COVID 1 Year Later: Communities And Leaders Hopeful With 'Super Charge' Of Vaccines On Horizon
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Communities are marking one year of the coronavirus pandemic with symbolic acts of hope and resilience.
Front-line workers at The Hebrew Home at Riverdale showed the need to continue to stay apart, but united until the fight is over, CBS2's John Dias reported Thursday.
It's taken a collective effort to wear masks, social distance and follow guidelines to get here.
"We had a few lost. It was overwhelming at first," said nurse Delevita Graham.
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Graham joined her colleagues to raise their vaccinated arms in unison outside the Bronx nursing home as a symbol of resilience, optimism and hope.
"A lot of encouragement to others. I would encourage others, also, to take the vaccine because it's the most protective thing right now out there," Graham said.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Twelve months later, the U.S. has lost more that half-a-million lives and at least 29 million people have been infected nationwide.
"Everyone's first impulse was how can we control this, how can we contain it? How can we save lives right now? But I look back now and realize there was a tsunami about to hit us and we couldn't even see it because we just didn't have the testing," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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The mayor said one of the most promising signs on building back New York is the new $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill.
"The biggest action by the federal government for the people of this country since the New Deal," de Blasio said.
Six billion dollars in local aid will go directly to New York City. Six and a half billion dollars will go to the MTA.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said more money will go to funding vaccines and setting up more sites. Schumer did not give details, but said it would be a "super charge" from the federal government.
"One of the biggest issues with getting people vaccinated has been access, especially in underserved and disadvantaged communities, communities of color," said Schumer.
Schumer's office said the following Community Health Centers are eligible to administer vaccines, which will be distributed across 210 sites statewide.
- Morris Heights Health Center, Inc., Bronx, NY, NY-15
- East Harlem Council For Human Services, Inc., New York, NY, NY-13
- Montefior Medical Center, Bronx, NY, NY-15
- Settlement Health and Medical Services, Inc., New York, NY, NY-13
- Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center, Inc., Brooklyn, NY, NY-08
- Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc., Buffalo, NY, NY-26
- North Country Family Health Center, Inc., Watertown, NY, NY-21
- La Casa De Salud Inc., Bronx, NY, NY-15
- Union Community Health Center, Inc., Bronx, NY, NY-15
- New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, New York, NY, NY-09
- Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Inc., Mount Vernon, NY, NY-16
- Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc., Staten Island, NY, NY-11
- Heritage Health and Housing, Inc., New York, NY, NY-13
- Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center, Brooklyn NY, NY-08
- Under 21, New York, NY, NY-10
- Upper Room AIDS Ministry, Inc. Adult Day Health Care Center, New York, NY, NY-13
- Care For The Homeless, New York, NY, NY-13
- Betances Health Center, New York, NY, NY-07
- Vocational Instruction Project Community Services, Inc., Bronx, NY, NY-15
- Beacon Christian Community Health Center, Staten Island, NY, NY-11
- Anthony L. Jordan Health Corporation, Rochester, NY, NY-25
- Hudson Headwaters Heath Network, Queensbury, NY, NY-21
- Housing Works Health Services III, Inc., Brooklyn, NY, NY-10
- Refuah Health Center, Inc., New Square, NY, NY-19
- Damian Family Care Centers, Inc., Jamaica, NY, NY-09
- HealthCare Choices NY, Inc., Brooklyn, NY, NY-10
- Schenectady Family Health Services, Inc., Schenectady, NY, NY-20
- Oak Orchard Community Health Center, Inc., Brockport, NY, NY-23
- Syracuse Community Health Center, Inc., Syracuse, NY, NY-24
- Community Health Initiatives Inc., Brooklyn, NY, NY-08
- ODA Primary Health Care Center Inc., Brooklyn, NY, NY-07
- Ezra Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, NY-10
- Community Medical and Dental Care, Inc., Monsey, NY, NY-17Community Health Project, Inc., New York, NY, NY-15
- East Hill Family Medical Inc., Auburn, NY, NY-24
President Joe Biden will make his first prime-time address Thursday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the pandemic.
