Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

December 1, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, we continue, as with every day, to move this city forward while we're working to end the COVID era. Now, of course, we have a new challenge with Omicron and we are watching very closely, being very vigilant, studying what's happening all over the world, our health care team in touch with federal authorities and authorities around the world, watching carefully to understand the facts, the data, the science that will determine our next steps in addressing this challenge. Now we do know there are more confirmed cases in Western European countries. That's a real concern and that it appears Omicron’s been present there for a number of days. So far, no reported cases, no confirmed cases in the United States, obviously none in New York City. But we are continuing to take steps to prepare and we're taking steps to make sure the city is safe, not just Omicron, but from the challenge we have right now, which is the Delta variant. That's why we put in place the new mandate for childcare employees, and we'll be talking about additional measures in the days ahead. We'll keep climbing that ladder, using all the tools we have to protect the people of this city. We put out a very clear mask advisory from the Department of Health, reminding all New Yorkers using masks makes a lot of sense as we're going into the colder weather, going into the holidays. We also, of course, are always focused on the number one tool, the thing that makes all the difference, vaccination, and this is where this city should be proud because we are literally one of the safest places in the United States of America because of the high level of vaccination. 

This week our schools, once again, are providing vaccination sites for our youngest New Yorkers, the five to 11-year-olds. We're providing first doses for those who don't have them yet, second doses for those who got them weeks ago. But listen, parents, it's time to get your young children vaccinated. It's time to protect yourself, your family, we all love our kids, we want to watch out for our kids, and we have to watch out for our whole city. So, we need the youngest New Yorkers vaccinated, that's happening in schools this week, and so many other locations, always and always fast, and free, and effective. But here's the good news, when it comes to adults, 89 percent now, 89 percent of New Yorkers have received at least one dose. That's a stunning figure. That's something all New Yorkers should be proud of. And thank you to everyone who made that decision to get vaccinated, thank you to all the people who do the work of protecting us and providing the vaccines. Then with the next group of New Yorkers, the 12 to 17-year-olds, we're at 81 percent now, that's a great number, and that continues to grow. So, New Yorkers are doing the right thing, focusing on vaccination, that's really the key to fighting, not just on Omicron, but the Delta variant we have now.  

Now let's talk about boosters. On Monday, the CDC recommended that everyone 18-years-old and older, get the booster shot, that’s six months after your initial Pfizer or Moderna shot or two months after your initial Johnson & Johnson shot. I got the booster. I recommend it strongly for everyone. It is really the time. The booster makes a big impact and it's the time to do it, especially with new challenges on the horizon. Here's the breaking news. Here's the good news, as of today, over a million New Yorkers have gotten their booster. Over a million New Yorkers already have gotten that booster shot, a lot more are coming forward every day. Listen, this is the time, get that booster before the holiday season, before any gatherings. This is the time. Now while we are fighting the battle against COVID and working to leave the COVID era behind us, we also know that COVID has had so many painful, horrible effects on the people of the city, on the families of the city, on so many New Yorkers who've been struggling. People struggled through the pandemic and folks who had challenges already felt those challenges more deeply.  Folks struggling with substance misuse, a lot of that reality got deeper during COVID because of all the pain, all the challenges around us. It is not a shock to know that unfortunately, tragically, substance misuse increased, but it's not just that it increased, the results were deadly, particularly when it comes to opioids. We know long before the pandemic, we had a profound opioid problem in this city, in this country, but it got worse during the pandemic.  

