COVID-19 vaccine guide
Who is now eligible?
New Yorkers currently able to receive the twodose coronavirus vaccine fall into what the state calls Phase 1A and 1B categories.
■ Phase 1A: Hospital and health-care workers; residents and staffers at nursing homes; EMS workers; coroners and medical examiners; urgentcare providers; individuals administering COVID-19 vaccines; staffers who are in direct contact with patients, doctors, nurses, outpatient/ambulatory frontline workers; dentists and orthodontists and their staffs; psychiatrists and psychologists and their staffs; physical therapists and their staffs; optometrists and their staffs; pharmacists; homecare workers; hospice workers.
■ Phase 1B: People 75 and older; first responders and support staff for first-responder agencies; correction staff; public-transit workers; publicsafety workers; teachers and other school staffers, including bus drivers; child-care providers; in-person college instructors; grocery-store workers who personally interact with the public; people living in homeless shelters where sleeping, bathing or eating accommodations must be shared with others who are not part of their household, and people working in those shelters.
■ New Yorkers can check to if they are eligible to receive the vaccine via the state’s Web site at https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/ How to register to get a vaccine in New York City ■ Appointments must be made in advance. ■ Eligible city residents can register for appointments online by first going to https:// vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/, which covers the more than 125 public and private sites in the five boroughs. Users are prompted to provide their address or ZIP code to find a vaccine provider near them, and will then be directed to schedule an appointment with one of the public or private providers.
■ The city has also launched a phone number, 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692), to reserve a vaccine appointment. Its prerecorded message encourages callers who are able to make an appointment online to do so using the city’s “vaccine finder” site. Otherwise, an operator will help them make an appointment.
■ The state’s separate COVID-19 vaccination hot line is also open to help schedule appointments for eligible New Yorkers. Call 833-NYS-4-VAX.
Where COVID-19 vaccination centers are located in New York City
■ The city has more than 160 sites, which you can find at https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/
■ The city currently has two 24/7 mass vaccination sites: at Brooklyn’s Army Terminal in Sunset Park and at the Bathgate Industrial Park in the Morrisiana section of The Bronx.
■ Mayor de Blasio has said there will soon be such 24/7 sites in all of the boroughs.
■ The state has a Web site listing vaccine locations in other parts of New York: https://covid19vaccine. health.ny.gov/what-you-need-know
How much does it cost to get the vaccine? Nothing, it’s free.
Who’s eligible for the vaccine next?
Group 1C, which includes people ages 65 to 74, those with certain underlying health conditions and all other workers deemed essential.
New York City says it expects people in 1C to be eligible starting in March or April, although the timeline for those in 1B was sped up significantly, so that could mean a faster time frame for this group. The vaccination of everyone else will likely begin in the summer, according to the city.