about the speed the vaccine was developed. They want some more time before they're ready to be vaccinated. So, yes, we have vaccinated at Health + Hospitals all of the clinical people who wish to be vaccinated. Starting yesterday, we were given approval to go broader, outside of the clinical areas, but still the critical functions of the hospital. And also, this week, we will be doing the unaffiliated providers. But by the end of last week, I had vaccinated all of those people in the clinical areas who wanted to be vaccinated at all 11 hospitals. And I know my colleagues in the other hospitals have done that as well.

Mayor: Andrew, again, I want to come back to the common sense here. I want to give the freedom to our health care workers to vaccinate everyone available in their facility at any given moment. So, for example, not just the frontline health care personnel, but everyone who works in the hospital is part of that hospital ecosystem. I want all of them to have the right to be vaccinated. I want everyone who is in a hospital and is over 75 years old to be vaccinated. Again, just think of the common sense here. You've got the vaccine, you've got the staff, you're in the hospital – everybody willing in that building at any given hour should get vaccinated. Let's loosen up these rules. Everyone is still a priority person, but this way we know we keep moving things forward. Go ahead, Andrew.

Question: [Inaudible] square that answer with the Governor's statistics that show a hospital, for example, like New York Presbyterian, using 99 percent of its allotment?

Mayor: I'll turn to Dr. Katz and be clear. First of all, Health + Hospitals accepted allotment for many, many other providers far beyond Health + Hospitals. And, obviously, it takes time to get that vaccine out to each of them and for them to be able to use it. And, again, what we talked about here with the federal government, the rules for how you provide the vaccine are cumbersome. You literally cannot put the vaccine into syringes in advance, that slows everything down. We need these rules opened up too. So, Health + Hospitals has been taking in vaccine for lots of different folks and hasn't been able to vaccinate everyone they would like to. Obviously, those are challenges. Plus, some of their supply just came in. But we want to do better. So, Andrew, again, I accept full responsibility. I know Dr. Katz does too. We want to make sure that every dose is used, but we need some help and flexibility to do it. Dr. Katz, do you want to add?

President Katz: Yes. Andrew, the group of unaffiliated physicians and nurses and physical therapists in the community is 50,000 people. And that that group is going to be done in bulk by Health + Hospitals starting this week. So, that's why the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene moved the vaccine to us in preparation of us doing that this week. So, while the numerators that you saw are accurate, and I think both us and Presbyterian have done a great job of vaccinating the people in the highest risk, the denominator reflected this week's work, which we uniquely are doing.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Amanda from Politico.

Question: Good morning. How is everyone?

Mayor: Good, Amanda. Happy New Year to you.

Question: Happy New Year. So, I wanted to follow up on your mass vaccination site plans. So, in DC – Washington DC sent out a portal, saying to the public, if you would like to be vaccinated, please fill out this form saying who you are, what your job is, meaning like do you work at the bodega? Are you a cab driver? Are you a student? And if you have pre-existing conditions. And so, I was curious if New York has to start collecting that kind of data? One, to create an idea of what the demand will be for the average person. But then, two, to help with this mass vaccination plan, where, to your point earlier about making sure that the grocery store workers coming in, how would the average on health care worker who's staffing that vaccination site know whether or not I'm sneaking in versus somebody else who really is on the front line every day?

Mayor: That’s a great question, Amanda. Let me – I'm going to turn to Dr. Katz. We had this dialogue in detail yesterday about how the precertification – I'm going to use that phrase to answer your question – precertification has been the model that has been working in our hospitals and this is the right model for a general public effort as well. Exactly what you're saying, you want folks who do qualify to attest to the fact that they qualify to give the details to be all ready to go so when they come in to that center you just need to confirm identity, then go get vaccinated. So, it moves really, really quickly. But we do want that kind of precertification effort to make sure we're always getting the highest priority folks. Now, that being said, when you think about all of those grocery store workers, transit workers, all of the folks who serve in our schools, first responders, that's a whole lot of people. That's a category of almost a million people – that category 1-B. There are plenty of good New Yorkers would need the vaccine and we can get them into that kind of precertification model so we can move it quickly. Dr. Katz, you want to talk about how you've been doing it?

President Katz: Yes, Mr. Mayor. So, we have built a module that not only would allow people to, as the Mayor says, explain what their risks are, but it will also allow people to self-schedule for their appointments, which is critical. What you don't want – I know it’s happened in a few other areas of the country – is the phone lines go down, because so many people are trying to call at the same time. That's not efficient. What you want is the ability for most people who can use the computer to be able to do it online. We'll create a separate line for those people who really cannot use the computer. But the majority of people will be able to find someone who will go online and they will be able to not only put in their eligibility, but they'll be able to choose what site and what time. I mean, we do have to make sure that it's appointments so that we do not overcrowd any existing facility. I mean, that is one of the true challenges of COVID vaccination, is that we don't want to spread COVID while were vaccinating people to prevent COVID. So, we can't have a waiting room with 50 people in it. But that's why having an online scheduler so that people can choose the site, choose the time, we can control the number of people at any one time in any one site. With the Mayor's leadership, there is going to be a proliferation of sites. So, there'll be lots of choices where people can go, that will help us to spread out those people who need the vaccine so as not to spread COVID.

Mayor: Go ahead, Amanda.

Question: Great. Thank you for that. And then, my second question is around staffing. I understand that this plan hinges on getting approval from the State to move forward on this, but then also the feds to make sure that we're getting an adequate supply to keep up with the demand for the scheduling. Who do you think is going to staff these? I would imagine that there's going to be a period of time where the medical workers are treating COVID patients and may not be able to be vaccinated people. So, who's going to fill in those gaps?

Mayor: I'm going to turn to Dr. Katz and Dr. Chokshi about how we're going to use Health + Hospitals personnel, Department of Health personnel, and folks from the City government agencies across the board, the medical reserve, I mean, there's a lot of – the contract workers – there's lots of different ways to do it. They can give you some of the detail of that. But I think the point about an online system that gives you a clear sense of how many people are going to be where, that makes it very efficient. And remember, when you get to that kind of system, the staffing gets very efficient too, because if you know a certain number of people are coming, they're all pre-certified, you just need to check identity against the pre-certification. The actual vaccine, Amanda, is incredibly quick to give. It's like, you know, anyone who's gotten a flu shot in a pharmacy – it's a matter of a few minutes. And we had a conversation recently about, you know, what can an individual health care worker do in an hour, 25, 30 – even more people can be vaccinated, literally, one after another, after another if the rest of the structure is set up right. Not everyone who's there has to be a health care worker to make that work. The person checking folks in, obviously, can be someone who's not a health care worker. You do need doctors on site to watch people make sure they're okay. After they've gotten the vaccine, they do need to wait for a while just to see if there's any reaction. Thank God, overwhelmingly, we have not seen negative reaction in folks who received the vaccine almost without exception. But just to clarify, it is not necessarily a labor-intensive activity if you have a pre-certification model.So, on the different strands of staffing, we'll be turning to obviously Ted Long is here, Dr. Long, T2, Test and Trace is going to be a big part of it, huge group, 5,000 strong. They're going to be crucial as well. Dr. Katz then Dr. Chokshi. 

President Katz: So, let me start Amanda because I think it's a good question. People worry about with the hospitals having more patients with COVID, how will we be able to do it? And what we're lucky at is the challenge in staffing hospitals during COVID are the very highly skilled ICU nurses, highly skilled respiratory therapists, people who have studied intensivist physicians, people who have studied years to be good at what they are able to do. Fortunately, when it comes to vaccination, a large number of different professional people, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses can give, physicians can give vaccine. People who are retired, who may not be ready to work on a hospital ward can give vaccines. As the Mayor has said, I think if all of the paperwork were done, and the only thing I had to do was to give – to wipe the person's shoulder off with alcohol, give the injection, take out the injection and put on a band aid. I'm sure I could do 40 people an hour. So then the goal is, but I need all the other things done. I need them to pre-register. I need them to, someone to check that the registration is correct. I need someone to lead them to my chair. I need somebody to prefill the syringe. I give the syringe. I need them, as the Mayor says, to have a place where they can be watched. But I think this is an operation that really can, if you break it into its parts, be done very efficiently. 

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi again, on all picking up on Dr. Katz’s point. Efficiency is going to be crucial. Precertification will be crucial, but talk about the different strands of staffing we're going to bring together here. 

Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Absolutely Sir. This is something that we've been thinking about intensively. Before I get into some of the details to add to what Dr. Katz has said. I want to just start with the very big picture, which is there is virtually nothing that is more important than our COVID vaccination effort right now. So when it comes to staffing and ensuring that we have adequate staffing that's the approach that we're going to take to pull out all the stops to get the right people into the right places to administer vaccines. To build on what Dr. Katz has said in terms of, you know, the types of people that we need to do that, it really boils down to two groups. Clinical staff and nonclinical staff. And this is true, whether we're talking about the City's mass vaccination sites, our COVID vaccine hubs or any of the other places where people will be able to get a COVID vaccine in the coming days and weeks. On the clinical staff side, it's all of the people who do the everyday miracle of vaccination. Whether it's pharmacists or nurses that have been doing our seasonal influenza vaccination. But it's also pulling on the contracts that we have available to be able to ramp that up with respect to who can deliver a vaccine. And as the Mayor said, ensuring that the Health Department, Health + Hospitals, and all of the City's clinical resources are brought to bear on this as well. And then on the non-clinical staff side, these are people who do the flow monitoring, making sure that the paperwork is all right so that there is that very seamless process going through a clinic. And for that we can pull from an even broader pool with respect to City staff and many, many people who have raised their hands to help with this effort. The final thing that I'll say is that on the clinical side as well, the Medical Reserve Corps, this is a group of thousands of nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners whom we are in contact with specifically to help with the COVID vaccination effort. 

Mayor: Thank you very much, Doctor. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Bob Henley from the Chief Leader 

Question: Happy New Year all. In interviewing Dr. Prezant, the FDNY’s top medical officer, I learned that we still do not know the degree to which the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine prevents asymptomatic transmission of this virus. And if it does for how long? Does that mean as a practical matter, those who get inoculated need to continue the masking and social distancing precautions? 

Mayor: Yeah. I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi. Bob, great question. What I said this – I was asked this kind of question last week. That I want people to think about the first half of this year up through June as the time that we're going to be vaccinating again, every New Yorker who wants it. And that in the process, we want to maintain our good habits. We want to keep wearing masks. We want to keep the social distancing, keep the sense of caution and defense that we've had all along. Bob, look, let's realize, first of all, until you get more and more people vaccinated, obviously we still face the threat of the disease. Second, this new variant, huge curveball. So, we want people to just be in a smart, cautious, defensive posture for the first half of the year. Stick to those good habits because they work. And then when we've got a huge percentage of folks vaccinated and the whole situation around the country, hopefully is improved, that's a time we can think about going back to the kind of way we lived before. Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: That's exactly right. Mr. Mayor. And the short answer to your good question is that yes, people do need to continue following all of those public health precautions that have worked over the last few months. Particularly continuing to wear their mask or face covering, continuing to socially distance, and making sure that you're washing your hands frequently. Another thing to just keep in mind about both vaccines is that they are two dose regimens. There is some immunity that's built up a few days after getting the first dose, but it takes until a few days after the second dose to get up to the levels of effectiveness that we have seen in the clinical studies. So throughout that period, but also beyond for the reasons that the Mayor has mentioned, it's going to be very important for us, both as individuals, whether you're vaccinated or not, as well as a community to keep doing the things that have worked for us. 

