New York opens vaccination site underneath blue whale in Natural History Museum

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New Yorkers will be able to get vaccinated underneath the blue whale in the American Museum of Natural History.

The vaccination site will open on Friday and appointments will be available Friday through Tuesday each week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., WCBS reported.

A #COVID19 vaccine site is coming to the legendary American Museum of Natural History! Join us at City Hall for more.
https://t.co/tS8b8ysNld

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 19, 2021

De Blasio said during his daily briefing on Monday that the new vaccination site will be open to anyone, but the primary focus will be on vaccinating public housing residents, cultural workers and museum staff, according to WCBS. 

“We want to reach all these folks who we depend on to bring back our cultural community,” de Blasio told WCBS “This is an exciting new effort and I guarantee you a lot of people are going to say, ‘That’s where I want to get vaccinated.'”

American Museum of Natural History director Ellen Futter said it’s very meaningful for people to get their vaccinations under their blue whale.

“I know that in years to come we will look at images of New Yorkers getting vaccinated under the whale and it will be a snapshot of New York and New Yorkers fighting back, caring for themselves, caring for one another and of the time when things started to turn for the better,” Futter said.

New York City has more than 600 vaccination sites across the five boroughs and has administered 5.7 million vaccine shots.