Teens ages 16 and 17 can now get COVID-19 booster shots. Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
Governor Kathy Hochul is hoping to help kickstart a push for New Yorkers to get their booster shots by teaming up with a NYC institution and giving away free tickets to their holiday show.
The state is partnering with the Radio City Rockettes for the Christmas Spectacular Booster Incentive, in which five vaccination sites will distribute vouchers that can be redeemed for free tickets to the show on Dec. 20.
The first 50 people to receive their booster shot at the participating locations can get the vouchers, which are good for two people to attend either the 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. Christmas Spectacular performances on Dec. 20.
"The Radio City Rockettes are a hallmark of the holiday season in New York City and I am thrilled to partner with them and Madison Square Garden for this incentive to get people boostered," Governor Hochul said. "Unvaccinated New Yorkers are the most vulnerable when it comes to COVID-19, but we are not powerless here. Get your vaccine if you haven't already, if you have, get your booster. Wear your mask indoors, wash your hands. Do everything you can to keep your loved ones safe and healthy this season."
Yonkers Public Library was the first site to provide the vouchers on Thursday. There will be four more locations offering the free tickets through Dec. 15, including:
- Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Brooklyn — Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Grace Baptist Church, Mount Vernon — Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Bethel AME Church, Freeport — Dec. 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Queens Museum, Flushing Meadows — Dec. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Hochul echoed calls from officials at all levels of government as they urged vaccinations and booster shots as the first line of defense against the fast-spreading omicron COVID variant. Regular hand-washing, masking up and taking real, thought-out precautions when it comes to the holidays are also good ways to help stop the spread, Hochul has said.
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Hochul said she would make a policy announcement Friday on additional steps needed to combat "this impending surge," a concept she had warned about in her earliest days as governor. A boon for the vaccination and booster effort came Thursday when the CDC and FDA both recommended booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 16 and 17.
The state has reported 20 cases of the omicron variant through Thursday. but health offici0als and local leaders still say that the delta variant remains dominant, and is responsible for nearly all hospitalizations.
Hochul said earlier in the week that nearly half a million New York residents have gone and received their booster shot, and she believes that the omicron variant is pushing people to take action in order to give themselves the best protection possible.
