Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

July 14, 2021

Video available at: https://youtu.be/xVz5_T3TrdM

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. You know, I want to take you on a little journey for a moment, back 15 months ago. In the scheme of things, that's not a long time ago. In our lives it feels like a very, very long distance. We've been through so much in the last 15 months. 15 months ago, this city was the epicenter of the COVID crisis in this entire country, one of the epicenters in the world. And I remember talking to people about their lives. I remember people talking about losing a mom or a dad or a grandparent, the shock of everything that happened so suddenly with COVID. The fact they couldn't even mourn. There was no way to gather. The one thing that might've given people a little peace, they couldn't do. The people we lost, the loved ones in a hospital room alone, family couldn't visit. Think about what our lives were like. We went from normal in January and February last year, to hell in March and April. Thank God, because people have worked so hard together, we've come a long, long way since then. It's a whole different reality and New Yorkers fought through it. I always say, thank you. Thank you to everyday New Yorkers who listened, who did the right thing, who helped each other, who got tested, who got vaccinated. What a difference it made. Now let's put this in perspective because there's new information that really shows the power of what this city did to fight COVID. 

Back 15 months ago – this is staggering to think about, we lived through it, but just recounting it is shocking – over 5,000 new cases a day of COVID, over 1,600 hospitalizations on any given day, over 700 deaths on some days. 700, a staggering figure. The human pain, inestimable. 15 months later, we still got a lot of work to do. But look at the difference. Hospitalizations have gone way down, thank God. We have cases, yes, but in the hundreds, not the thousands. There are days we lose our fellow New Yorkers and even a single life is one life too many to lose, but there are days when no one passes away in New York City from COVID. We've still got a lot more to do, but what a distance we've traveled. And it is exemplified by this number I'm going to give you. The number of doses – and I keep saying, this is an individual New Yorker who goes to get vaccinated, a vaccinator, a health care hero who gives them the vaccination. That has happened 9,649,865 times in just a matter of months. That's how many doses have been given this city. It's unbelievable. It's unprecedented. The largest vaccination effort by far in the history of New York City.  

Right now, today, this vaccination effort keeps growing. No matter what the challenges, and they are real, we keep building. There's over 75 pop-up sites, right this minute in New York City, giving vaccinations where the people are, where they're needed. There's over 800 public vaccination sites open today, 800 places where people can go get the help they need. And that is part of what we've done over time. We've moved these sites around where they're needed, public housing developments, senior citizen residences, you name it. Well over a thousand sites in the course of this whole vaccination effort, taking the vaccination to the people at the grassroots. We could feel the effect. You could see the effect in everyday life in the city. You could see it in the indicators we go through every day. But today we have new evidence from a powerful source of just how much impact this vaccination effort has made. And it is a tribute to the vaccinators. It's attributed to health care heroes.  

Yale University has just come out with a study and it shows that lives were saved, that thousands of cases were avoided, that history was altered by this massive vaccination effort. I want you to hear from one of the leaders who put together this study and can explain just how powerful the evidence is. She is the director of the Yale Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis. My honor to present to you, Dr. Alison Galvani. 

[...]  

Thank you so much, Dr. Galvani. I want to thank you and all your colleagues, such an important study. You know, we are, every day, telling people how crucial it is to get vaccinated, but this study is going to help us not just look at what happened and what it tells us for future challenges, it's going to help us right now because obviously Yale University, you and your colleagues, so highly respected, to hear you say, look, this changes the course of history, it is a clear affirmation to every New Yorker out there, wondering if they should get vaccinated, that this is exactly the right time to step forward. Get that vaccination, help us move the entire reality to a better place. So, Doctor, thank you to you and all your colleagues. 

Dr. Alison Galvani, Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis: Thank you. You're welcome.  

Mayor: So, everyone, those numbers tell a powerful, powerful story. You heard what Dr. Galvani said, over a quarter-million cases averted because of this extraordinary vaccination effort. Over 44,000 hospitalizations that did not happen because we reached people in time, got them vaccinated. And most importantly, over 8,000 lives saved because vaccination happened intensely swiftly at the grassroots because we mobilized everything, we had to reach people. Think of it in human terms. Think of it in terms of your own family. Think of it as a mom or dad who was still here, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle who was still there at the family gathering because they got vaccinated in time. We've got a lot more to do. Thousands of people, thousands of new people show up every single day to be vaccinated. We got to keep driving that number with new and different approaches. And we know the challenge. We understand the challenge of the Delta variant. We understand that challenge is particularly clear and sharp for unvaccinated people. That's where the problem is. And so, we need to keep up with that with an approach that is sharp and clear, goes to the people where they are.  