Mayor: Excellent. Go ahead, Bob. 

Question: Okay. Yeah. And so, to the question I heard earlier, the division between nonclinical and clinical. At the Chief Leader we've been tracking the circumstances of people like Priscilla Carol who is a CWA 1180 member, coordinating manager, who died at Elmhurst Hospital, whose job was to hand out a mask. But you know, that those folks didn't necessarily get one. They're technically nonclinical. There's also like 983 Local DC 37, high pressure plant tenders who can be in the midst of the places that Dr. Katz’s staff is working. What effort is, is the City making to identify proactively these myriad of titles that may not be – that may be incidental on paper, but are central to how these institutions function? 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Bob. I appreciate that question. No one's incidental. No one in a hospital is a second-class citizen. We need to reach everyone who works in our hospitals, whether they're public hospitals, voluntary, independent, we need to reach them all. By the way, what's a better way to speed up vaccination than to make sure that every single human being who works in a hospital building and is ready to be vaccinated, actually gets the right to be vaccinated? So, I want Dr. Katz to talk about the experience that he's having, but just follow through the logic. If anyone's working in the hospital, they're helping us. If anyone's working in the hospital, they're supporting our health care heroes. If anyone's working in a hospital, they are putting themselves in some kind of proximity to folks with the coronavirus. Also, again, I want Dr. Katz to have the right to vaccinate anyone over 75, who comes into one of his hospitals or clinics for any reason at all. I don't care if they stubbed their toe. I want them to have the right to the vaccine if they're over 75. So, Dr. Katz, could you speak to that? 

President Katz: Bob. Thank you so much for always caring about Health + Hospitals employees. It makes me feel great. So, starting yesterday, I can now vaccinate everybody in the hospital as the Mayor has explained. And we will continue to walk through the hospital to make sure that everybody knows that vaccinations are available. They are right at the site, so people don't have to go anywhere. Although they also have the choice, if they wish to get vaccinated at a site that may be closer to their home. We allow that as well. And we allow people to go on their work time. So, we're doing everything possible to make sure that all of the people who work at any of our hospitals starting yesterday, when the State allowed us to move into this category are able to get vaccinated. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is David Cruz from Gothamist. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing? 

Mayor: Hey, David, happy New Year to you. 

Question: Happy New Year. So, we're getting reports of widespread vaccine hesitancy among hospital employees with as many as 70 to 80 percent of workers at some hospitals saying they're going to wait and see. So, what is the percentage of hesitant staffers in the City's hospital system and what are the efforts to turn that attitude around? 

Mayor: Excellent question, David. I'll start and obviously turn to Mitch. It's a real issue. And we got to look it in the eye. It's understandable after all the pain of 2020, that a lot of people are worried. And just in general, folks who have been through so much we've got to understand that we got to win trust for the vaccine. We've been talking about this now for weeks, winning trust for the vaccine, but the best way to do it of course, is by example. So many people have gotten the vaccine now who had a very good experience with it. It was safe, effective, free, fast, easy. The more people see that the more they feel it. I think you'll see that hesitancy reduce. But in the meantime, we're going to keep educating people, keep giving those positive examples, keep answering questions. People have a lot of questions. That's fair. We want to answer those questions. And Mitch can talk about how that's being done in Health + Hospitals. But again, it's crucial to now link that to the bigger picture. Let's choose a number. I think based on conversations with Dr. Katz and Dr. Chokshi, I would place that number over 30 percent. So, let's say at least a third of folks in general are still hesitant. That's another reason why you need more flexibility, because if I'm looking at a group of a thousand people and 300 or 400 of them are not yet ready to be vaccinated, I don't need a thousand doses for that group. I need to finish that group and go to the next group. And we've got to recognize that where there is willingness, that's where we need to lean in. And when there's not yet willingness, we'll come back right around. And ironically, David, the more people get vaccinated in any priority category, the more faith it will give everyone else. Dr. Katz? 

President Katz: I think the Mayor has explained it well, David. I know it's – at our facilities. It is not 70 percent. That that's too high. But I think around 30 percent is accurate. When I've talked to people, I think you have to, as the Mayor is explained, have empathy, and really think about what the experience has been of a Health + Hospital nurse over the last 10 months. How many times science has corrected itself? How many times it's turned out that there was some new wrinkle and they've gone through every day of that, right? Not everybody has to live the life of the nurse who's told today this is what works. And then tomorrow, oh no, we've learned something more. It's completely understandable with the new virus that every day we would be learning new things. But while we're learning new things, the nurses are actually working right? And they're trying to take care of their patients in the best way possible. So, is it at all surprising that people want a little bit more time to know that this too will not turn out to be wrong? Any time in health care, you adopt something new. There are always the early adopters, right? They can't wait to get it. They're at the top of the line. They want to do it. There will always be a few people who will never want to do it. But the vast majority of people, once you give them enough time, we'll agree to get a sensible intervention. And I have no doubt that after millions of people across the country are vaccinated, the safety record is shown. Months have gone by, consensus remains this vaccine is safe. People will go and get it. We don't need to harangue them at this moment. We can allow them the space they deserve for the heroic work they've done. 

Mayor: Amen.

Moderator: The next is Nolan from the Post. 

Question: Hi morning, everybody. 

Mayor: Happy New Year Nolan. How are you doing? 

Question: I'm all right, Mr. Mayor and happy New Year to you and to yours as well. I'm just trying to figure out exactly the source of the dispute between you and the Governor over the speed at which the city's public hospital system is administering vaccine? And we put some of these questions to Health + Hospitals yesterday. Didn't get much in the way of hard numbers back. So, I'd like to put them to you today to see if you have them? Which is roughly how many Health + Hospitals employees were eligible for vaccination before the expansion of group 1-A? And how many of them had received it at that point? 

Mayor: So, Nolan, again, I want to see us all move forward together. I want to be really clear about this. I want to work with the State. I want to work with the federal government. I think if we all work together, we're going to get somewhere. I am fully responsible for all the efforts of New York City government. I expect us to do better. I'm holding every one of my colleagues accountable and myself accountable. But I also know we do need the freedom and the flexibility to do this the best we can. So, as you heard, Dr. Katz say, once he got the authorization to do more people in his hospitals, he started that immediately. And that will be completed in a matter of days. It's simple when we have an authorization to do something, we can do it very quickly. But we also do need simpler rules from the federal government. That gets back to that point about the syringes. That right there would be a great difference maker, which is why we're appealing to the federal government on that. Mitch, you want to just fill in any specifics? 

President Katz: I think one of the misconceptions that people had is that the data that the Governor showed was about the percentage of eligible people who got vaccination. That wasn't what it was. It was the percent of doses. And as I explained earlier in the week, we took on a large number of doses yesterday in order to be able to do this week, the unaffiliated providers. I have every reason from my discussions with other health care leaders to know that we have done as well as the other hospitals in terms of vaccinating those people who are eligible. And again, I go back to last week, we walked through the hospital, all of the clinical areas where we're able to vaccinate. And told people we have empty slots that are available now, come while you are on work and get vaccinated. And it happens that not everybody is yet ready for that moment. 

Mayor: Go ahead Nolan. 

Question: I guess I posit those questions because the Governor's office is on the record to the Post this morning saying that those tabulations were for weeks one through three. They don't include the vaccines delivered for week four. I think this gets to why technical briefings are important, but that issue to the side. On January 1st, the city as a whole, injected only 148 people with shots on New Year's Day, only 148 people were given shots. The City controls one of the largest hospital systems in the city with Health + Hospitals. That's still just an average of 13 shots per hospital on that day. Why in the best case that the City's public hospital system deliver 13 shots per day on New Year's Day? 

Mayor: Nolan, very fair question. Let me say that we can't have another day like that ever again. There are no holidays. There are no nights. There are no weekends going forward. Everything has to be on a 24/7 basis. I do understand on a very human level that after a year of nonstop warfare, a lot of people were very tired and spent by the time they got to the holidays. But that's not an excuse. It should have been better on January 1st. And we certainly saw the same problem with the pharmacies under the federal program focused on nursing homes. There was a drop-off that holiday weekend that should not have happened. Going forward everyone's getting a clear message from me and I'm responsible. 24/7 everything is going, every day we're going to keep increasing the numbers. So, this week, our goal is to get to about 100,000 doses. And then each week thereafter increase. By the end of the month, I want to see us in all parts of New York City combined at about 400,000 doses a week. Again, these big public sites up and running. We need the support from the federal and State government and the manufacturers. But we're on a trajectory to be able to do hundreds of thousands of people a week and just keep growing from there. Everyone needs to feel that urgency. I certainly do. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Katie from the Wall Street Journal.

Question: Hey, good morning and Happy New Year, everybody, and Mayor de Blasio.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Katie. How are you doing?

Question: Oh, you know, I'm okay, hanging in. My question – I know there's a lot going on. Obviously, we have the vaccination rollout, lots of questions about that, but I'm hearing from lots of people that they're also very concerned about the rising case numbers. It seems like just yesterday, we were kind of stressed out about three percent and now we're over nine percent. So, I guess my question is your thoughts on the rising cases. I know, you know, you send out like a daily tweet with affirmations about hanging in there but is there anything more the City can be doing to keep case numbers down because it's very concerning. I think a lot of people are getting very nervous as these continue to go up. They're going up in schools and all that.

Mayor: Yeah, look, I understand why people are nervous and these numbers are very troubling. Let me say a couple of quick things and obviously to the question, what the City can do, will do, is doing. Katie, first of all, one area where there's been a lot of agreement between the State and the City – and I certainly agree with the Governor's approach on the hospitals – has been that we have seen amazingly good results from our hospitals whether public, whether voluntary, independent all over the state. Hospitals learned so much between the spring and the fall. They are handling these cases really, really well. So, thank God, even as we've seen increased hospitalizations, hospitals are having better results, helping people. I don't want to lose a single New Yorker, but what we have seen is many, many fewer people dying, many more people surviving coming right back out of the hospital, and lots of capacity in the hospitals. This is the big difference here that has obviously changed our assumptions about cases because we're seeing them handled so much better. Second, we've seen that New Yorkers are still doing so much of the right thing.

There's still so many people wearing masks, social distancing, taking the precautions. Dr. Chokshi has been really clear about older New Yorkers and New Yorkers with preexisting conditions needing to really be as isolated as possible. And I know people are heeding that, so that's important. So, the most vulnerable are, we have a lot of evidence, really listening and making those adjustments. Now we have the opportunity with the vaccine to change the entire environment. Again, we need support, we need flexibility, but this is going to be a game changer. So, the City continues intensively to do the outreach work. And, again, I think Dr. Long and everyone at Test and Trace. They're out there educating people all the time, mask distribution, they're out there following up on cases. And every time they follow up on a case, it limits the spread of the disease. So many people are participating effectively in quarantine efforts and safe separation. The testing, we've had the highest testing numbers we've ever had in the last few weeks, over a hundred thousand a day, one day recently, a number we could not have imagined. That’s deepening all the time. And, of course, an ever intensifying vaccination effort. You add all that up. I feel very good about where we're going to be a few weeks from now, particularly if we can go quickly and stay ahead of this variant, which is why I want that a travel ban in place.

