MOURNING ON ANN’Y OF 1ST COVID DEATH

82-year-old in B’klyn followed by nearly 40K more N.Yers we ‘must remember,’ Adams says

Mayor Adams marked the second anniversary of the city’s first confirmed death from COVID-19 on Monday by vowing that the city “must remember” the nearly 40,000 New Yorkers who have perished in the pandemic.

“This pandemic has caused incalculable suffering and pain for our families, friends and neighbors,” Adams said in a statement.

The city and state’s first fatality of the pandemic was an unidentified 82-yearold woman who suffered from severe emphysema.

She was one of the first people hospitalized in the city with an unknown respiratory illness, and died about a week later at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn.

“As we work to recover and rebuild New York City, we must remember those that we have lost and carry on their stories,” the mayor said. “We will never forget their names, their faces, or the ways they have shaped this great city.”

City Hall and major municipal buildings in all five boroughs have been ordered to be aglow in amber lights on Monday evening to commemorate the anniversary.

Monday also marks the last day for Dr. Dave Chokshi as the city’s health commissioner. He started in August 2020 and helped lead the city’s response through several waves of infections and deaths.

Dr. Ashwin Vasan, a top public health adviser to Adams, will take over Chokshi’s post.

On a state level, Gov. Hochul said New York has shown its mettle by embracing tools to keep a lid on the spread of COVID, especially vaccines. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 75% of all New Yorkers are now fully vaccinated.

“It’s meaningful to see how effective our fight against the virus has been,” Hochul said as the state’s daily COVID case count dipped below 1,000 for the first time since last summer.

The official global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 6 million earlier this month — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

The milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.

And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the United States is nearing 1 million reported deaths before the summer.

Due to waning effectiveness, particularly against variants like omicron, a fourth COVID vaccine shot will probably be needed to keep hospitals and morgues quiet, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.”