We started, everyone knows, with the big centers, but now we have a very decentralized neighborhood-based grassroots approach. Let me go over the clear ideas behind this approach. One, vaccinate the unvaccinated to defeat the Delta variant. That's the ballgame. Now, five pillars to this approach. I want to make it really clear. One, mobile vaccination sites. This has been extremely effective. The vans and the buses, we're going to use those more and more. Two, door to door canvassing, literally going to folks who are not yet vaccinated, having the conversation, encouraging them, helping them, answering their questions. Three, in-home vaccination. This is unprecedented. We did it first for homebound folks, but now we're doing it for anyone who wants vaccination in their own home. We will bring vaccination to you. Four, referral bonus, engaging non-profits of houses of worship, community organizations, to go out, find people who are part of their trusted community, members of their community who listen to them, care about the voices of those local leaders and organizations, bringing them in, getting them vaccinated and getting rewarded financially so the money comes to the community, stays in the community. It's a double blessing. And then five, working with doctors, particularly pediatricians, to reach their patients systematically in a very organized fashion, reach them, convince them, get them vaccinated. Those five pillars are going to make all the difference. One of the architects of this plan, and one of the people who should be very proud of this Yale study because he and his team at the Department of Health were heroes in this effort. My pleasure to introduce our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. As the city's doctor, what keeps me up at night is thinking about those New Yorkers who are still unvaccinated. I think about how much suffering COVID-19 caused in our city over the past year-and-a-half. I think about the grief and the trauma, and the empty chairs around the dinner table. The good news is so much of that suffering is now avoidable because of the vaccines. We have evidence to prove it. As you heard, the city's vaccination campaign prevented a quarter-million COVID cases and saved over 8,000 lives. I want to take a moment to thank the nurses, pharmacists, doctors, volunteers, health department, staff, and other City workers who are responsible for this remarkable accomplishment. And new Health Department data show that between January and June 98.9 percent of cases, 98.4 percent of hospitalizations, and 98.9 percent of deaths related to COVID-19 were in those who were not fully vaccinated. So, now is a particularly dangerous time to be unvaccinated with the more contagious Delta variants spreading in our city. But the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines offer protection against it and all of the other circulating strains of the virus currently in New York. So, the choice is clear. My message to everyone today if you have been waiting, if you have been on the fence, is to please sign up, to get that shot as soon as possible. 

As the Mayor said, our work continues, and our strategy is shifting to extend the benefit of vaccination even further into neighborhoods and communities. I think about this the same way I do when I'm speaking to one of my patients about vaccination. It starts with listening. That's why we've had over 5,300 community events, like town halls, to understand New Yorkers’ questions about the vaccine. It takes one-on-one conversations as with the over 280,000 New Yorkers reached by our door-to-door canvassers, and hundreds of thousands more phone calls from nurses now underway. And it means providing science-based information like the millions of mailers and flyers we've distributed thus far. In the coming weeks we'll continue these efforts with a focus on the areas of the city with the lowest vaccination rates. We will meet people where they are through our mobile vaccination vans and pop-ups, where we've administered over 100,000 doses already, and our in-home vaccination service, which has fully vaccinated 17,250 New Yorkers. We'll double down on our investment in community-based organizations. We've provided over $50 million to community and faith-based organizations throughout the response to support with education and outreach and connection to services. And we will make additional investments in coming months, including expanding our referral bonus program, offering $100 for each New Yorker vaccinated.  

As the Mayor said, we have been working with thousands of trusted health care providers and hundreds of health care leaders to promote the vaccine at pharmacies, hospitals, and community clinics. Our new Use Every Opportunity campaign helps ensure that vaccination is offered at each clinical encounter, whether for diabetes or depression. Our staff will be visiting primary care and women's health practices across the 76 ZIP codes with the lowest vaccination rates this summer to support them in offering the vaccine. We will also have a particular focus on youth and parents through our engagement with pediatric providers, particularly around back-to-school physicals. We have come so far, but the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over in New York City, our way out of this is with vaccination. It is our most powerful tool and with it, we can continue to save lives. Thank you, sir. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Chokshi. And everyone, this study tells us so much, and it tells us so much about the importance of focusing even more on vaccination going forward. I want you to hear from someone else who has really been one of the leading voices during this whole fight against COVID. He has often been one of the people who said we need to try new and different approaches, we need to bring these efforts to the grassroots. He's someone who knows a lot about working at the community level to organize people to better their community. And he's used those skills as a City Council member, he’s used those skills as Chairman of the Health Committee in the Council, and he has been a real voice of conscience to keep this city healthy. My pleasure to introduce Council Member – and by the way, soon to be Manhattan Borough President, congratulations – Council Member Mark Levine. 

