Mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a Monday press conference that a COVID-19 vaccination site will be opening at the American Museum of Natural History … right under the whale.
Photo: D. Finnin/© AMNH
“We have an exciting new site to announce today … and I’ve been trying to work with different ways to phrase this. Different ideas thrown around. I would say it’s a whale of an announcement. Or perhaps we are whale-coming this new site. It is the American Museum of Natural History. Really exciting new site, literally you can get vaccinated directly below the blue whale.”
The mayor stated that the vaccine would be open to all, but that there would be a particular focus on residents of public housing and cultural workers.
“… this will be for everyone, but particular focus to begin with on public housing residents, on cultural workers, members of DC 37, AFSCME who work in cultural institutions, museum staffs. We want to reach all these folks who we depend on to bring back our cultural community.”
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
Ellen V. Futter, the president of the AMNH, continued to state in part that “[the AMNH] is dedicated to fostering scientific knowledge and understanding and providing access to the public so I can’t even imagine a more important manifestation of our mission in action.”
Continuing to address the mayor, Futter said that “… having the vaccination site kick off under our beloved blue whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life is very meaningful to all of us at the museum, and you might have noticed, she’s sporting a band-aid.”
They mayor replied to say “I want to see the really really really big syringe you use to vaccinate the whale.”
We reached out to the museum for more details and a representative sent us the following message:
“The American Museum of Natural History vaccination site will open on Friday, April 23. Vaccines will be administered on the lower level of the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, using the subway entrance from the 81st Street stop on the B and C lines. All appointments must be booked in advance at vaccinefinder.nyc.gov. Everyone who receives a vaccination at the Museum will receive a voucher for complimentary general admission for up to four people for a future Museum visit. Further details can be found here.”