The facts came out in the last week or so, and they are very troubling. Last year in New York City, we lost over 2,000 New Yorkers to overdose deaths related to opioids. Nationally, staggering figure, over 90,000 Americans lost in 2022 to opioid overdoses. This is literally the worst year on record. It is frightening and it continues to be a profound challenge, and when you see something this bad, you cannot just do business as usual. You can't say the status quo is acceptable. It's not. We have to do something very different. That's why we launched yesterday the nation's first overdose prevention centers. This is a crucial step to saving lives. The bottom line of an overdose prevention center is in one of these centers, lives are saved. It's very important for people understand this. This is a medical facility. This is a place where medical personnel are present to save lives. The difference between someone tragically addicted and shooting up alone, somewhere isolated and overdosing, and there's no one to help them and help doesn't come in time and we lose a loved one - the difference between that and having someone who's dealing with an addiction problem in a medical facility, getting supervision, getting immediate help if they need it. That's a world of difference right there. Overdose prevention centers have existed for almost 30 years in much of Western Europe, in Canada, widespread as a tool to save lives, tens of thousands of people dealing with addiction challenges have turned to overdose prevention centers and over 30 years, it hasn't been a single death, not one, not one all over the world, as opposed to the horrible reality I just outlined that we see in the city and around the country when people don't have that supervision and support. And importantly, in an overdose prevention center, it's possible to get to the pathway to treatment because you're surrounded by professionals that can help you move towards a better life, move towards treatment for the challenge you're facing. 

So two locations in upper Manhattan, co-located with centers that for a long time have been serving the community for decades, have been serving their communities in a number of ways, providing health support for people in need, including a syringe exchange. So, this is the time for this approach, it’s something that's been looked at for a long time, it's been studied very carefully. There are real concerns and it's important that we talk about those concerns, but what is abundantly clear as this is a way to save lives and we need it more than ever given what we're seeing with these horrible overdose realities around this city. So, we're moving forward. And then from there, we're going to be able to reach more and more people. And we're doing this for the people in New York City. We're doing this to save lives. We're doing this for our families. We also know that this, as first in the nation, opens the door for this to be a way of helping people and saving lives all over the country. It had to start somewhere. It was important to show that this would work and save lives. New York City decided to be the place that would start this effort, and I look forward to the day when we can save lives all over the country with this approach and turn people's lives around and get them to treatment. That's why we're doing this. I want you to hear more about this from the city's doctor, our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi. 

Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Yesterday was a truly historic day for our city. I'm grateful to all of the leaders, clinicians, advocates who paved the way for overdose prevention centers or OPCs, and particularly the dedicated providers who opened the first sites. And let me start with the why. Bottom line, as the Mayor has said, is that overdose prevention centers save lives. They link people to care and they improve conditions in surrounding neighborhoods. The Health Department released data yesterday showing that the overdose crisis is a five alarm fire in public health, and must be treated as the emergency that it is. 2020 with the deadliest year on record for drug overdoses, both in New York City and nationally, over 2,000 New Yorkers died of an overdose last year. That's more than deaths due to homicides, suicides, and motor vehicle crashes combined.  