[...] 

Thank you, Mark. Thank you so much. I want to give you the latest. I think you'll like this as the Health Committee Chair. As of today, 4.4 million New Yorkers fully vaccinated, 4.8 million New Yorkers who have now received at least one dose and we know overwhelmingly they will come back and get that second dose. So, every day we're making progress. Thanks again for your great help, making sure it's happening, including in your district, which is soon to be a whole borough. So, again, congratulations to you on your victory. 

Council Member Mark Levine: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Thanks so much. 

Mayor: One more thing, everyone. When you look at this Yale study, I'm going to hold this up here. This is really powerful. It's a simple graph that shows what ended up happening because of the vaccination effort. Thank God we were able to fight back, deeply reduce the number of cases as you heard, over a quarter-million fewer cases. But there's a second part of this graph that shows what would have happened without the vaccination effort. And it's really striking and painful to look at how many more New Yorkers would have gotten COVID, how many more would have been in a hospital, how many more we would have lost, would have passed away. This vaccination effort saved thousands and thousands of lives. We need to take this information from one of the most respected institutions in the United States of America and say to people, look, look what we were able to do together. Now let's go and finish the job. Let's beat COVID once and for all and get even more New Yorkers vaccinated.  

And with that, let's turn to our indicators for the day. Number one daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report is 93 patients, confirmed positivity of 14.89 percent. Hospitalization rate per 100,000, 0.29. And again, that's the crucial number we're always watching. Number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average – today's report, 407 cases. Number three, percentage of people testing positive citywide for COVID-19 – today's report on a seven-day rolling average, 1.33 percent. Want to say a few words in Spanish, focused again on the importance of getting vaccinated. 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]  

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: Good morning. We will now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we are joined by Dr. Dave Chokshi, Health Commissioner. Our first question goes to Amanda Eisenberg from Politico. 

Mayor: Amanda?  

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you? 

Mayor: There you go. How are you, Amanda?  

Question: I'm good. I want to know what you're going to do about the humidity [inaudible] –  

Mayor: I've got a plan for that. We're setting up giant fans to make the humidity go away. We’ll announce that tomorrow –  

Question: I wanted to ask about the analysis and get a little wonky with you. So, this is a pre-print, which means it has not been peer-reviewed, and the peer review is needed for any sort of analysis to go into a journal and say, this is fact. Can you talk, and can you have your Health people talk a little bit more about, you know, what the timeline is for that? When do you know that is validated that this good news, you know, somebody else has looked at and confirmed? 

Mayor: Appreciate the question. I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi. I'll say this, this is a stunningly clear result, obviously from a highly respected institution. So, of course, as with everything, we welcome multiple levels of review, but I think this initial report is absolutely a verification to all New Yorkers how powerfully vaccination work. We've been talking for months now about look, the numbers of folks who've gotten vaccinated. We've shown the indicators daily, how much better things got, we were able to open things up. But we – this is really the first time we've been able to talk about what was avoided, what might have been if it weren't for this vaccination effort and this, I think, paints a very powerful picture, which I think will affect people's judgment. I agree with Mark Levine. I think it's going to make a certain number of people say, hey, wait a minute, it really makes a difference that I get vaccinated now. And that's why I particularly value this report. But as to your specific question, Dr. Chokshi.  

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and yes, we believe in the results. You know, these are based on a model that has been peer reviewed and is available for, you know, for vetting and understanding in the peer reviewed literature. The paper, you know, the analysis that we're discussing today will also undergo subsequent peer review. But the important point is the one that both Dr. Galvani and the Mayor have made, which is that we felt a great sense of urgency to convey what these findings are because the fight is not yet over. It's very important for us to describe what has been prevented over the last few months, so that we can continue those efforts at pace and prevent further suffering in New York City.  

Mayor: And I understand Dr. Galvani is still with us, which is great. Dr. Galvani would you like to speak to this as well? 

Dr. Galvani: Sure, absolutely. So, the model as you just mentioned is based on a publication that we published recently in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, which is one of the world's most highly respected infectious disease journals, medical journals. And we've taken that peer review framework and applied New York City parameters to conduct our analysis. And at this time, today actually, we're submitting the paper for peer review as well.  

