Yankee Stadium vaccination site opens for New York residents Friday

NEW YORK (WPIX) — A new COVID-19 vaccination mega-site opened Friday at Yankee Stadium in New York.

The site is capable of handling 15,000 appointments in its first week. All appointments are reserved for Bronx residents, as the borough continues to report the highest positivity rate in the city.

The state and city partnered with the Yankees, the National Guard, and SOMOS Community Care to develop the vaccination site.

Bronx residents who are eligible for the vaccine can make an appointment via somosvaccinations.com or by calling 1-833-SomosNY.

The Yankee Stadium site will be open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. You must have an appointment and proof of Bronx residency.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that the Bronx site ensures fairness and equity in vaccine distribution.

“It’s abundantly clear that Black, Latino and poor communities have been hit the hardest by COVID, and the Bronx is no exception,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Our efforts to target vaccinations by locations with higher positivity rates have been working to not only keep the infection rate down, but to help ensure equity in our vaccine distribution process, and opening a mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium — the Bronx’s most iconic landmark — is the perfect solution to helping this borough get vaccinated and defeat COVID once and for all.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the vaccination site also serves as a justice for the neighborhoods that were hardest hit by the virus last year.

“This mega-site shows what our grassroots, equity-driven NYC Vaccine for All effort is all about,” the mayor said in a statement. “Yankee Stadium has always been known for its World Series banners, but now it’ll be recognized as a place where the people of the surrounding community in the Bronx can receive the vaccine doses that they need and deserve.”

Plans to provide COVID-19 inoculations at Yankee Stadium and also Citi Field, the home field of the New York Mets, were initially delayed by a lack of sufficient vaccine supply.

Despite the Bronx stadium opening Friday, no opening day for vaccinations at Citi Field has been announced.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.