But these are not faceless numbers, they are our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, neighbors and friends whose lives have tragically been cut short. Overdose prevention centers will help. They offer a clean, hygienic, supervised space for people who use drugs to do so safely while also providing access to treatment, medical care, and wraparound social services. As a doctor who is taking care of patients suffering from addiction, I have to emphasize how important that holistic model is to engaging people in a dignified way and building trusted relationships to help them into treatment and recovery. One of the clients whom we aim to serve told us, “having a place to go where there's others around me could be uplifting and not only saved my life if I were to overdose, but saved my life in other ways.” OPCs are also a science-based strategy. We have 30 years of research on their effectiveness and over 100 OPCs are currently operating in over 60 cities around the world. The science shows they save lives, prevent HIV and hepatitis, decreased public drug use, reduce syringe litter, and have neutral to improved effects on crime. No one is claiming that these centers will be a silver bullet and addressing the overdose crisis, but they are a vital component of a broader harm reduction approach, and it's appropriate that we're speaking about harm reduction today as we mark World AIDS Day. We must recognize New York City's long history of embracing seemingly controversial strategies in the face of public health crises. For instance, when the city supported one of the first syringe exchange programs in the country to reduce HIV transmission, this prevented countless deaths. Yesterday, overdose prevention centers started saving lives in New York City. I want to conclude with a special thank you to you, Mr. Mayor, for your conviction on this issue.  This simply would not have happened without your leadership and support extending over years. I am grateful and I know so many families across the city are too. Thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dave, and thank you for the work you and all your colleagues have done. I know this was something that people put so much energy into because you know it's going to save lives, and hopefully it's the beginning of something much bigger to turn the tide on this opioid crisis. And I want you to hear now, everyone, from someone who's been leading the way for the whole state of New York. He's the Chair of the Health Committee in the State Senate, he is also the sponsor of legislation to support overdose prevention centers all over New York State. And this has been an area of deep concern and passionate work on his part. I want to welcome State Senator Gustavo Rivera. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Senator. You are doing something so important there and having your voice from day one here as Chair of the Health Committee in Senate means a lot to us and what you're going to do to help make sure this reaches more people, saves more lives, thank you so much. And now I'm going to turn to one of your colleagues, State Senator Robert Jackson, who is Chair of the City's Committee in the State Senate. So, he's looking at issues of concern to cities all over the state. This is a problem in cities all over this state, all over this nation. It's a problem in rural areas as well. This is a profound challenge and new approaches are needed. He has been a champion for new strategies to save lives. One of the locations is in his district, in Washington Heights, and he's someone who personally understands how important it is to do something new and better to reach people and save lives. My pleasure to introduce State Senator Robert Jackson. 

[…] 

Mayor: Senator, thank you, and I am feeling in your voice the pain your family has been through, and I'm so sorry to hear that. And I got to tell you though, thank you for telling that story, thank you for taking that pain and turning it into a purpose to protect the people you serve and help people understand why this is so important. I really, really appreciate that. Everyone I want you to hear from another letter official who represents the area of the other overdose prevention center in East Harlem. She is the former Chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addictions in the City Council. She also knows very personally the challenge that the community faces, that families face, and why it's so important to try a new approach to save lives. My pleasure to introduce Council Member Diana Ayala. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you so much Council Member. And again, I can feel that this is very, very personal for you, and that we've got to, we've got to address this crisis in a new way. And thank you for your passionate support. And we're going to work with you and the community to make this work every day. Everyone, I want you to hear from one more elected official, and then we have another very important voice. I want you to hear first, he's the Chair of the City Council Health Committee, been a leading voice for new approaches to fighting COVID and so many other challenging realities we face. He also represents Upper Manhattan. So, he really cares for the communities that are suffering and need this new strategy. My pleasure to introduce Council Member and Borough President-elect for Manhattan, Council Member Mark Levine.

[…] 

Thank you very, very much Councilman. Everyone, you've heard just powerful, powerful messages from our elected officials. Folks who represent the communities, where these centers are, folks who have spent years and years working on these issues. I want you to hear one more, really important set of ideas from someone who led nationally. He was the Director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy under President Barack Obama. And he understands why this is an important moment, not just for New York City, for the whole country, a video I want you to see from Michael Botticelli.

[Video plays]

So, there you have it, very powerful voices who believe that we need to save lives in a new way. We just cannot keep going the way we've been going. And today is a day that we're going to start saving more lives because of these overdose prevention centers. So, we've talked about, COVID what we talk about every day, of course, the fight against COVID. We've talked about the fight against opioids and overdoses. Now let's talk about this city and our recovery and where we go from here. Look, the city continues to come back despite all the challenges. And we've gotten help. Finally, we got the help we needed from the federal government. And I am eternally thankful to President Biden, to Speaker Pelosi, and of course, to our own Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for giving us a stimulus that really helped turn things around. We now are seeing the impact in the City budget and what it means for the people of this city. So, yesterday we announced the updated City budget. Every November, there's an updating of the budget. Modification to make it current. And we are in a strong, strong position because of that federal help. Remember there was a long time where this crisis was raging, but the federal help was not certain. I remember those days vividly. We had to make a lot of very tough choices and things looked very dire. When the federal help started to come it turned things around. Now more federal aid has come. So, the November budget modification reflects, thank God, that that helped arrived. And we were able to do the things we needed to, to keep the City recovering. We were able to double down our efforts against COVID, bring back our schools, do a lot of the things that were hanging in the balance. Now they're being done the right way because we have the support. The City budget now has reached $102.8 billion because of that new federal aid. We've seen that influx come in additionally, since June, when the budget was passed. And it's now reflected in this modification.