Last point, Katie, we're all hopeful. I talked to Dr. Fauci about this. Everyone I've talked to agrees that there's a hope that at the latter part of January, that the impact of the holidays really will dissipate. So, all those gatherings, Christmas and New Year’s, etcetera whatever impact they may have had that that will be trailing off by the end of January, just as vaccine distribution is intensifying. That's the hope for how we continue to turn the corner here. Go ahead, Katie.

Question: Just to follow up, while I understand Thanksgiving and Christmas and other holidays around December are popular. I don't have much hope that people will stop gathering indoors. You could count a million different things between now and the summer in terms of gathering right [inaudible] where people want to go. So, my question is, I mean, the numbers don't add up to me and the timing doesn't add up to me, looking at the slow rate of our vaccinations here in the city and what will probably be a brutal winter. I guess, what can the City do to double to stop these rising cases? Because it is a huge concern. You're seeing more cases in the schools. You're seeing it at [inaudible] can the City do more than just, you know, tweeting out, keep it up?

Mayor: Again, Katie, I'm going to turn to Dr. Varma. I want to get him in the mix here on one of these pieces, because I think it's really important to remember how all the previous efforts have added up with what's happening now. Clearly, when we're tweeting encouragement to people, that's something that's actually really important to thank people for all they're doing. New Yorkers have been heroic, and they deserve thanks and encouragement, but what is so crucial is all the tangible efforts to keep schools safe, which have succeeded, all the amazing efforts in the hospitals to protect people which are succeeding more than ever before, all of the work of the Test and Trace Corps, all of the work of this vaccination effort, these are all really tangible high-impact things, and they're going to grow each day. Dr. Varma, I want you to speak to this point – we know in addition to the power of vaccine, even the first dose helps to protect people, we also have gotten probably between two and three million New Yorkers who have been exposed to the disease previously in the course of these last ten months, and that is an important piece of this equation as well. If that big a piece of the population has been exposed and is therefore, from everything we've seen scientifically so far, less vulnerable to having a new infection or particularly a harsh new infection, that really does affect the equation. That protects people inherently. And what we're concerned about, of course, first and foremost is saving lives. So, Dr. Varma, you've been at this the whole way through, could you please talk about that combination of the impact of vaccine, but combined with the impact of the millions of people having already been exposed?

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Great. Yeah. Thank you very much for the question. I think that what – of course, none of us can predict what's going to happen over the future. And I just want to re-emphasize the most important points are the strong adherence to the measures that we know work well, the masks and the distance are absolutely critical, and then combining that with our testing and tracing. Those have been the reason why New York, while we've had a very severe and difficult resurgence, has not faced the same challenges that other places have. It’s clearly blunted our resurgence and kept things under better control. The Mayor's point is that – is a very important one to keep in mind as well too, because we now have another defense against this disease. We have the combination of a vaccine that specifically when it's targeted at people of highest risk, those who are 75 and older, those who are essential workers, is going to have an impact on reducing our disease.

Now you can combine that with what our estimates are of people who have been previously infected. Now this does get challenging because one of the big unknowns is how much immunity do people get from prior infection and how long does it last? What we think has happened is that probably somewhere on the order of about 25 percent of the population – and there's some, you know, range around that – had the COVID infection at some point since the epidemic started last year. Now we know that some percentage of that population is going to have protection against either a very severe infection or get infection at all. So, when you combine the people who have some measure of acquired immunity with the people who are vaccinated and all of our other measures, testing and tracing and masking, we are confident that we are going to get to a point in New York where we can start to progressively see decline. I think the real unknown and the thing I won't be able to put a finger on is, is that going to be at the end of this month, does that go into the end of February? It's going to depend on a lot of different factors, particularly maintaining adherence, speeding up vaccination, and continuing our testing and tracing.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Yoav from The City.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, you released – in September you released an outline of an economic recovery agenda and kind of promised more details in the weeks and months to come. I'm just wondering as it stands now what is the City's current economic recovery plan and how comprehensive is it?

Mayor: Yoav, we're going to talk a lot about the economic recovery in the month of January and the whole of 2021. The bottom line to me is I feel very, very positive about where the city's going to go in 2021 and beyond. We're already seeing some very promising signs, real investments coming into the city in our technology community, life sciences, a lot of what is going to indicate the future of New York City. I put forward a plan back in September with a focus on health to make New York City the public health capital of the world. I'm going to elaborate on that plan in the State of the City address. We've got a lot we're going to build up in 2021 that will set up our future economy. I think you also would agree the number one way to set up our future is to secure our present. And that means this intensive vaccination campaign to turn the corner on the coronavirus. But we're going to flesh out a detailed plan and not just a plan, a lot of very specific announcements that'll be happening this year about how we build our economy up, bring back jobs, and recover and move forward as a city. I'm very optimistic. Go ahead, Yoav.

Question: Well, just to follow up on that, I mean, we're ten months into the pandemic and the crisis, you know, for the industries like the service industry, the restaurants, the hotels, folks that rely on tourism, what is the current plan to help them other than hoping for assistance from the federal government?

Mayor: Well, a couple of things, Yoav. First of all, that assistance from the federal government is not just about hope, that's about fairness. That stimulus is something that's right for the whole nation. It's the way to have a recovery. That's why people came up with the phrase stimulus to stimulate the economy, to rebuild it, to bring it forward. That's what Franklin Delano Roosevelt did during the New Deal or else this country would have been devastated in a way it would not have recovered from for decades. So, we know intensive stimulus works, and we know we need one now, and we're quite clear Joe Biden is 100 percent committed to that. So that's not an ancillary thing that is central to bring it back to New York City and the entire country. Second, we see a whole host of industries that have continued to be strong even during this crisis and I believe will now get stronger in New York City, including the technology community and especially the life sciences community, which has been poised for a takeoff for several years. It is clearly going to benefit from all of the new research money that's going to be available, and New York City is going to be one of the places that does the most with that. But I think we can build even further upon that, become the public health capital of the world because of what's happened here. The fight that's been waged here, the lessons learned that are applicable to the whole world when it comes to fighting this pandemic. In terms of the hospitality industry, which is really hurting, and I feel for everyone who has been through so much this year, we've obviously proven that we could do something very different with the restaurant piece of the equation. About a hundred thousand jobs have been brought back through the Open Restaurants program. That's now going to be the permanent model. We're going to be working on ways to reinforce the rest of the hospitality industry, but it's not shocking to say that will take more time because that really requires the full securing of the health care situation locally and nationally, even internationally, so travel comes back, but there's so many other pieces of our economy that are strong and will be stronger. We're going to keep building all those pieces up and that's the plan I'll be laying out in the next few weeks.

Moderator: Last question today goes to Jeff Mays from the New York Times.

Question: Happy New Year, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Hey Jeff, Happy New Year to you.

Question: Thanks, appreciate it. So, I just had a couple of questions. I'm wondering, you know, you made some remarks last night about arrogance in terms of the Governor and his remarks about [inaudible] people. I'm wondering if you could expand on that, what you mean by a little bit, and, you know, I guess my bigger question is, you know, you and the Governor have had conflict in the past. This is a public health crisis. You know, people are dying or getting infected every day. Why isn't it possible for you two just to sit down and work the situation out, present a united front and a way of moving forward that will get the most people vaccinated as quickly as possible? When was the last –

Mayor: Jeff, I think that's exactly the right approach. I have spoken with the Governor many times in recent weeks and totally believe that the City and State can do great things together. And I've said it more times than I can count, Jeff, the vast majority of times in this crisis the City and State have agreed, the Governor and I have agreed, we both have been cautious and careful in terms of health care issues, focused on science and data. And I've commended him for that, I think has been the right approach. Look, last night, Jeff, I let my emotions get the better of me because I really wanted to emphasize that our health care heroes were doing their job and they were worthy of respect and trust. And I really wanted to defend the people that I believe in. And I – you know, all of the folks I've been serving with in this crisis, Dr. Katz, Dr. Varma, Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Long, all the people that they work with on their teams, I've watched these folks work every single day since March 1st, literally tirelessly, to protect people and save lives. And so, you know, I felt that they were not being heard and understood, and I wanted to rise to their defense because I feel that very personally and all the health care heroes. I feel like our health care heroes have done everything we possibly could have asked of them and more, and we need to trust them. And so that's why I got my emotion up. Obviously, I don't intend to do that and that's something I want to avoid, but I think the goal is absolutely what you say, and that has been the functional reality. And I believe that when the Governor and I talk about things, we find a lot of common ground and our teams talk like every hour literally throughout.

So, the bottom line is New York City and New York State have fared a lot better in this crisis, look at the summer and the fall, since we were the epicenter. This city, this state have come a long, long way. And that typically has been where there's been cooperation and listening to each other and figuring out what's needed. So, when I'm calling out for more flexibility and the freedom to vaccinate it’s because of what I'm hearing from the people on the ground who do the work, and I'm just trying to stand up for them because I really think they know what's best. Go ahead, Jeff.

Question: Thank you for that answer. A different question on a different topic. I'm just wondering if we could get an update on the number of students that are still waiting for devices so that they can connect to remote learning. I think the last update we had was they were about 60,000 students. Do you have a current number?

Mayor: I will get you one today. My team will get it to you, Jeff. Deliveries have continued to come in. Look, the reality from the beginning is any student who needed a device we got one to, to the maximum supply we had. We then went for resupply, but because remote learning has been the norm all over the country, the supply has been really hard to come by. So, as it comes in, we get it right out to families directly. And then we've had families that have had problems with service, and we've been working with them directly, particularly with kids in shelter, just fix the service or get them new service, get them a different provider. That's been moving constantly. So, we'll get you an update on what's happened the last few weeks, but literally we're going to just keep ordering these devices. And these are really high quality, top of line, brand new devices being given for free to kids who need them. We'll just keep ordering until the demand is 100 percent satisfied. And the last thing I'll say, Jeff, is, look, Lord knows we wish we never experienced this pandemic, but in the course of this pandemic, we probably took one of the most profound actions ever to close the digital divide in New York City. It's now upwards of 350,000 kids, a third of a million kids, got a free device to use in their home. That's actually been a big step forward and it's going to be important for the future because we're going to rely on digital to augment education going forward. So, keeping kids – keeping them connected, making sure to have those devices, this is going to be a long-term part of what we do in this city.

All right, everyone, I'll just finish where I started my trust in our health care heroes, my belief in our health care leadership, the folks who have seen us through time and time again. Put aside politics, put aside personalities, you know, politicians come and go, but our doctors made a decision, our nurses made a decision decades ago in so many cases to serve us, to protect us, to put their lives on the line. And that's been particularly true during this crisis. We've lost health care heroes. They were at the front line. They were there doing the most extraordinarily difficult things. They were there when people were dying and their families weren't allowed to be in the room with them, but the health care heroes were, and they tried to comfort, they tried to do everything they could. Let's honor them and let's hear their voices. If they need more support, if they need more flexibility, if they're calling for that freedom to vaccinate, let's listen to them, let’s follow the people who actually know how to do this better than any of the rest of us. They've proven it time and time again in this crisis, they are the ultimate heroes. Thank you, everyone.