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead, Amanda. 

Question: Great. Thank you all for that. And I want to get back to what Dr. Chokshi said, in terms of trying to, you know, show New Yorkers that we have some empirical data for them to look at. You started out with this vaccination effort trying to get incentives for people to get vaccinated. And now you're putting out a paper to say, hey, here's the science and here's the facts behind that. Do you feel like that this is going to be something that actually moves people? And can you talk a little bit more about the problems that you're facing in terms of getting these people who are not really budging to get vaccinated? 

Mayor: Yeah, I'll speak to it. And then I'll turn to Dr. Katz and Dr. Chokshi. I really believe this based on, it seems like an endless number of conversations with our health care team, with the folks out in the field, talking to everyday New Yorkers, and my own conversations with New Yorkers of all kinds. I really feel that what is true right now, Amanda, hundreds of thousands, this hour of this day, hundreds of thousands of more people ready to be vaccinated right this minute, but we have the important work to do of reaching them. Sometimes it is a matter of just making it convenient. Sometimes it's an incentive. Sometimes it's just the right place, right time. You remember that wonderful video of the vaccinator in Times Square, just reaching out to people, getting them on the spot. We're finding that really works with the mobile units. But also, this effort with doctors and pediatricians, trusted voices, sometimes what people need is to ask a couple of medical questions and hear from a trusted voice. All of those pieces add up, and I'm not scared of the notion that we're going to have to do this person by person, because when you've done 9.6 million doses, obviously something's working. We just need to keep farther, farther. But I do believe time's on our side and this is the kind of evidence that for folks who have a little bit of doubt, this really is going to help them feel comfortable. Dr. Katz –  

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, NYC Health + Hospitals: I totally agree with you, sir. All of the adults who are getting vaccinated now have been eligible for vaccination for months, and yet every day, you know, this week they're coming forward now, which shows that our efforts are working, that people are seeing that vaccination is the key to a healthy New York, a healthy family, a healthy them. And I certainly believe that the concerns about the Delta variants are going to result in even more people coming forward for vaccination. I think the efforts are working. Thank you, sir.  

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Nothing to add to that, sir. Thank you.  

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Our next question goes to Allison from PIX11. 

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you?  

Mayor: Good, Allison, how you been?  

Question: Pretty good. Thank you. A follow up to my story on Monday. The judge ruled about continuing to temporarily halt the movement of homeless from hotel back to group shelters. DHS released a statement to us this morning, talking about how they will resume the movement next week with modifications the judge recommended. Can you address some of those modifications, will special attention be applied to people with mental and physical health problems? 

Mayor: Allison, great question. It already has been. We've had hundreds of accommodations already made for folks with particular needs. The judge was clear. The movement out of the hotels back to the shelters will continue. The judge was extremely clear about that. We put a policy in place developed with our health care team based on the data and the science to get folks back to shelter where we can provide them the most help and move them from there ultimately to affordable housing, which we've done for 160,000 New Yorkers over the last eight years. And we're going to keep doing it. What the judge said was make sure there's some additional communication, make sure to engage people, help them understand how the process is working. We're going to do that. That's going to add about a week to what we're doing, no more than that. So, we're going to resume next week, getting folks to shelter and continuing to support homeless folks on their way back to affordable housing. Go ahead, Allison. 

Question: What about the argument, why not skip the return to shelters? Why not go directly from hotels to permanent housing? 

Mayor: I understand that argument. And the fact is there is an effort you got to go through to help people which is best done in shelters. The services that folks need in some cases, whether it's mental health services or other services, are best provided in a shelter. That's what they're built for. And, obviously, also making sure there is an affordable apartment for them and those keep coming online constantly, but we don't have everything we need for everyone at any given day. That's work that has to be done family by family to find the right match for them. So, I know it works because it's worked for 160,000 people who were formerly homeless. It's a great, great victory that we need to talk about because, as you know, Allison, in so much of the country, they struggle to deal with homelessness. They don't have, in many cities in this country, a place to support people. They don't get them to affordable housing. New York City actually has proven a much better model. We get people to shelter and then ultimately to affordable housing, but it does take time, but we're going to be at it constantly, but the best place to help people is from a shelter built to support them. 

Moderator: Our next question goes to Chris from the Daily News.  

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.  

Mayor: Hey Chris, how are you? 

