New York City now has a total of 20 mobile vaccine buses administering 150 to 200 daily doses of COVID-19 shots in neighborhoods across the five boroughs – primarily focusing on vulnerable residents. During its first week, the bus will focus on vaccinating restaurant and food delivery workers. The clinics on wheels are a partnership between New York City and Restaurants Organizing, Advocating & Rebuilding (ROAR) – a community of hospitality leaders advocating for the New York City independent restaurant industry.
The buses will target neighborhoods identified by the City’s Task Force for Racial Inclusion and Equity as being hardest-hit by the virus and with histories of socio-economic disparity. Local community-based organizations will help residents schedule advanced appointments with the vaccine fleet, and walk-up appointments will be accepted when available.
“This will take the vaccinations right to them,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “They’ve been making sure New Yorkers have been fed… they’ve been vulnerable. Obviously, a number of them happen to be undocumented folks, so we have to reach them.”
Each bus has six different exam rooms plus a refrigerator to store the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, a registration area, and an ADA lift. They will be staffed by people that speak English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese.
“This bus will tear down barriers to getting vaccinated by bringing hundreds of doses a day literally to your doorstep,” Dr. Ted Long, the director of the city’s Test and Trace Corps, said. “With this new mobile bus that we can drive anywhere in the city, plus our 20 mobile vans we have today, NYC’s vaccine efforts are truly… on the move.”