2021-01-06 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. I thought January 1st was a great day because 2020 was gone and 2021 was here. This may be an even better day. Thank you to the people of Georgia. Thank you for what you have done for the whole country. Thank you for what you’ve done for New York City. This is amazing. Absolutely amazing. Whole new world of possibilities opens up now for this city and for this country now that there will be 50 democratic US Senators. So, a warm, warm, congratulations on behalf of all New Yorkers to pastor Raphael Warnock, and to Jon Ossoff, you both did an amazing job getting out there and moving the people at Georgia. This is historic by every measure. I want to express my personal congratulations to both of you for all you’ve done. A special thank you and a special praise to Pastor Warnock, because as many people know he is of course the pastor at the famous and so important in our history, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. But before that, he was the youth minister at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. So, he has served New York City and New York City has put an imprint on him and that is for the good of all. But in making such profound history, Pastor Warnock and Jon Ossoff have done something great for this country and they've also proven Georgia making a statement to the world, sending an African American and a Jewish Senator to the us Senate, saying it's time that everyone be represented and we all work together. Beautiful, powerful statement, but that's just the beginning.

Now a new reality for this city, for this nation, in the leadership of the Senate with Chuck Schumer now poised to lead the US Senate. Brooklyn’s own, New York City's own Chuck Schumer could not be better for this city and for this nation and Chuck Schumer working, of course, with Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the Senate and allow us to finally get the support we need to fully recover and move forward as a city, as a nation. Senator Schumer has been tenacious defending the interests in New York City. He feels New York City in his heart, in his soul but he's also been a great leader for this whole country. So, congratulations, Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, just reelected as speaker, I spoke to her yesterday and her commitment to a true stimulus is clear. Her commitment to the cities of America is clear. What an extraordinary thing that the people of Georgia have now created a situation where all of us can move forward, really get the kind of stimulus we need to recover. And I'm going to keep emphasizing when we say the word stimulus, not just a COVID relief or survival plan, which is what we've seen before, but stimulus, it means to stimulate the economy. It means to actually put us back on our feet and move us forward. That's what we need and that's what we're poised to get. I know President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris believe in it deeply. Of course, Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi have shown time and time again how much they believe in it. I'm looking forward to calling him Majority Leader Schumer soon, and that's going to be so good for all of us.

Well, everyone, we got some great news there. It's going to change everything. But in the meantime, we have so much work to do and what we're focused on every hour, every day, fighting the coronavirus, turning the tide, and that means making sure as many New Yorkers as possible are vaccinated as quickly as possible and we are sprinting to get this done. Now, look, what we have learned is the way out of this pandemic is to vaccinate and we need the freedom to vaccinate. This city needs the freedom to vaccinate the highest number of people possible and the most high priority people possible, and that's true in cities and towns and counties all over New York State. We need the freedom to vaccinate because with that freedom of flexibility, we can reach so many people. This is about reaching all the folks who want and need the vaccine and are ready and willing and able. And we've got to remember that in this discussion, the folks who will get the vaccine are the people willing to take the vaccine. We got to reach as many of them as possible. That's another reason we need the flexibility. You can't give the vaccine to someone who doesn't want it. You can only give it to someone willing and we've got to have the ability to reach the next willing person, the next one, the next one.

Now the good news is we've all been pushing for greater freedom of flexibility. We got some good news yesterday from the State and category 1-A, big category of high priority folks, was fully approved as of yesterday, giving us more freedom and flexibility. Now we can reach home health care workers, home health care aides, people who do such crucial work for families all over New York City. I know a lot of these home health care workers I've gotten to know them over the years, many of whom are represented by a local 1199 SEIU. I've known a number of folks who do this work for decades. I honor them and thank them for the work that they do. I remember when my mom was in her last days, the incredible people who helped her and made her comfortable and supported her. These folks do the Lord's work. They need to be vaccinated. Finally, as of yesterday, we've gotten the approval to vaccinate them and we're going to go intensely into that work, particularly through our Health + Hospitals locations. To all the home health workers, home health aides out there, please get vaccines right away. We are ready for you starting today. We want to make sure you get vaccinated. To all of the families who benefit from the love and support of these home health care workers, please let them know vaccination available through Health + Hospitals right now for free, fast, easy, safe, effective. So, having category 1-A open to us, that's a great step forward, but we want to go farther. We want to go farther. We want to make sure that we can reach everyone who needs this vaccine in a much deeper number of priority areas.

But again, let's dwell on what we got in this action yesterday from the State, it also, in addition to the home health aides, it also opens up our ability to provide vaccinations to some members of the NYPD and some members of our Department of Corrections team. That's very good news. We want to make sure that all of these frontline workers, folks who work directly with everyday New Yorkers, folks who do things like having to perform CPR or working in very close proximity, that they're going to get the opportunity to be vaccinated starting right now, starting today. This is a great step. I want to go even farther, but this is a great step. So, we now know about 25,000 NYPD personnel are now eligible. Vaccinations for those NYPD personnel will start today. That includes many of our patrol officers and officers who respond to 911 calls. Those vaccinations will be starting today via the NYPD, we expect that this moment roughly 10,000 officers to be vaccinated by Sunday, and we want to make that vaccine available to all within that 25,000 who are ready to take it. Again, I'm going to keep reminding everyone, a universe of 25,000 is not the same as 25,000 people who actually choose to get the vaccine. As we've been seeing to date the number of folks who are “hesitant” is between 30 and 40 percent in different categories. But what we want to do is get to everyone who's ready, willing, and able. We expect about 10,000 officers to be reached by Sunday. We're also going to intensely work to get our correction officers vaccinated, Correctional Health, run by H + H, is going to be doing that work again, starting today and throughout the week. This is further wind in our sails to get to our initial goal, which is to reach a 100,000 doses this week. And again, by the end of month, we want to be at the rate of 400,000 doses per week. And each time we get more freedom and flexibility, it helps us to speed things up and reach those goals more effectively and reach more people who are ready, willing, and able.

Okay, now let's talk about the next steps because it's so important, the ability to reach other people in need. So, my central concern right now is folks over 75. And you're going to hear from Dr. Chokshi in a moment, he's going to talk to you as a caring doctor, someone who sees patients, even though he's Health Commissioner, he still sees patients every day. He's going to talk to you about why reaching people over 75 matters from a medical point of view, but I'm going to talk to you from a human point of view, just directly as a layman. Look, folks over 75 are the most vulnerable in this crisis. Right now, we are not allowed to vaccinate them according to State rules. We need the freedom and flexibility so that we can start vaccinating folks over 75 right away, that freedom to vaccinate means reaching our seniors in need. Now, what we know is that this is an issue all over the country and the US Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams weighed in. They said that there's a challenge right around the country with different rules and with the fact that there's obviously a lot of people who are not yet willing to be vaccinated, that's why localities, cities, counties need the freedom to vaccinate as many people as possible within priority category. So, Dr. Adam says if the demand isn't there, states and governors should move quickly to other priority groups. It’s a very smart, common sense approach. Give us the freedom to go where the interest and the desire is over 75, let's get to them, let's get to all essential workers. I want to resize us again, all essential workers, whether you work in a grocery store, or whether you work in food service, or you're a police officer, or a firefighter, or an educator, we need to reach all those essential workers as quickly as possible. So we are looking for that freedom.

Now, in the meantime with the authorization we do have, we're moving aggressively. So, let's talk about our new 24/7 sites. These are going to be the mass vaccination sites, the mega sites that are going to allow us to do 24/7thousands of people in the day, two of them starting this weekend on Sunday, Brooklyn Army Terminal, Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Bathgate Industrial Park in the Bronx. Those two sites open Sunday, and they will continue to be open 24/7 from that point on, by reservation, we're going to talk about that. We need people to make appointments. We do not want long lines. We do want people pre-certified. These are the first two sites. Sites will be opening all five boroughs. In the coming days, we'll have announcements on that very soon, but I want to emphasize to everyone, all five boroughs will have these mega sites, 24/7 sites, and the more authorization and flexibility we get, the more different kinds of people can come into those sites whenever convenient to them, but we want it to be by reservation to make sure it's done right. Now for this weekend, also, as you're going to hear more from Dr. Chokshi, Health Department putting up its vaccination hubs. Now these are not 24/7, but they're during the busiest hours of the day, there'll be opening Sunday as well, Brooklyn at the Bushwick Educational Campus, Queens at Hillcrest High School, Bronx, the South Bronx Educational campus. These sites, again, you sign up for a time. You go to the DOH website, the Department of Health website to sign up that allows us to screen people, get people at the right time, make sure it goes fast and smoothly.

Everyone, look, we know our seniors need the ability – and again, I want to start pre-registering seniors as we go forward. We're going to have the announcement on that shortly. We're going to have the ability for seniors to register in advance online or by phone. A lot of seniors prefer phone. We'll have announcements on that shortly, but the key concern here is what we're seeing among folks over 75 and we have got to reach this population urgently, urgently. The story yesterday from the head of our Health + Hospital system, Dr. Mitch Katz, that his dad, 98-years-old and a World War II veteran can't be vaccinated because that priority has not been authorized by the State of New York. I understand there's a lot of challenges here. I understand there's a lot of good people that need to be vaccinated, but it seems to me a 98-year-old World War II vet deserves to be vaccinated right now today. Let's get that freedom. Let's get that freedom to vaccinate. Here to tell you about everything that the Health Department's doing, and a particular focus on our New Yorkers over 75 and the urgent need to serve them, our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi.

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Well, in any outbreak, whether we're testing, tracing, treating, or vaccinating, the public health response requires us to follow where the virus moves so we can then respond to where the disease is present. Now, the data that we watch so closely is showing us alarming trends with cases and hospitalizations in adults over the age of 75. Over the past 30 days, six percent of all cases are among those 75 and up, but 30 percent of hospitalizations, and most tragically 58 percent of deaths are in person 75 and older. Percent positivity is increasing citywide, but particularly among that same group of individuals to almost 12 percent in the most recent week for people older than 75. Data from the Test and Trace Corps show that more than half of cases aged 75 and up are likely from community transmission and about 38 percent are from a close contact to a known case, usually household transmission. That means we all have a role to play in protecting our seniors. Just setting the numbers aside for a moment, each of us knows and has worried about an aging parent or a grandparent during this pandemic. We must do everything that we can for them, yes, in our families, but also as a city. That's why I believe that New Yorkers age 75 and older should be eligible for the vaccine as soon as possible. Several states have already prioritized older adults. To meet this, as a city, we are increasing our points of access for vaccinations, pulling out all the stops to expand our capacity, as you heard the Mayor say. This week alone, we've already added 25 points of access, spanning community clinics, Urgent Care sites, Health + Hospitals sites, and Health Department pop-up clinics as well. These are all for currently eligible populations to vaccinated. You can find all of these locations at nyc.gov/covidvaccine. And, as the Mayor also said, we'll launch additional sites, including our first three City vaccine hubs on Sunday. These will be sites set up at schools that can offer vaccinations by appointment to eligible New Yorkers with a capacity to serve at least 30,000 additional New Yorkers next week. And, starting January 16th, we'll ramp up to a total of 15 City vaccine hubs able to serve over 100,000 New Yorkers weekly.