Question: I'm good. I wanted to ask you about Eric Adams’ appearance with Governor Cuomo in Brooklyn this morning. First, as someone who has called on the Governor to resign, do you think it's appropriate for Mr. Adams to appear with the Governor, given the accusations against him? And second, were you invited to attend? 

Mayor: Chris, I don't know about the invitation part. What I do know is that each leader has to make their own decision, and I respect the decision that any leader makes. I have the greatest respect for Eric Adams. I think that's well known. My own choice – I've been very clear. Yes, the Governor should resign. Period. Go ahead, Chris. 

Question: Thank you. Switching gears a bit, you said back in May that you wanted the City Marriage Bureau to reopen by July 1st. The City Marriage Bureau is still closed. We've spoken to a few couples. They're frustrated that they can't get their marriage experience. You know, especially as bars, restaurants, just about everything else in the city is open. Do you have an update on when the Marriage Bureau is expected to reopen? 

Mayor: Chris, I want to say, I'm glad you're raising the question. And I want to express real feeling for those couples who want to move forward, and we got to help them do it. So, I want to see if we can solve this this week. I don't have a final answer for you, but I want to solve this immediately. Obviously, this is the Clerk's Office, we're going to have to work with them, but we've got to open this up so folks can have the full marriage experience again. 

Moderator: Our next question goes to Nolan from the New York Post.  

Question: Hey, good morning everybody. How are you?  

Mayor: Hey, how you doing, Nolan? 

Question: I'm well, Mr. Mayor and yourself? 

Mayor: We are making it happen, Nolan. 

Question: The – on the topic of vaccinations, there are parts of the city, and parts of the State, parts of the country where it's still lagging significantly. The French president told his country that it's time for them to get their vaccinations and if they don't have passes proving they've been vaccinated, they won't be able to do very French things like enjoy a cafe or go to a bar or restaurant, get on a train, or get on a plane. And in response, a million plus people in that country made their appointments to go get their shots. Is it time for this city or the State or the country to consider a similar shot mandate? Because the voluntary approach has left significant gaps in coverage. 

Mayor: It's a fair question, Nolan. I like your characterization. They don't get to do very French things. I'd say right now, today in New York City, based on the facts, based on the data, especially that hospitalization rate, I think we’re in the right place. I do think it's fair to say, do we have to look at other alternatives going forward depending on how things develop? I think that's fair. I think in one way, this is already happening. There are lots of venues where if you're vaccinated, you can go there or go there more easily than if you're not, but to take it to that next level, I don't think we're quite there yet, but I think it's the kind of thing that needs to be considered. Go ahead, Nolan.  

Question: And to follow up, the city's positivity rate has doubled from under a percent upwards towards a percent and a half, and the Delta variant is driving the bulk of those cases. At what point does an outbreak – at what point are we considering this an outbreak of the Delta variant? At what point do other measures need to be put in place [inaudible] – 

Mayor: Look, it's a really fair question, and I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Katz, but what I'd say is this the conversation we have essentially daily around here. I think the thing that is so striking is how low the hospitalization rate is. You've heard the doctors say constantly, what we are first and foremost focused on is saving lives and averting the really most serious impacts of COVID. All of that can be seen in the hospitalization rate. When it's this low it means that something is working in a very powerful way and obviously 9.6 million vaccine doses is the reason. We, right now, do not see that changing in a major way in the immediate term, but we want to watch the trend lines constantly. And if we see something that causes the need to make some changes, of course we would. We don't see that at this point, but we're carefully watching. Dr. Chokshi. 

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir. And yes, to the extent that this is an outbreak, we should consider it an outbreak among people who are unvaccinated. This virus we've seen is – is wily. It will find the cracks in our armor and right now the biggest cracks are those with respect to people and places, you know, communities that remain unvaccinated, and so that's why you're seeing our laser focus to try to extend the protection that vaccination affords as widely as possible.  

Mayor: Dr. Katz, you want to add.  

President Katz: Nothing to add, sir, thank you  

Mayor: Thank you.  

Moderator: Our next question goes to Emma from the New York Times.  

Question: Hi, good morning, Mayor.  

Mayor: Hi, Emma. How you doing? 

Question: Good. Thanks for letting me ask three questions this week. So, I'm curious, you know, you and Cuomo obviously you've had a contentious relationship. What would be your advice to Eric Adams about how to deal with him? 

