New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that although the city has begun to vaccinate against the novel coronavirus, the city may face a complete blockade again due to the surge in confirmed cases and hospitalized patients, according to the Russian satellite news agency.
“It’s important to start closing the most sensitive areas,” de Blasio said in an interview with CNN. Asked about possible lockdown measures, he said, “I think we must be prepared in the coming weeks, with the current momentum of the COVID-19 epidemic, we must stop it before it is causing too much damage and too much pain.”
New York Governor Cuomo pointed out that a total of 5,712 patients were treated for the coronavirus in hospitals across New York on Monday, compared with more than 18,000 people hospitalized for the coronavirus at the peak of spring.
Both de Blasio and Cuomo agreed to ban indoor meals in New York City starting Monday to curb the surge in hospitalizations. However, they are divided on the circumstances under which the city-wide lockdown order is issued.
On Monday, New York became the first state in the United States to start vaccinated against Pfizer. A nurse was first vaccinated after the federal government approved it for emergency use.
“This vaccine is exciting because I believe it will be the weapon to end the war against COVID-19,” Cuomo said during a live event just before Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Jewish Medical Center in Long Island, New York, was injected.
Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to the Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccine research and development program, said the U.S. hopes to distribute the vaccine to 100 million Americans by the spring of 2021.