These are the kinds of resources we're getting ready to serve New Yorkers. We also need the federal government to do its part, such as enabling pharmacy chains, such as CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid to deliver vaccinations in the community as well. And beyond capacity, we're prepared to reach our seniors in order to answer their questions and alert them to resources, that includes through direct mail, robocalls, and engagement through senior centers in partnership with the Department for the Aging and other City agencies. We will also ensure they are able to access vaccination, including people who may be disabled or find it hard to walk. The vaccine is not the only measure we can take to protect each other, especially seniors. That's why last month I issued a Commissioner's Advisory to at-risk New Yorkers, which applied to older adults and to people with underlying health conditions who are at increased risk. I want to make it clear that it also applies to caregivers and household members of these individuals to take all of the precautions that you can to protect them. This message is as urgent as it has ever been – avoid activities outside of the home, except for essential purposes, including medical care and other necessities. I'm asking New Yorkers to remain vigilant. Don't let the numbers make you numb, continue getting tested and practicing the core four – staying home if you feel sick or were exposed to COVID-19, washing your hands frequently, wearing a face covering, and keeping your distance. All of these measures will help us curb the spread of the virus, even as we do more each day to turn vaccines into vaccinations. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Chokshi. And thank you for really, really crucial work you're doing and your team at DOH is doing. And I just want everyone to hear the simple message, we need to reach New Yorkers over 75. We need to reach them now. So, look, to make sure people have information, the DOH website is going to be one of the go-to places. Folks looking for information, folks looking to confirm that you are eligible under our current rules or the rules that we hope will be approved very soon by the State, go to nyc.gov/covidvaccine – nyc.gov/covidvaccine. Again, we want to make sure people are constantly updated and we're going to start, pre-registration looking forward to those new categories being approved. We'll be doing that soon. We'll have an update on that as soon as that's ready. Also want to say, anyone who wants text alerts about a vaccine availability, you can text COVID-692-692 for updates and information – COVID-692-692.

Okay. Before we go to our indicators, another very good thing to talk about. And it's a joyous day for so many New Yorkers who celebrate Three Kings Day. Happy Three Kings day to all. This is a beautiful holiday, a holiday that's all about hope and faith and following the guiding star to someplace better. What could be a more powerful message as we fight back the coronavirus. Now, typically, we get to put together, as you see on your screen, beautiful celebrations. I've joined folks in East Harlem many times for extraordinary celebrations done by the East Harlem Community by El Museo Del Barrio and many others. It’s a really a powerful, beautiful holiday. We don't get to do the in-person parades and processions this year. We have to do things virtually, but the idea of the holiday is just as strong. And following the wise men, the wise voices that gave people hope in the past and remembering them and remembering the voices of wisdom today. And I would link it to the wisdom of the people of Georgia also, but it's a beautiful holiday. We're celebrating virtually this year. We'll be back together in person celebrating next year, I'm confident of that. Feliz dia de los Reyes Magos. Feliz dia de los Reyes Magos a todos.

Now, we will go to our indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 279 patients. That's a big jump, as you can see. Typically, obviously, we want to be under 200 patients. We've generally been right around that number in recent days, still too high, but this 279 is quite a jump. We are watching that very carefully. That said, hospitals are still doing an extraordinary job, lots of capacity available, great job handling patients. But, as you heard from Dr Chokshi, too many of those patients are folks over 75 who really are facing a profound danger. We've got to help them. We've got to get them vaccinated. Hospitalization rate per 100,000, 4.21 percent – obviously, too high, got to drive that down. And the same with current new cases, daily new cases, seven-day average 3,845 – way too high. And the same with our current testing indicator, percentage of New York City residents tested positive, seven-day rolling average, 9.25 percent. We see what's happening. Obviously, the trend’s all around us. We’ve got to beat them back. We beat them back through vaccinating. We beat them back through following those really smart health habits that have done so much for us and really doubling down, because this is our last great battle against the coronavirus. We need one more push here and New Yorkers can do it. And, certainly, we are hopeful that as the impact of the holidays wears off over the next few weeks and there aren't the same kind of gatherings that we're going to see some improvement in those numbers naturally. But we have to do all of the above the turn of the tide.

A few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. And please let me know the name and outlet of each journalists.

Moderator: We’ll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi, by Dr. Long, by Dr. Katz, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. First question today goes to Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Question: Oh, hey. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How's it going?

Mayor: It's a very good day, Juliet. I am feeling bubbly today because of the results of Georgia.How are you today?

Question: Yes. Yes. I'm okay. Thank you very much. My first question involves, how do people sign up for the vaccine? You know, this is very nuts and bolts. You, in fact, had mentioned seniors like to do things on the phone and not online, and although there's websites, what do people need to do to find out what their category is when they're eligible and where they go for a form or online registration? How does this work?

Mayor: Okay. I’m going to start with Dr. Chokshi. I'm going to bring in Dr. Katz too, because I want to make sure we are over-communicating to the people of New York City both about the vaccinations that are available right now, for example, at our Health + Hospitals sites. And we talked about those home care workers, we want to get them vaccinated starting today. So, I'll have Dr. Katz talk about how people can access vaccinations through H + H. And Dr. Chokshi will talk about the information that's available via the Department of Health. And, again, with the Department of Health hubs opening up on Sunday, how that system is going to work. But the bigger plan, again, these 24-seven sites, many more sites all the time. By the end of this week, we're going to be around 160 sites all over the city, 250 by end of the month. What we really need to do is have a very active reservation system, phone and online, usable for everyone, including seniors who prefer phone, multiple languages. That's what we'll be announcing in the next few days, exactly how that will work. Looking forward to Sunday when people can start going to these larger sites. But, remember, only some people can go to those sites because of the current rules. I want to see if we can get that authorization right away, that flexibility right away to get to folks over 75. If we can get that authorization, we can start to vaccinate them immediately, and that's crucial. So, Dr. Chokshi first on where people can get information and how they can sign up if eligible now, and then Dr. Katz will talk in particular about the home health aides. Go ahead, Dr. Chokshi.

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And they're really, you know, two fundamental questions. Number one is, am I eligible for a vaccination right now? And then, the second is, if I am eligible, where can I actually go and get vaccinated? For the first question, and as the Mayor has said, you know, we do have information on our website, it's nyc.gov/covidvaccine. But in the coming days, we'll also have additional information so that people can know if they are not yet eligible when they should expect to be able to get vaccinated as well. And then for the second question, if you are currently eligible to get vaccinated, we have all of the locations that I've described from the currently existing sites, which span hospitals and community health clinics and Urgent Care sites to the city sites that we're standing up, whether Health + Hospitals or the Health Department, and then, coming soon, those mass vaccination sites – all of those will also be taken together and put on the web. And I want to recognize whether it's an older New Yorker or someone who may not have as ready internet access, we have to push this information out through many other channels. You heard the Mayor talk about text messaging. We're going to use phone calls as well as robocalls as part of that. But equally importantly, we are spending day and night getting the information out to the places that people already trust, whether it's your own primary care doctor, whether it's the local clinic that you're used to going to, whether it's your church or another community organization. And so, we're going to make sure that as we get updates on a daily basis, all of that information is shared so that people can turn to multiple different sources to get their questions answered.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Dr. Katz?

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, Health + Hospitals: We're very happy to work collaboratively with our sister department in making these vaccines available. Right now, Mr. Mayor, you were talking about home care workers, which are so important. We want them to be safe. We want them to not get sick and to not be able to transmit virus to the people they care for. Right now, using the same website as the Commissioner has spoken of, nyc.gov/COVID, people cannot – who are in that group of home care workers can actually not only find out information, but they can schedule themselves for an appointment to come in to be vaccinated at one of our hospitals or outpatient sites. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. And I want to note, just as we're talking about the home care workers, who we depend on so much, and families all over the city just love and appreciate deeply – also want to speak up for our childcare workers, our childcare providers, they're also in that category waiting for approval. I know there's so many parents who would love nothing more than to see childcare workers given the approval to be vaccinated. Same, obviously, with our educators and school staff. There are so many people were right to vaccinate who are folks who are just crucial to our lives that are part of our extended family. I want to start reaching all of them. Go ahead, Julia.
Question: Okay. So just to follow up, I'm assuming that all of these locations – whatever they are, pop ups or the hub, you will still need to make an appointment and register to get there. Are you concerned, you know, people are just going to start showing up to get on line once they're eligible?

Mayor: Yeah, I am obviously. We need to get this reservation system out clearly to people. We need to show them it works. And look, we understand a lot of times in life, Juliet, the best way to convince people is to show it to them in action. It's going to be a lot easier when we have the next categories approved, because then we're going to be able to get a much broader population engaged. But really, when you think about it, the reservation system guarantees everyone the best possible experience. It means you're pre-certified so you go right through, you know the time you're supposed to be there, you're not waiting in line, you're not exposed to a lot of other people – that's in everyone's interest. And we're going to keep getting that message out and show people in action that it’s the way that works. We have a lot of sites, that's the good news. So, there's going to be a lot of good options for people. We can spread people out around a lot of sites. But the fact – the practice of going and getting that appointment is crucial to keeping everyone safe. Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Michael Garland from the Daily News.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Hey, Michael. Happy New Year.

Question: Happy New Year. So, I have a question on the 30 percent refusal rate among health care workers on the vaccine. Where – do you have a sense of why that is? Where is the skepticism coming from those people? And, you know, as far as the general public's concerned, if there's that kind of it seems like lack of trust, you know, why would the general public kind of – how do you expect the general public to react to that? Right? That you have 30 percent of health care workers at this point refusing the vaccine.

Mayor: Michael, very important question. Very fair question. First of all, be careful with the word refuse – I think there's a group of people all through our society who are ideologically anti-vaccine, that's not what we're primarily talking about here. We're talking about hesitancy, which means folks who want to wait a while for whatever combination of reasons. I'll turn to Dr. Katz, because he has been hearing directly from the many, many health care workers who work for him. Now, point-one, the vast majority are getting vaccinated. So, let's both put the facts in order – vast majority of health care workers are choosing to get vaccinated right away. If you're talking about public opinion, well, I'd say look at what the vast majority are doing. Second, I think some are just waiting. I think they feel confident in their own health and safety practices. They've been through this whole crisis, keeping themselves safe with the support of the PPE supplies and their hospital leadership. And I think it's natural that some people might say, hey, I think I'm okay the way I am. But, really, I think as with everything in life, the more vaccinations that occur, the more trust there will be. And that's why we just have to keep this process moving. Dr. Katz?

President Katz: Mr. Mayor, you've explained it well. I'd like to add a couple of details. Among our physician staff, we've had overwhelming desire to take the vaccine. So, among the physicians who are people who have looked closely at the science, we have very high take-up rates. I think the – when it comes to other staff, I think people have to understand that these are people who worked in the trenches for the last 10 months, taking care of one COVID patient after another. And it's not shocking that many of them feel like, hey, I got through this. Many of them actually got sick and know their antibody titers. Many of them feel like, well, if I didn't get sick after doing all of this, I'm not going to get sick. And to tie it to your earlier remarks, sir, who's really at the greatest risk? The people at the greatest risk are over 75 years old and have other – are younger and have other comorbid illnesses. It's tough work working in the hospitals. My staff generally are quite healthy and younger. I wish they would all get vaccinated. But I understand that they feel from this amazing experience they've had, they don't feel the same vulnerability. On the other hand, my patients with diabetes, with hypertension, with heart disease who are over 75, they really feel that vulnerability, and the data supports that, and that's why I so support what you're saying about getting them vaccinated.

Mayor: Thank you, doctor. Go ahead, Michael.

Question: So, the second question has to do with the Georgia elections. You know, we all know, you know, how much you you've talked about this stimulus and the need for that. I'm wondering, you know, if it appears to go the way it's going with two seats coming to the Democrats, what would you like to see us – as separate and apart from the stimulus – like to see happen as far as the agenda, moving forward. You know, are you for DC statehood? I mean, what's on your kind of wish list. I just use that as an example, but, you know, what would be like the top five things you'd like to see done apart from the stimulus?