Mayor: First of all, it's – everyone makes their own choice and I really do respect that, Emma. Everyone's got to figure out what makes sense to them as a leader. A second, I've quoted Ed Koch before, I'm going to quote him again, because they history of mayors and governors is pretty clear. If you're Mayor of New York City, you're here to fight for 8.5 million people. Sometimes the city and the state's interests align, sometimes they don't. Sometimes the governor does something that helps New York City, sometimes they don't, we've seen that vividly over the years. So, to me, it is – when a governor does something good, that helps New York City, thank them, appreciate them, work with them. When a governor, any governor works against the interests in New York City, you got to push them, you got to call them out, you got to be tough because you're not going to get anything out of Albany without fighting back when you have to. So, that's my broad advice, but look, Eric Adams is a really smart, capable guy. He's been around. He's a savvy guy. He's going to figure out the path that works for him. Go ahead, Emma. 

Question: Thanks, and I know you're talking about this as an outbreak among the unvaccinated, but you know, one of my colleagues had a breakthrough case after he was vaccinated. My kids are young and still unvaccinated. So, I'm curious for you and the Health Commissioner, you know, how worried should we be? And why not encourage mask indoors, if not mandating them? 

Mayor: So, first of all, masks indoors, of course, there's a number of sensitive locations where we do, schools, hospitals, congregate care settings, mass transit, we definitely want to see people keep masks on in those settings. And second, just on the point about young people before I turn to Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Katz, look, I think we're going to have an opportunity to vaccinate a lot of young people in that 12 to 17-year-old range, particularly with school coming back. I think we're going to have an opportunity really, to focus a lot of parents on the importance of vaccination and move the dial there markedly, but you're right, for younger kids, we're still not there with the vaccine. I – our health team does believe that something that might be resolved in the next few months and the vaccine might be available for the younger kids, and the minute we see that, we're going to do a massive vaccination effort working with pediatricians, and I think you'll see hundreds of thousands of young people vaccinated within a matter of weeks in that case. And that's a day I'm looking forward to, but we're going to keep watching the situation. Right now, I think the mask rules are right for this situation, but we're going to watch the data. If we see something that needs adjustment, we'll be ready to do it. Dr. Chokshi then Dr. Katz.  

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir. Three points, first, if you are fully vaccinated, the science right now indicates that you have a strong level of protection and that's particularly true for the severe outcomes that we are most concerned about due to COVID-19. That means requiring oxygen or having to be hospitalized or requiring intensive care. So, that remains true even with the current variants that are circulating in New York City. The second point is with respect to breakthrough cases and breakthrough infections, while it is true that there is a slightly higher rate of breakthrough infections with the Delta variant, based on what we understand from the experience around the world, they remain quite rare. And the cases that do occur are generally mild, either they're asymptomatic or have few symptoms and don't result in those severe outcomes that I have described. And the third point is with respect to masks. So first, let me emphasize the most important thing is if you are un-vaccinated, you should keep your mask on particularly indoors. You have to keep doing the things that protected you over the last few months and that includes wearing masks. Of – for children, you know, that does remain important. It's part of the reason that we're keeping the mask rules as they are in our schools over the summer. The final point that I'll make on masks is that if you are fully vaccinated, remember there are certain settings where wearing masks continues to be important, public transit, whether it's subways or buses, health care settings, schools, other congregate settings, and if you feel more comfortable wearing a mask in other settings as well, particularly indoors, certainly that can help give you one more layer of protection against the virus. 

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Katz, you want to add.  

President Katz: I’d just to affirm that our experience at Health + Hospitals has been as Dr. Chokshi has said, that when somebody is vaccinated, if they are to become positive for COVID, they have a very mild case, much more like a minor flu incident and not at all like the horrible respiratory failure that we went through with so many people in the prior vaccination phase. Thank you, sir.  

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Our next question goes to Paul from the Staten Island Advance. 

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing? 

Mayor: I’m good, Paul, how are you doing? 

Question: I'm well, sir, thank you. My first question was for you and Dr. Chokshi - excuse me, Dr. Katz. I was just hoping to get reaction on the fact that the RUMC deal wasn't done regarding, you know, affiliation status with H + H and the budget, and what do you see as the future of H+H on Staten Island? 

Mayor: I will start and then turn to Dr. Katz. I think we're having a real discussion now. We made very clear to everyone at RUMC and to the elected officials representing Staten Island that we have an unprecedented opportunity to address the health care needs of Staten Islanders. Borough President Oddo was extremely clear about this was something never before seen, literally never before seen in the City of New York, finding a way to invest on a massive level, hundreds of millions of dollars. It's the right thing to do. A real conversation is now happening with the RUMC board. So, we still see a path here and I'm excited at that prospect and we're going to work hard to find a way to make it happen. Dr. Katz? 

