A new vaccination center will be opening in Brownsville Wednesday in an effort to get more Brooklyn residents the COVID-19 vaccine.
The new site will be at Teachers Prep High School on Blake Avenue. It is set to serve people who live near Brownsville and nearby East New York.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says special attention needs to be paid to these communities. He says they are the two communities with the lowest vaccination rates in the city.
Based on new vaccine data released by the city, Brooklyn trails the city in the percentage of the population to receive both the first and second dose of the vaccine.
According to that data, 3% of the population in Brooklyn has received both vaccine doses and was fully vaccinated.
The Bronx and Queens tied at 4%, followed by Staten Island at 6% and Manhattan at 7%.
"We're going to be doing a lot of grassroots outreach to draw people from Brownsville and East New York to this center-right in their community and to get the help that they need and deserve. And grassroots outreach, grassroots leadership is going to be key to getting this done,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.