Mayor: Yeah. I don’t know if have a perfect top five for you, Michael, but let me – let me put it in some kind of an immediate order, just a couple of things. Absolutely stimulus – serious stimulus. You know, take the New Deal model – and I know Joe Biden believes in this – a fast stimulus, February, ideally, that is about restoring our economy and helping us all recover. That's number one. Second, I would say, related, FEMA reimbursement should go to 100 percent for all the places in this country that were afflicted. It makes no sense in an international pandemic to make localities pay for the kinds of expenses that are supposed to be covered by FEMA. When localities have lost revenue, massive amounts of revenue because of this crisis. It’s just a ridiculous vicious circle. So, make that 100 percent FEMA reimbursement and apply it retroactively to the beginning of the crisis. Make cities and counties and states whole for what they've been through. So, those are particularly urgent matters. I'll certainly be talking about in the coming days a lot of other important actions that I think are needed, some that could be done administratively by the White House, some that will require to Congress.

Mayor: To say the least, comprehensive immigration reform and undoing so much of the damage that was done by President Trump. Focusing on climate change, so much has to be changed there, especially on the administration side. And I know President Biden will be entirely focused on that. There’s so many things we could talk about. I’m glad you mention DC statehood. I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do and it’s been long overdue. So there’s so much that can happen but everything begins with a real stimulus and that 100 percent FEMA reimbursement. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Rich Lamb from WCBS 880. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor and everybody on the call. Mr. Mayor just wondering, we've seen news out of South Africa that there is another COVID strain, which apparently has more mutations and people are really worried about whether or not the vaccines will have any effect on this – or they're worried about it anyway. They don't know that it won't. But it certainly seems that there's a lot of concerns. I wonder if the doctors can weigh in on that as well? 

Mayor: Thank you for the question, Rich. I’m going to turn to Dr. Varma. And then if any other doctors want to weigh in. But let me just say, look, while we are constantly monitoring any new strains and trying to understand the full ramification, one thing is still clear as a bell. Vaccinate the most people possible, particularly those who are most vulnerable and that's the folks over 75. So far, the vaccine appears to be effective with different variants. Rather than any of us sort of wait and worry about new variants, why don't we take the bull by the horns and go vaccinate everyone over 75 who is willing and protect them in advance? Dr. Varma? 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Great. Thank you for the question. And I'll start by just reemphasizing what the Mayor just said. He's absolutely right. What we need to focus on most importantly is what we know right now. And what we know right now is that the vaccine is highly effective at preventing COVID infections here in the United States. It's very well studied now in tens of thousands of patients and obviously millions of doses that have now been provided throughout the country. So that's obviously the single most important priority, people who are eligible for the vaccine should be encouraged to get it as soon as they possibly can. You are absolutely right though, that we are very concerned. The more infections that occur in humans, the more likely it is the virus will mutate. You know, dogs bark, ducks quack, viruses mutate. That's what viruses do. And the single best way to prevent them from mutating is to stop their infections in humans. So, everything that we've been emphasizing about hand-washing, mask wearing, maintaining distance remains absolutely important. Now, this scenario that you're concerned about is what is certainly what a lot of scientists including myself are worried about for the long-term future. It is possible that this could end up as a virus very similar to influenza. But what did we do for influenza? We monitor these mutations and we update the vaccine regularly based on that. That is not a situation that we're in right now, but it is one that we are prepared to handle, I think as a scientific and public health community, if that becomes a possibility in the future. 

Mayor: Any of the other doctors want to add? Okay, go ahead. Rich. 

Question: Okay. So, I'm wondering, you know, Britain is really in lockdown now. And I'm wondering whether, is there any point at which you would foresee New York City going back into lockdown? I mean it's clear that the numbers are going up. Is there a trigger, is there a number, or is there a situation that would cause that? 

Mayor: Rich we're going to watch very carefully every day. Right now, I'd say I think the formulation that the State has put together and you'll remember I joined with Governor Cuomo when he put forward his vision around the focus on hospitalizations and what's going on in our hospital systems. I think that is still the essence of how we need to make our decisions. I every day go over to the hospitalization numbers with our team, ICU capacity, what we're seeing in the efficacy of our hospitals in terms of saving lives. So far, we've seen extraordinary success in all of our hospitals, public, voluntary, independent. Real worries about folks over 75 in particular, we're emphasizing that. And we're watching that situation very, very carefully. But overall, I would say our New York City hospitals across the board are doing very well. And if we can keep that momentum and keep doing the things we need to fight back this virus. And that means everyone taking the personal responsibility. New Yorkers have really done very well better than almost any place else in the country. The mask wearing alone is far superior to most places in the country. But also continue to rapidly vaccinate and expand these categories. I think we can get through January and I think February could be much better. But that is a day-to-day reality that we are monitoring. I want to be really clear, we are watching very carefully Rich. And so, I do not see additional restrictions today. But it's something we're going to be assessing every day. And obviously the State makes those ultimate decisions, something we're comparing notes with the State on frequently. 

Moderator: The next is James Ford from PIX 11. 

Question: Good morning Mr. Mayor and everyone on the call. And happy Three Kings Day. 

Mayor: Happy Three Kings Day to you, James. How you doing? 

Question: Great. Thank you very, very much. I appreciate you asking. Look, you have said that you're very hopeful that the City will reach, or maybe even surpass its vaccination goals going forward. But you've also said within the last week that it hadn't reached those goals up to this week. What assurances can you give that the City can reach those goals? And can you elaborate on the importance of entities like 1199SEIU in getting people registered and getting shots in arms for people like their members and other unions? 

Mayor: Yeah. Look, James, thank you. Very important question. I laid out at the beginning of the week, this core notion. That this week, our goal is 100,000 vaccinations. By the last week of January 400,000 vaccinations in a week, a million total for a month. I feel confident about those numbers. I think that every time we get more freedom and flexibility, we can do even better to ensure those numbers. So, the fact that the full category 1-A was approved yesterday by the State, that's allowed us today to start vaccinations at the NYPD. And in the course of this week, those officers who are eligible in the NYPD and Department of Correction we’ll be able to do a lot more this week with them than we would have if we didn't have that freedom. The fact that our home health care aides now are authorized, it makes so much sense. They are right there. No one more sensitive, no one more important to our families. That's going to allow us to do more. We're working closely with Local 1199SEIU. An organization I have the deepest connection to over decades. We want to make sure their members are reached. Everyone is ready for the vaccine. And that's why we've been close coordination with them about the availability of vaccines at H + H sites starting today. So, I think Local 1199 is going to play a crucial role in helping us really get a lot of people reached starting this week. And every time we get more freedom and flexibility, we get more organizations, allies to help us get the word out and to really help people get there. Remember some people need answers to their questions, James. They need, you know, understandably they want more information about the vaccine. Some people it's really logistical. Just understanding how to apply, understanding what's the right location for them. The more organizations, including labor unions that are helping us to do that, the better off we are.

Moderator: The next is Henry from Bloomberg. 

Question: Hello Mr. Mayor, how are you doing today? 

Mayor: I'm doing very well Henry. How you feeling? 

Question: Doing good. I'm kind of a little a pandemic’ed out if you will. 

Mayor: I don’t think you're alone, Henry. I think we're all in that status, but we're going to move forward. 

Question: Okay. Very good. I'm going to ask you a little bit about this operation of building out these sites all over the city and at the same time restricting access to the vaccine. Even in your call for people over 75, that's still pretty restrictive when you've got a population of a whole bunch of people with kidney, chronic kidney conditions, and diabetes and asthma and everything else, a lot of at risk conditions that people could use that vaccine for. And I'm just wondering whether with all these facilities that you've got and all these restrictions on who can get the vaccine, whether we're facing a situation that's very similar to the hospital boat at the Hudson River? That you'll have a big cavern of facility and very few people using it. And at this point, I guess that's one part of my question. The other part is why are we hearing about these plans now? When the vaccine was something that the President was trumpeting up, if you will, for the last 10 months? We've known that a vaccine was coming by the end of the year or close to it. Why now are these plans being sprung upon us and being developed at the last minute? 

Mayor: Henry, these are exactly the kinds of plans that people need. They have to be done right. And the most important thing with the vaccine, in fact, we did not know until just days before it arrived, when it would definitively arrive. And what we did know was it was an entirely different vaccine than our health care community had dealt with before. That there had to be an emphasis on ensuring safety and ensuring that the vaccine could be implemented properly. We know if the first few weeks when the vaccine was focused on health care facilities and on nursing homes, if that rollout had not been done effectively, it would have made all the other work ahead much more difficult. So, there was a cautious approach in the first weeks to getting it right and really making sure the procedures worked, making sure people reacted well to it. And that was another great unknown, until you were giving it to large numbers of people. While in fact, we found that the vast majority of people had little or no reaction to it in a good way. That it was safe and effective. All of that had to be established. Now that having been done, we're now in the category of 100,000 people this week. And hundreds of thousands more in the weeks ahead. Very comfortable that we had to go through those stages to get it right. What we do have a problem with, I agree with you, is that the categories are still way too constrained. Look again, if we could get approval, which I would like as early as today for a phase 1-B, what does that achieve? Well, that puts another million or so people into play. That's all adults over 75, that's all essential workers. That's all educators and childcare providers. That's all first responders. That's a huge universe. You're not talking about cavernous facilities waiting for people. If you can put that additional million people into play, you’ve got a lot of folks who will want and need the vaccine right away. But I further agree with you, we should expand the categories to any folks with pre-existing conditions as quickly as possible. Because I think the difference now, Henry from even a few weeks ago is the recognition. We have a hesitancy issue, which we knew we would have to some extent, but we're seeing it in real life. So, categories, if a category is a million people, but only 600,000 are going to be willing, then it's really 600,000. And then you still have to deal with logistics and everything else and making sure people end up at the right place at the right time. You want ever expanding categories, but I'm right there with you. I think reaching folks with preexisting conditions is a very high priority. We should move to that quickly as well. Go ahead, Henry. 

Question: Okay. I guess related to that question is the issue of how are these people going to show up? I just, I think you've got all of these sites there. And there's not a – there doesn't seem to be much of a mechanism for getting people to these sites. And getting their reservations set up. There's, I just, I don't understand why you think that there will be a flood of people? You know, a 24/7 demand for these vaccines when there's been so little preparation of the population for getting to these sites? 

Mayor: Again, Henry we can't tell people something exists if it doesn't exist. So, we had to get – we'd been fighting obviously to just get phase 1-A fully authorized. That was only achieved yesterday. But the real action is in phase 1-B., the folks over 75 and all the essential workers. We are hoping for that approval, you know, in a matter of days. We're educating people right now to get ready. We're starting a reservation system right now so people can preregister. We're putting these sites up. I think there's going to be demand now. I think there will be a hell of lot of demand when we get to 1-B. But again, want to turn to Mitch Katz now, because I don't want you missing the fact that now that we've got flexibility example with home care workers, you're going to see potentially tens of thousands of folks in the next days, being able to go in and get vaccinated. And the system that's working through. So, Dr. Katz, could you reemphasize to Henry exactly how one of those now authorized home care workers goes about making their reservations? 

President Katz: Absolutely, sir. So, Henry on our sister agency’s website and nyc.gov/COVIDvaccine, there are the instructions on how to schedule yourself for an actual appointment. And as one of your colleagues talked about, we want to make sure that we don't have waiting rooms full of people or crowds or lines, which could further transmit COVID. And so it will all be done as an appointment system. But the great thing is people on that single site will be able to choose a wide variety of places. It can be near their home. It can be near their work. They'll be able to choose an exact time. They will come in and they’ll get vaccinated. All will be done safely with protective equipment. And we can handle these thousands and thousands of people. We look forward to it. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: The next is Gloria from NY1. 