This budget gives very, very strong reserves to protect New York City for the future. As I'm handing off the responsibility for protecting the city to our Mayor-elect Eric Adams. I can say with assurance, having over $5 billion, $5.1 billion in reserves, including the $1 billion rainy day fund, that's hugely important for people to know this city will be protected. Even if we see challenges ahead or economic downturns, that level of reserve will protect us. Also, very important news that the budget gaps in the years ahead have now shrunk. We've used this aid to stabilize the budget for years ahead. And that's good news. So for example, for the next fiscal year, starting in July, Fiscal 23, originally that budget gap looked like it would be over $4 billion. It's now down to $2.9 billion. That's a level that can be addressed and is manageable. For the following year, Fiscal 24, the gap had been $3.8 billion. It goes down now to $2.7 billion. For Fiscal 25, the gap had been $4.1 billion, goes down to $2.1 billion. This is really good news. We know these challenges in the years ahead are manageable. We have plenty of history that tells us that. We're now on a much firmer footing because we've been able to use that aid to focus on shoring up our finances, creating a budget that's even more fiscally responsible for the future. So, this is really good news. As part of this look, we were able to keep going with everything to help fight COVID, bring back schools, the testing, the Test and Trace Corps, which has done such amazing work. Strong and ready for this new challenge with Omicron. The emergency food programs have been there for every New Yorker. We said from the beginning, we were not going to let any New Yorker go hungry. The food programs continue to be strong. We've also been able to do so much to help address climate issues, which continue to be more pressing to address some of the challenges we have in our Correction system, to support our taxi drivers with the relief package. We put together all of these things. We got real, real important help from the federal government in putting these pieces together. So, this is a budget that really helps this city recover and move forward.

Okay. Let's do our indicators as we do every day. And the first one again, is the one I love to focus on and it reflects the fact that New Yorkers are listening. They're listening to Dr. Dave Chokshi, they're hearing the call. They're coming forward again, over a million boosters now. Everyone keep coming and get those boosters. Let's get our youngest New Yorkers vaccinated as well for the first or second time. That's crucial. As of today, 12,561,367 doses from day one, a staggering number. And that will keep growing a lot. Number two daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report is 129 patients. Confirmed positivity, 24.24 percent. Hospitalization rate per 100,000 New Yorkers is 0.82. And then finally new reported cases on a seven-day average. Today's report, 1,021 cases. Let me say a few words in Spanish, and then go back to the topic of so much concern in communities all over the city, stopping the overdoses and the creation of these new overdose prevention centers.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

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

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q and A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Chokshi, by Dr. Katz, by Dr. Ted Long, by Budget Director Jacques Jiha, and by DOC Commissioner Vinnie Schiraldi. The first question today goes to Juliet from 1010 WINS.

Question: Yes. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, everybody. Mr. Mayor, what's your concern regarding the hospitals here in New York City with limited capacity? I believe it's Long Island, LIJ Forest Hills, Queens Hospital Center. Are you looking at any measures to either curtail that or restrict anything in relation to these hospitals and their capacity?