President Katz: Yes, I totally agree with you, Mr. Mayor. I am still hopeful the board sees the value, the opportunity here to guarantee the long-term viability RUMC as a hospital. I think it's a great, great opportunity and no matter what Health + Hospitals is committed to the residents of Staten Island. We have Vanderbilt Clinic, which is able to provide an extensive degree of primary care and outpatient specialty care, and we feel that that's a very important niche in addition to the two hospitals on Staten Island. Thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead, Paul.

Question: Thank you both for that, and for Dr. Galvani, I was hoping she could expand a bit on the counterfactual situations in this study. Specifically, if it would have been – scenarios where there would have been a lockdown continuing – like what severity of lockdown there would have been in those counterfactual scenarios?

Mayor: Dr. Galvani, could you hear the question?

Dr. Galvani: Yes, thank you. So in the counterfactual scenario, we applied to our dynamic model the transmission rate that we [inaudible] to the New York City data, and also including the emergence of new variants to the extent that non-pharmaceutical interventions are impacting the transmission rate that is incorporated in the model and that fitting process, but not explicitly modeled.

Mayor: Thank you very much.

Moderator: We have time for two more questions today. Our next question goes to Reuvain from Hamodia.

Question: Good morning. My question is for the doctors, I believe Dr. Chokshi said that 98 percent of the cases in the last six months, cases, deaths, and hospitalizations were in those who are unvaccinated. I'm wondering if you have the numbers, as far as those who did not have a prior infection?

Mayor: Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Katz.

Commissioner Chokshi: You mean with respect to all of the cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the last six months, how many had prior infection versus not?

Question: Correct.

Commissioner Chokshi: No, we don't have those specific numbers at hand. We would have to do that particular analysis. What I can tell you is based on the experience, you know, based on what we understand with respect to re-infection rates from the published literature around the world, natural infection is slightly less protective than a vaccine-induced immunity, and so we would expect the numbers to be slightly lower than what I cited for the proportions of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that occurred among people who were not fully vaccinated, and to recap those, it was 98.9 percent of cases, 98.4 percent of hospitalizations, and 98.9 percent of deaths were among people who were not fully vaccinated.

Mayor: Pretty clear numbers. Okay. Dr. Katz, anything to add?

President Katz: Nothing to add, sir. Thank you.

Mayor: Okay, Reuvain, go ahead.

Question: Yeah, okay. Dr. Chokshi, I would appreciate it if you would indeed do the analysis, because again, when you say it's slightly lower, I mean, does that mean five percent lower? Does that mean a 0.5 percent lower? There are definitely a lot of people I speak to who just feel that the city and governments are pushing the vaccine without any discussion about the effect of having prior antibodies, and some people feel like why – either, why are you not revealing those numbers or not doing the studies? And many people do feel that if they've already had antibodies, they don't want to get the vaccine. So, I would just say that yes, if you can release those numbers, that'd be great. Thank you.

Mayor: Yeah, and let me thank you for raising it, Reuvain, and I want to see if Dr. Chokshi or Dr. Katz want to speak to that, because look, I understand on a human level, if people say, well, you know, the antibodies are enough to protect me. I understand why people might think that. But I think the science has been very clear and powerful. Obviously, we had people with antibodies previous to vaccination, and we were dealing with a hellish situation. Once vaccination was introduced broadly, we saw things turn around. I think there's a commonsense reality that vaccination inherently changes the overall situation. But let me let more eloquent people than me speak to that because I think you're saying, tell us why, if someone has had it already, they should still be vaccinated. Dr. Chokshi – take up the challenge, Dr. Chokshi.

Commissioner Chokshi: Sir, thank you very much, and you covered the high points actually, but ravine, what I would say is that your, your points are very well taken, and you know, I think about this from the perspective of New Yorkers who have had COVID 19 in the past, who have struggled with the infection, often got sick, and I want to be very unequivocal about what we know and what it means for New Yorkers going forward. First, we do know that that infection confers some degree of immunity. So that's clear, but we also know that vaccination strengthens that immunity and may extend the duration of it as well. This is why we're recommending that even people who may have been infected with COVID-19 in the past, once they have recovered, it is important for you to get vaccinated as well. And finally, I'll just add on a personal note I'm someone who has both had COVID-19 in the past and I chose to get vaccinated as well, and that was for a simple reason – because it offers more protection for me and for my family and for the patients that I'm taking care of, and that's why I'm making the recommendation to other New Yorkers who may have had COVID-19 as well.