Question: Hi, good morning, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor: Hey Gloria. Happy New Year. 

Question: Thank you. Happy New Year to you as well. I wanted to ask you specifically about this authority that you are asking, especially with the numbers that Dr. Chokshi cited for folks 75 and up and the hospitalization rate. What is your understanding as of today about why the State isn't giving you this authority? Ad where are we in terms of supply? If the State were to say, okay, you can go ahead and start vaccinating people, 75 and up, do we actually have enough vaccine to do that at this point? 

Mayor: We have enough to start, but you raise a very important point, Gloria. We need and this is one of the things that I talked about yesterday with the letter to the federal government, to Vice President Pence and to the head of the CDC, and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you're talking about this week, next week, we have a supply. If you're talking about later in January, we still don't have guarantees about what kind of supply we're going to have. And this is why when I said the million goal, I said from the beginning, we need federal, State and manufacturer cooperation to get it done. We need the federal government to really clarify that New York City will get enough doses to keep to that goal. It should be in everyone's interest to make that happen. And obviously we're in a position to move quickly and some places don't have as much infrastructure. So, we need those guarantees. But if you're talking about our ability to reach people over 75? If we were given the authorization today, can we reach hundreds of thousands of people in the next days with what we have? Yes, yes, we can. After the next week or two, we start to have a real challenge in terms of supply. Go ahead.

Question: Okay. Thank you. And I wanted to ask a question about, I know the category for health care workers has been expanded but has there been any discussion that there might be some health care workers within that category – you know we've heard from say a physical therapist and people who maybe are not immediately on that front line, who are now having access to the shot, and here you are talking about people who are older, home health aides. So, has there been a consideration to actually break out these categories even further to people who are really, really exposed?

Mayor: I'm a believer, Gloria, in broadening the categories, just like Henry's very good question about folks who are not over 75 but do have preexisting conditions. I want the broadest categories possible amongst priority people. I want the freedom to vaccinate. It's just – look, to me, if we have that freedom – again, I want to be real-world about this, take away 30 percent or 40 percent of people in each category who are not yet ready. And I want to use those words, not yet ready. I think a lot of them will be ready over time, but they're not yet ready. So, we got to be clear about the fact that there's going to be a lot of folks who will wait, a lot of folks who, even though we're saying it's here, it's ready, come get it, just logistically or otherwise, might not rush immediately to it. That's why having lots of options helps us continue to reach those who are ready, willing, and able right now. So, I'm very concerned about folks with pre-existing conditions, obviously concerned about anyone else in the broader health care field who's working closely, as you mentioned, a physical therapist great example, anyone who's working closely with patients and folks in need. So, what I want to see is constant expansion of these categories. As we expand the categories, we're going to see how people respond, and that's going to tell us how much farther we can go. And, obviously, again, we need to see that federal guarantee of our supply. We need to see the manufacturers deliver. But I would like to see a much more aggressive approach to flexibility and freedom to vaccinate. Go ahead.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Matt Chayes from Newsday.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing?

Mayor: I'm doing good, Matt, how are you?

Question: All right, thank you for asking. For Dr. Varma, to what extent is the virus transmitted via outdoor dining? And is there any evidence that banning outdoor dining, as has happened in California, could or has backfired by encouraging indoor gatherings in places like homes?

Mayor: Go ahead, Dr. Varma.

Senior Advisor Varma: Okay. Yeah, thanks for the question. Yeah, outdoor dining is an interesting challenge, I think. What we know about this virus is that the likelihood of transmission in the outdoor setting is very low. And that's because the virus can easily get diluted into the air and not transmit infection to other people. And that's why we here in New York have felt comfortable keeping outdoor dining open. I think the issue in California, it gets to this larger issue of, how do you prevent humans from interacting with other humans to reduce transmission of the virus. And I think the situation in California, similar to other places around the world, has gotten so severe that they felt incumbent to basically do anything they possibly could to reduce human interaction. Of course, you rightly point out that one of the balances that we have to take anytime restrictions are placed is allowing people to do things so that they can feel normal and human and have the regular activities we all do. And that's why I think like we've – one thing we've learned during this epidemic is that keeping outdoor spaces open like parks, allowing outdoor recreation is important because it is much safer and that's not something that we absolutely knew at the beginning of this epidemic.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead.

Moderator: Last question for today, it goes to Duncan Osborne from The Gay City News.

Question: Happy New Year, Mayor.

Mayor: Hey Duncan, how are you doing? Happy New Year.

Question: I'm fine. Thank you. I apologize for what may be seen as a gruesome question – but have you seen declines in 2020 particularly since we all started to lock down back in March in sexually transmitted infections in particular among men who have sex with men that might indicate you could at least come close to having to achieve a 50 percent reduction, you know, in so far as STIs are associated also with new HIV infections. Have you seen a decline in STIs that might predict a greater than, or near a 50 percent decline in HIV infections in 2020, which is what you're going to have to achieve to get your goal of 600?

Mayor: No, I appreciate the question and the bluntness of the question. And we believe in the goal. Again, 2020 extremely complex year, and one we're still assessing. I'll start with Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Varma who between them and their different times in the Health Department have been furthering this initiative. Also, if Dr. Katz or Dr. Long want to add anything on this, you're welcome. Dr. Choksi. 
Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you. This is another very important topic, and I just want to thank you for shining a light on all of the other ways in which health has been impacted as a result of the COVID pandemic. It's what we consider the reverberating effects or the parallel pandemics, you know, that are associated with COVID-19 and how it has changed the way that we interface with health care. But also, how other diseases have been affected during this time. To answer your specific question about sexually transmitted infections, we can get you the preliminary data, again, that we have for those numbers. There have been some declines, but the picture is more complicated because of the fact that in many cases care was interrupted during March and April. And so, people weren't getting tested as often for those sexually transmitted infections. The one other point that I will make is that this has been a focus for the Health Department and our public guidance with respect to encouraging safe sex practices during the COVID-19 era as well. We have information about that on our website, and we'll be happy to follow up with you on that point as well.

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Varma.

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, just one other additional point on top of what Dr. Chokshi has said that I think once we're through this horrible time, once we're through this pandemic, one important outcome of this has been that as you can see from the Health Department website there is rapid COVID testing available at all of the sexual health clinics. One of the side benefits of that is that the instrument that is used for that rapid COVID testing, is the exact same instrument that was used at the Chelsea clinic to set up the quickie labs. So, we have the opportunity to really, you know, replicate that quickie lab experience throughout the city now. And that's a side benefit of investing in COVID is that it can ultimately used for other things and expand the ability for people to get really fast, quick and easy STI diagnosis onsite.

Mayor: I want to turn to – thank you. I want to turn to Dr. Katz, who was on the frontline at the beginning of the epidemic in San Francisco and I think it would be good to have a moment of reflection from you of just how far we've come and what we need to do to finish this mission, Dr. Katz.

President Katz: Thank you, Sir. I mean, I, of course, in my mind go back to the 1980s when I was a doctor in San Francisco taking care of people with HIV/AIDS and also an openly gay man where most of my friends and colleagues were infected and where funerals were a weekly occurrence. To be honest, I never thought I would live to see another epidemic. I thought I had lived through my epidemic already. COVID has brought us another epidemic, but it is incredibly gratifying to see the amazing work that's happened in New York City, along with San Francisco being the epicenters of the HIV epidemic. And it brings tears to my eyes to think of the people who don't have to go through the horrible pain that I saw among my friends and patients in the 1980s. It's amazing work and New York City should be so proud.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Well, everyone, as we conclude today just want to say on that, what's a powerful note to end on, but also a hopeful note that we have stared down adversity before and overcome, and we're in the process of doing that right now in New York City. But the way we do that, the way we fight back the coronavirus, the way we get back on our feet and recover is by vaccinating the maximum number of people and having the freedom to vaccinate. And I want to give a further update on sites that will be announced in addition to the sites you heard earlier. The larger sites, those mega sites, 24/7 – I talked about one in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn. I want to give an update that we are looking at two sites in Staten Island. There'll be one or the other, either Richmond Savings Bank Park, the ball field there, or it will be at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. We'll have an update on that very shortly. Another potential Brooklyn site, MCU Park, the Cyclone stadium in Coney Island. Just giving you a sense of some of the, kind of, larger sites that will be available for these 24/7 operations. But again, they'll be all five boroughs. We'll have additional updates just the next few days, looking forward to those first two sites I mentioned, Bathgate in the Bronx and Brooklyn Army Terminal starting on Sunday, others coming online in the days immediately after.

And then in terms of the Health Department hubs, we talked about the three that are coming online this Sunday, Bushwick in Brooklyn, Hillcrest – Bushwick High School, Hillcrest High School, Queens, South Bronx High School campus in the Bronx. The following Saturday, not this Saturday, but the one after, additional sites include the Marta Valle campus in Manhattan and the Wadleigh I. S. 88 campus in Manhattan. In Brooklyn, Abraham Lincoln High School, Canarsie High School, George Washington High School. In Staten Island, Port Richmond High School and Staten Island Tech. In the Bronx, Walton High School and Adlai Stevenson. And in Queens, August Martin and Beach Channel. So, again, this situation where we're building out sites, it's going to happen constantly. We want this to be as easy as possible. We want to make sure that New Yorkers looking to get those vaccines have many options. And, again, the more people we can vaccinate the better, the more freedom and flexibility we have the better. Ultimately by the end of this month, 250 sites around the city, 400,000 New Yorkers being vaccinated per week, again, so long as we get that help from our federal partners, our state partners, and the vaccine manufacturers.

As we conclude, we have to go back to where we started today, the big news of the day, thank you to the people of Georgia. I want to just – we should send a free bagel to everyone in Georgia to thank them, from New York City to you because Georgia has done something amazing for the whole country. I now have confidence there will be a stimulus. I now have confidence we're going to have what we need to recover. So, this – we all on Election Day in November felt the momentousness. This is an amazing one, two punch that now we are feeling the bigger change we need to actually get the help, to get ourselves back on our feet, to recover, to fully recover for New York City and the whole metropolitan area to be the engine of the American economy again, and that all of our people can get back on their feet and move forward. Everyone will have that chance to finally move forward. So, what a momentous result and what a good day for New York City. Thank you, everyone.

2021-01-07 NYC Mayor de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio: I want to say good morning. I always say good morning, but it is such a challenging morning in this country right now. Everyone look, these next two weeks I think are going to be about as tense as a get as we just pray we get safely to the moment when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take office. Yesterday morning, a lot of us were celebrating the victory in Georgia - the two victories in Georgia. I do think last night, a lot of people showed the good side of democracy by getting to that certification and a lot of folks show decency and the belief in the constitution, we should cling to that positive, but it's going to be a very tough two weeks and we're all going to have to stand up for our democracy.

