According to vaccination data recorded by the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOH&MH) as of April 12, the Bronx’s vaccination rate of 35 percent is lower than the citywide average of 41 percent, and is also lower than all other borough vaccination rates.

 

As of April 12, the vaccination rate in Brooklyn was 37 percent, in Manhattan, 51 percent, in Queens, it was 42 percent and on Staten Island, it was 44 percent.

 

Data shows that vaccination numbers have typically been lower across the U.S. in poorer communities, and in Black and Brown communities. The Bronx, New York City’s poorest borough and once COVID-19’s epicenter, had just 69 locations at which to receive the inoculation in mid February 2021. That was half the number of sites available in Manhattan, despite it having roughly the same population. This is reflective of national trends.

To address this, the Bronx Rising Initiative has launched, a homebound vaccine initiative to solve this problem, and inoculate Bronx seniors where they live, in partnership with local community organizations which are already serving homebound seniors. Residents can sign-up here.

 

In the meantime, on Friday, April 29, a CDC vaccine advisory committee recommended that the nationwide pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine should be lifted following the completion of the investigation, as reported by The Hill.

 

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 10-4 with one abstention, that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks, and that it will save lives, according to The Hill report.

 

The report added that the panel did not specifically ask for a warning label, but recommended that the FDA add a label intended to make providers aware of the risk of a rare complication involving blood clots in women under the age of 50.

 

In accordance with the updated FDA fact sheet, if you receive the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine, and within three weeks, you experience any of the following symptoms, you should contact your health care provider:

• Severe headache
• Chest or abdominal pain
• Leg pain or swelling
• Shortness of breath
• Easy bruising or tiny blood spots under the skin at the site of injection

 

Meanwhile, maps provided by the New York City DOH&MH show the vaccination rates per ZIP code as of April 12 with the darker blue areas representing those ZIP codes with a higher vaccination rate.

 

For example, ZIP code 10471, which covers North Riverdale, Fieldston and Riverdale, shows that 43 percent of people in that area are fully vaccinated, and ZIP code 10464, which covers City Island, shows that 43 percent of people living there are also fully vaccinated.

 

These areas fare much better than other Bronx neighborhoods like ZIP code 10467, covering Norwood, Allerton, Pelham Parkway and Williamsbridge, where, as of April 12, only 21 percent of residents were fully vaccinated, and ZIP code 10458, which covers Belmont, Fordham University and Kingsbridge, where only 18 percent of residents are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, in ZIP code 10468, which covers Fordham, Kingsbridge and University Heights, only 20 percent of residents are fully vaccinated as of April 12.

 

At the March 16 CB7 health committee meeting, Michelle Avila, the committee chair said, “The Bronx and CB7 neighborhoods have not been faring well in terms of [COVID-19] caseload,” she said. According to the data, the 7-day COVID test positivity rate as of March 21 in the Bronx was 6.5 percent, compared to 2.9 percent in Manhattan. “I think that it’s pretty obvious that we’ve suffered some major losses because of COVID,” Avila said. “Our hope is to try to think about the factors that are contributing to these higher rates. It’s really concerning.”

 

In terms of the vaccination breakdown by race/ethnicity, the racial or ethnic group with the highest number of vaccinated people citywide is the Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander group at 59 percent, followed by Asian at 28 percent, American Indian or Alaskan Native at 26 percent and White at 26 percent, the Latinx community at 16 percent, and the Black community at 15 percent.

 

In terms of age-groups, the numbers are not surprising given the vaccine was prioritized for the elderly, ahead of other age-groups.

Those in the 65 to 74 age group have the highest number of people vaccinated at 51 percent, followed by the 75 to 84 age group at 48 percent, the 85+ age group at 37 percent, the 55 to 64 age group at 33 percent, the 45 to 54 age group at 25 percent, the 35 to 44 age group at 21 percent, the 25 to 34 age group at 17 percent, and the 18 to 24 age group at 9 percent.

 

Meanwhile, links to the survey which aims to ascertain Bronxites attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine are provided below, in both English and Spanish. Residents are encouraged to click the link to see if they are actually eligible to participate in it. The survey takes approximately two minutes to complete.

Vaccine Appointments

Appointments are required to receive a vaccination. To determine your eligibility, access a list of nearby providers, and schedule a vaccination appointment, use New York State’s Am I Eligible app.

 

Prior to receiving a scheduled vaccination, residents must complete the New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Form. Please be patient and continue to monitor these links frequently for available vaccine appointments:

New York City: https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/ or 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692)

New York State: https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/ or call 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829)

VaccineTogetherNY: https://vaccinetogetherny.org/Pages/default.aspx or call 646-697-VACC

To schedule an appointment, go to: https://vax4nyc.nyc.gov/patient/s/.

To find a vaccination site, go to: https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/locations.

 

Your physician or local pharmacy may also have information on scheduling vaccine appointments.

 

If you need transportation to get your vaccine appointment, click this link for a list of options: https://forms.ny.gov/s3/vaccine.

 

To schedule an appointment at Yankee Stadium, you can also call 1-833-SomosNY. Another new mass vaccination site opened at Co-Op City on Thursday, March 4, which is open to all eligible applicants.

 

For trustworthy information on the vaccines and the research behind them, go to: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-vaccine-facts.page.

 

The MTA announced that it has launched a new vaccination site locator on its live subway map. See the map here:

https://map.mta.info/#@40.70949,-73.97853,14z

More Help with Scheduling Vaccine Appointments

Epicenter-NYC is a vetted, volunteer group, assisting New Yorkers to find and schedule vaccine appointments, particularly the elderly, and anyone not adept at using the internet. More details can be found here: https://epicenter-nyc.com/epicenters-vaccine-resources/ or my emailing hello@epicenter-nyc.com.

 

Separately, and additionally, the turbovax site, https://www.turbovax.info/, scans the websites of all providers offering the vaccine throughout the city and lists their available appointments.

 

A list of all Bronx vaccination sites from April 12 to April 18 is listed below.

Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. also recently confirmed that the following Bronx sites are vaccinating New Yorkers 50+ without an appointment:

• Bronx Co-Op City Dreiser Community Center
• Northeast Bronx YMCA (Edenwald)
• South Bronx Educational Campus
• West Bronx Gymnasium
• Lehman College – Apex Center
• Bathgate Contract Postal Station

 

Another volunteer group who go by the Twitter handle @VaccineschedNYC and Instagram handle @VaccineSchedulerNYC are also helping vulnerable populations like seniors and non-native English speakers to book vaccine appointments. For questions, contact VaccineSchedulerNYC@gmail.com or phone/text: 646-494-7029.

 

As part of the Louella Hatch Democratic Club Spring Speaker Series, Bronx Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, who represents District 86, announced he would be holding a virtual discussion on April 13 at 6.30 p.m. on COVID-19 vaccine distribution, among other topics, like his views on the state of politics in The Bronx, and how youth can get better involved in the political process. To join this discussion, register here or join Facebook Live @LouellaHatchDemocraticClub.