Mayor: Dr. Katz, you want to add?

President Katz: I agree with the high points, a prior infection does confer immunity, but the evidence suggests that vaccination is a better way to go and strengthens that immunity that people may have from natural infection. So, everyone should get vaccinated.

Mayor: Thank you very much.

Moderator: Our last question for today goes to Gersh from Streetsblog.

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor, I hope you are well.

Mayor: I am well, Gersh. How about you?

Question: Well, I have to confess I'm going on vacation on Friday, so we won't talk for a couple of weeks.

Mayor: Well, deserved, Gersh. I hope it's someplace wonderful.

Question: We’re going to West Virginia on the Amtrak Cardinal. It's going to be excellent.

Mayor: We thank you for supporting Amtrak.

Question: Okay, well, I'll ride it. Anyway, so yesterday, Mr. Mayor, we spoke about the illegal parking on your gold standard Open Street, 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights, where the Fresh Air Fund, which provides low-income children with recreation has set up play areas that are designated as no parking zones, and I will tell you, your administration acted very quickly and towed away those offenders. Of course, they are back today and we are also getting reports from other Open Street volunteer groups all over the city who complain of the same thing – that people park even though the road is designated as no parking for certain events. So, I trust you guys are going to act again, but that's not my question. My question is actually about the process here. In all of the cases that I've been covering, residents say they called 3-1-1 to report the illegal parking, and 3-1-1 sent the complaint to the NYPD, which closed each case sometimes in mere minutes, claiming that it has discovered no violation, and it's the same thing we hear repeatedly about 3-1-1 quality of life or placard abuse or bus lane blockage complaints that are sent to the NYPD – the cases are almost always closed, often in seconds, with no action taken. Now, I know you're a fan of Public Enemy, the great bands in the 90s. So, to paraphrase one of their great hits, is 3-1-1 a joke at this point?

Mayor: Wow, Gersh – you really took that and ran with it. I'm – my mind is reeling. 3-1-1 is obviously tremendously important to this city, on so many levels and gets, you know, that's a way New Yorkers get a lot done and we're here to serve them, and it's one of the ways that we can serve them. But if there's specific situations, we've got to do something different. I've talked about this many times. Sometimes we have to go back to the 3-1-1 and say, hey, let's handle this differently. I appreciate you raising this. I'm going to have a conversation with folks about checking what's happening and making sure that real problems are addressed. I don't want to see Open Streets compromised in any way and Gersh, in particular, and again, I think you and I are pretty strongly aligned on this – anyone who's purposely trying to disrupt an Open Street, that's not the choice to get to make. Again, we decided there was a very thorough process around the Open Streets, it’s something that's really benefited the people of this city. City Council strongly supported this. Once an open street is declared. people have to respect it. So, we will work on improving the enforcement and improving the 3-1-1 process around it. Go ahead, Gersh.

Question: Okay, just to be clear, you know, I was only focusing on the process in this case, and I'm not derogating the people who work at the 3-1-1 call centers. They take the calls and they parcel them out to different agencies. That's not their issue. It's how the agencies handle these calls. So, let's extend the question and say, well, why not just take the NYPD out of these kinds of things like bus lane blockage, placard abuse, bike lanes illegal parking. We have countless examples of the NYPD opening and closing these cases in mere seconds without obviously solving the problem anyways. So, there's got to be a better way than that?

Mayor: Well, Gersh, first of all, the information you have, I’d really appreciate it if you would share it with our team here at City Hall. We don't want any case closed artificially. I don't – what you're saying is not what I've heard, honestly, but I want to take a real hard look at this because whatever it is, anything that needs enforcement that's not getting it that makes me unhappy and I want to fix it. Whether it means NYPD changing has protocols or other agencies joining in, we'll sort that out, give us the information you have. Let's figure out the best way to move forward. Because the enforcement matters a lot. And look Open Streets, just concluding today, Open Streets are another example of it in the midst of such challenge and crisis this city fought back. This City innovated people came up with solutions that proved to be really powerful, positive things. Open Streets is one of those examples. It's a great metaphor of the strength and resiliency in New Yorkers. We want it to work and we want that to be a big part of our comeback in this city, and it's well underway. We've got more to do, but we are definitely coming back. Thank you, everybody.