All right, let's get back to our city. Look, whatever's going on in DC, we're going to just keep doing the work we need to do now to protect our people. We need to vaccinate the – right now, right now, we need to vaccinate all New Yorkers who are vulnerable, all New Yorkers who are high priority. Everyone who's willing. We need the freedom to vaccinate. Yesterday, I told you about a new State rules that come out that we interpreted, and we think very clearly, very appropriately, very legally, to mean that we could vaccinate our correction officers, that we could vaccinate our police officers who respond to 911 calls, who have to administer CPR, who have to administer Narcan to stop someone from overdosing. The folks who at any moment could be in very close, intimate proximity with another person, and obviously another person who could have COVID. We were ready to go and do a huge vaccination effort at Department of Correction and the NYPD. We were told by the State that they would not allow that. They are allowing a smaller percentage, several thousand and NYPD Medical Corps members, and we're going ahead with those vaccinations, but we really think the rules couldn't be clear. So I want to show you the City definition, the State definition on the screen to give you a clear sense of why we believed it was absolutely right to go ahead and vaccinate our patrol officers, so many of whom are ready, willing, and able to be vaccinated and we could vaccinate in a matter of days. Look at the definitions for yourself. I don't think it's at all gray, what patrol officers do. Of course, they have to be ready to perform CPR on a moment's notice. Of course, they have to be able to use lifesaving equipment and deal with any kind of emergency of any type. What is gray here?

So, there's the City's definition of who we want to vaccinate. There's the State's definition. Why don't we just resolve this and give the City of New York the freedom to vaccinate high priority people as we see fit so we can speed up the vaccination process. By the way, I know this is true all over the State of New York. I know of county executives, county public health officials are just asking for the freedom to vaccinate. We understand what we can do on the ground, in our own communities, give us that freedom because everyone agrees on one thing. We want the maximum number of high priority people vaccinated. Sometimes the federal government, the State government need to stand back and let local government do what it knows how to do best. This is one of those times. So, we get the freedom of vaccine, what I've said before, I want to get all of category 1-B approved. That means everyone over 75. That should be a decision today, authorizing that we can vaccinate everyone over 75 in New York City. You've heard from Dr. Chokshi that that's the most vulnerable group of people. We should be able to vaccinate them right now. All essential workers, first responders, food service, grocery, we've depended on them in this crisis, they've been heroes, childcare workers, educators, teachers, school staff. They all need to be vaccinated now.

So, that's what we're calling for and I know leaders all over the State of New York cities, towns, counties, all over the State in New York are calling for the exact same thing. So, I'm just hoping and praying the state government will hear our call, give us that freedom so we can move forward. In the meantime, what we do have finally is all of category 1-A approved. That's only been in the last couple of days and we have to fight just for that. But it does mean that there's more people who can be vaccinated, that's a good thing. So, for example, our home health care workers, our home health aides, folks who work, obviously, in hospitals and public health institutions. Folks who are in group living facilities or work in group living facilities. We want to vaccinate as many of these people as possible. Now, again, I said that won't be clear. Right now, a substantial percentage are not yet choosing to vaccinate. Probably a third or even more in some of these categories. That's another reason why we want the flexibility to keep going to wherever people are ready to be vaccinated. But for everyone in that category 1-A, let's get you vaccinated right away. So, there's vaccination drives in a lot of these institutional settings, but now we're going to be talking about all the sites around the city, many of which are open right now, some of which will start to open on Sunday, community sites, vaccine hubs, Department of Health, the mega sites that are being put up, the 24/7 sites, two of them this Sunday, more coming in the coming days. We want to make it easy for those in category 1-A to get the vaccination again, quick, free, safe, effective. So again, the two mega sites, Brooklyn Army Terminal, Bathgate in the Bronx opening Sunday 24/7. We're looking at additional sites, there going to be in all five boroughs. I talked about yesterday, some of the potential Staten Island sites, we'll have those nailed down and announced in the next couple of days. Queens Theater in Queens, very likely site, we're going to have that announced shortly, La Marqueta, East Harlem.

So the exact opening of each one, we will announce, but you're going to have these 24/7 sites in every borough. Okay, but right now, if you're in category 1-A, you want to get vaccinated, let's go through how you do that and the key thing to remember is where you get your reservation to be vaccinated, where you get your appointment. You go to nyc.gov/vaccinelocations, nyc.gov/vaccinelocations. This is the portal to getting your appointment. Now, you can go there now and get appointments at a number of sites. As we said, we started the week with 125 sites. We'll be up to about 160 or so by the end of the week. You can go online right now, Dr. Choksi is going to walk this through, sign up for any number of sites. Starting on Saturday, but we'll have the ability for people to sign up for the new mega sites that'll open Sunday, little bit more work was being done there to get that reservation system ready. But for right now, you can sign up at sites all over Saturday for the mega site.

Further, very common-sense point. We want the authorization to reach people over 75. I'll be the first to tell you there's a number of people over 75 who are not going to be as comfortable going online to make a reservation would rather do it by phone. Starting on Monday we’re launching a call center to take those calls. Now, again, this is an anticipation that the State will do the right thing and authorized category 1-B and let people over 75 get vaccinated. We're going to be ready on Monday for people to pick up the phone, call, get screened, make a reservation by phone, looking forward to the opportunity to do that. And the next week we'll add an additional tool, My Turn NYC, that's going to help people at any point they want to check in on their eligibility and the presumed timing of when they can get vaccinated. That's going to be a tool that anyone can get an update through. That'll be launching next week, we'll have more details on that, but right now we want to talk about people in category 1-A getting vaccinated today, tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, here's how you do it. Dr. Chokshi, we welcome you, and you're going to go through it. You're out there – go through with us –walk us through from the point of view of the everyday New Yorker how you go ahead and make that appointment.

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor and my first point that I want to make is to just build on what you've said, which is we have thousands of appointments currently available. So, if you are eligible, if you are a healthcare worker in any of the categories that the Mayor has described please navigate to this website, nyc.gov/vaccinelocations and that's your first step with respect to making sure that you can get an appointment, get your reservation for a vaccine. This is a simple three-step process that we have set up. So, number one is, go to nyc.gov/vaccinelocations. What you'll see is what's on the screen before you right now, a simple listing of who is eligible and also the locations by borough. So, that gets us to the second step, which is on the next slide, find a location in your borough. For example, if you live in the Bronx or if you work in the Bronx, these are all of the sites that are available to you right now, today, either to make an appointment online, or, you'll see in some of the descriptions that are listed here, there are phone numbers as well to be able to make an appointment. Each of them has dates and hours of operation listed so you can figure out when to go, if it's after work, before work, sometime during the day, if the weekend is more convenient for you. And many of these have evening hours as well. So, this is step two. And then the next slide is step three, which is actually making the appointment. Making the appointment happens through our scheduling app. So, you see an example of how we would make an appointment for the COVID Vaccine Hubs that the Mayor has mentioned or for the Health + Hospitals sites for unaffiliated health care workers. Both of them are simple. You navigate through some screens to fill out your own information, your contact information, you select a specific appointment slot, and that's it, you're done. So, those three steps, nyc.gov/vaccinelocations, number one; number two, find a location in your borough; and then, number three, make an appointment via these websites.

The only other thing that I would say is that there are just some small additional requirements from New York State – a screening form that has to be filled out and then bringing your proof of employment to the appointment. And so, if you follow those steps, you'll be able to get your COVID-19 vaccine, the safe free, easy vaccine that will help protect us, going forward. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Chokshi. So, everyone, look, again, go online. If you're in that category 1-A, you want to clarify you're in that category 1-A, just go on that website. You can make a reservation. You can make an appointment. We want to get everyone out there. We understand some people are hesitant. We understand people are looking for answers. You can also get information from the Department of Health. But the bottom line here is these vaccines are ready for you right now, even though we'd like to be able to get to a lot more people. Right now, there are New Yorkers who will be getting these vaccines. The sites are ready. You can get your appointment. Let's go. Once you get there, it's going to be very easy and it's free.

All right. As we do every day now, let's go to our indicators. Here's the latest we have. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for COVID-19 – today's report, 273 patients. Obviously, too high. Hospitalization rate, 4.28 per 100,000. But again, I'm having the conversation every single day with our health care leadership, hospital systems continue to do a great job handling the challenge. We're watching this every day, every hour carefully. But, thank God, they're doing very well with this challenge. New cases, today, 3,870 – way too high again. And percent positivity, seven-day rolling average 9.21 percent. All of these numbers we've got to fight down. Again, every one of you, every one of us can do it with what we do ourselves. And the vaccine is going to be a crucial part of the equation, another reason why we want the freedom to vaccinate.

Let me go – a few words in Spanish and we'll be back on the small business issue –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let us turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: Hi, all. We'll now begin our Q-and-A. With us today is Small Business Commissioner Jonnel Doris, Dr. Ted Long, Executive Director of Test and Trace, Dr. Mitchell Katz, CEO of Health + Hospitals, Dr. Dave Chokshi, Health Commissioner, and our special guest, Grace. With that, we'll go to Dana Rubinstein from the New York Times.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Hey, Dana. Happy New Year to you.

Question: Thanks. Happy New Year. Regarding vaccinations and the State rules surrounding them, history has shown that the Governor doesn't necessarily like to give you wins. Are you concerned that your calling them out so explicitly will backfire?

Mayor: Dana, let me go back to something Ed Cox used to say, which I really subscribed to. He said that for a Mayor of New York City, you have to defend our people and our interests. When a Governor does something right for New Yorkers, thank them, praise them. When the Governor does something that's not in New York City's interest, you’ve got to stand up and fight for New Yorkers. That's what I'm doing. We need the right to vaccinate. We need the freedom to vaccinate. I know this is something that's being felt all over the State of New York. County executives are saying this all over the State, Democrats and Republicans alike, county health officials – give us the freedom to vaccinate. So, you know, Dana, I appreciate the question. Obviously, one could attempt silence as a strategy when something's wrong, but, I think in this case, we would need to vaccinate people right now. And for weeks we appealed to the State to give us more flexibility and more freedom because that hasn't happened, It's important to raise the issue publicly so that we can actually get to people. Just think about people over 75. This is the part that drives me absolutely crazy. Right now, Mitch Katz’s story, his 98-year-old father. He's not legally allowed to vaccinate his 98-year-old father. Come on, give us the freedom to vaccinate.

Moderator: Next is Marcia from WCBS.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Happy New Year.

Mayor: Happy New Year, Marcia. Let's find a way to make it a happy new year.

Question: So, you were actually talking about the possibility of a happy new year yesterday with the selection with – with the election in Georgia and the selection of Chuck Schumer, hopefully as the Senate Majority Leader. So, my question to you is this, I know that you have a big want list and the Governor has a big want list. And you're hoping that the Senator can wave his magic wand and make all your budget problems go away. But my question is, is that realistic or will you still have to reign in some of your programs and do budget cuts because you're not going to get everything you want from Washington?

Mayor: We are absolutely going to have to take tough budget actions under any scenario. It's a very important question, Marcia. I thank you for it. First of all, Chuck Schumer will be the Senate Majority Leader, and that is incredibly good for America and for New York City. He is a proud New Yorker, proud Brooklynite. This is going to be an incredible moment in our history that one of our own reaches that position of power and importance in our nation. This is a really, really important moment. I'm, particularly as a Brooklynite, very, very proud. Chuck Schumer knows what he's doing. He's going to make great things happen for New York City. But the magnitude of the problem Marcia, is beyond the reach of any one leader right now. As we've said, you know, the initial estimates still hold about $9 billion in lost revenue and a long road back for our economy. We've made a lot of cuts. We've cut office, the Mayor's Office by about 12 percent in the last year. We took furloughs here in the Mayor's Office and management all over the City government. We're going to be making a lot more cuts. We're asking every agency to make cuts in the budget that I’ll announce next week. There is a PEG program which is an across the board cut program. All of that has to continue. We are far from out of the woods. So, I'm very hopeful there'll be a real stimulus, no doubt. And that