Yankee Stadium was opened as a COVID-19 mass immunization site Friday by authorities attempting to support vaccination rates in encompassing Bronx neighborhoods hit hard by the pandemic.
The home of the New York Yankees is being confined to occupants of the New York City ward with the most elevated level of positive Covid test results. Mayor Bill de Blasio called it “a different kind of opening day” hours after a long line formed outside the stadium on a damp morning.
“This is about protecting people who need the most protection because the Bronx is one of the places that bore the brunt of this crisis of the coronavirus” he said at a stadium-side news conference. “The Bronx has suffered.”
De Blasio, a Red Sox fan, wore a Yankees cap in appreciation to the team and pronounced himself an aficionado of Boston’s archrival “for one day only.”
The site set up with assistance from the city and state has enlisted around 13,000 of the 15,000 appointments accessible in its first week, authorities said. It will at first be open seven days every week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Authorities urging individuals to get immunized enrolled previous Yankees star alleviation pitcher Mariano Rivera to help. The Hall of Famer said he needed to help individuals who upheld him for such countless years.
“We saved so many games here,” Rivera said, “but now it’s about saving lives.”
