Thursday, 14 January 2021

Hundreds of New Yorkers descended on a vaccination site after a Facebook post said there were over 400 spare shots

A Facebook post said there were more than 400 extra vaccine doses available in New York City for walk-in appointments that needed to be used before 7pm.
Swarms of New Yorkers lined up at Brooklyn Grand Army Terminal seeking the vaccine, but officials said there was not enough for people without appointments.
The mayor's office told Insider that the city has a "variety" of ways to make sure excess doses are used, and added that this vaccine site is open 24 hours a day.
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A rumor about hundreds of extra COVID-19 vaccines available in Brooklyn swept Facebook and Twitter Thursday afternoon.

A post that read, "PLEASE SHARE: We need to give out 410+ doses in the next 4 hours at Brooklyn Army Terminal (by 7pm), taking anyone in community age 18+, walk ins, or earlier than scheduled" was shared and reposted across parents' groups and other Facebook circles.

But as New Yorkers descended on the vaccination site in cars and on foot, the mayor's office tweeted that the shots are reserved for people with appointments, and the Facebook post was a "bogus" rumor.

At the same time, however, people in the line, including Insider Associate Travel Editor Hannah Freedman, said they were told walk-ins were an option, and were directed into a separate queue for spare shots. That line eventually dispersed as doctors and police walked down saying there were no more shots.

—Maya Kaufman (@mayakauf) January 14, 2021

Bill Neidhardt, press secretary to Mayor Bill de Blasio, quickly shut down this claim on Twitter, but the news had already spread. Approximately 500 people were in line at Brooklyn Army Terminal around 5pm, author and columnist Jessica Valenti wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.

—Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) January 14, 2021

Another Twitter user, Stephen Lurie, posted a video of people standing in line at Brooklyn Army. He wrote that it looked like more than 400 people were there, and that a security guard was telling people to go home but they were asking for more information and refusing to leave.

—Stephen Lurie (@luriethereal) January 14, 2021

Neidhart also wrote in a tweet that the mayor's office would be sending someone to clear up the line.

NYC Councilman Justin Brannan also confirmed to Insider that the claim about extra vaccines was "100% BOGUS."

Mixed messages

New York officials confirmed to Insider that there is no formal waitlist for people who are not in priority groups to get vaccinated ahead of schedule. Vaccination sites work with city officials to reach eligible citizens so no doses are wasted.

However, the Brooklyn Army Terminal is a 24/7 vaccination site, so having thawed vaccines left over at the end of the day was not a concern there.

Hilary Brueck contributed reporting.

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