Mayor: I'll start Juliet and I'll turn to Dr. Katz and Dr. Chokshi. Look, we obviously are watching very carefully and want to be of support to any hospitals in this city, not just our own public hospitals run by the City, but any of the hospitals. We are concerned because, clearly, we are going into the colder months. We are seeing an uptick in cases of COVID now with the Delta variant before we even talk about Omicron. So, the fact is this is an area of real concern. Now overwhelmingly our hospitals are doing very well but we have a history of supporting them during very tough times in 2020. So, we know how to do that. I'll let the doctors speak to it. Dr. Katz then Dr. Chokshi. Dr. Katz, are you out there? Oh, we may not be seeing Dr. Katz. Okay, Dr. Chokshi, step in.

Commissioner Chokshi: Certainly, sir. And thanks Juliet, for the question. We are watching this very carefully with respect to staffing capacity to ensure that we do have hospital beds when people need them. Overall, the picture across New York City is solid. It's very good, including at Health + Hospitals you know, with respect to staffing capacity. Meaning right now we have enough of a margin to be able to absorb additional hospitalizations. With respect to the specific hospitals that you've called out. You know, there is some variability in terms of those staffing capacities. What I know is that each hospital, including in response to the Governor's recent executive order, is revisiting their surge and flex plans. And making sure that they have the ability to staff up to add hospital beds as needed. So, we don't anticipate at this moment that any hospitals will have to, for example, cancel elective procedures, but we're monitoring it very carefully. And I have to just say you know, one way that we can all help health care workers who have been heroic over the last two years is to make sure that people are getting vaccinated, that we are getting tested and accessing treatment so that we keep people out of hospitals in the first place.

Mayor: Thank you. And I know we have Dr. Long on – Is Dr. Katz on, or Dr. Long?

President and CEO Mitch Katz, Health + Hospitals: Yes, sir. Sorry.

Mayor: There you go. Okay.

President Katz: We had a bit of technical problems with panelists, but I'm here. And yes, Health + Hospitals is quite prepared. And as you recall, sir in those tough times, we took transfers from other hospitals when necessary. We're committed not only to our own patients, but to all patients throughout New York City. And we will make sure that we fill in any holes so that people get the care they need. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Thank you, Juliet.

Question: Great. Thank you. Yeah. And the other thing I wanted to ask you about was are you revisiting plans for New Year’s Eve in Times Square? And who exactly will be checking vaccination cards at the checkpoints and how will that work?

Mayor: Okay. On the first point, we're continuing with the plans. Vaccination only, that's the way to participate in the Times Square celebration, New Year's Eve. Now it's literally a month away as of today. So, we're basing that on the information we have now. We are going to have it be vaccination only, and we anticipate being able to have a really important celebration as we move the city forward. Now we're watching Omicron too. And we're watching the whole picture with Delta and everything else. If something changes Juliet, that makes us want to modify the approach, we're going to alert people right away. But at this moment, it's the approach we've outlined. The specific check-in, we'll get that to you. Obviously, we're working closely with the Times Square Alliance, NYPD, creating a protocol for everything around Times Square. So, we'll get you the details of how it works. But the simple message to all New Yorkers, if you want to participate, bring your ID, bring your vaccination card, or the apps that have your information. And that's how you can be part of this very historic moment.

Moderator: The next is Elizabeth Kim from Gothamist.

Question: Good morning, Mayor de Blasio. I wanted to ask about the mandate, the deadline today for Correction officers. We're thinking that there's going to be a large number of people who are placed on unpaid leave? How is this going to impact the Department of Correction’s ability to staff critical posts and ensure smooth jail operations?

Mayor: So, great question, Elizabeth. Let's go over the basic facts. We've got a right now in the Correction Department, among the uniform staff, we are at 77 percent. So, that's gone up about 30 percent as a result of the mandate. So, we're at 77 percent now vaccinated. We've got another group of workers who have applied for the reasonable accommodation. I'm going to get you the exact percentage. I believe it's 700 total. We'll get you the exact percentage. But that group of course, continues to work while that process unfolds. And then we have a group of people who are neither category. But we also know, and we've seen this now time again, with health care workers, Department of Education employees, with the other uniformed services, that a lot of people choose to get vaccinated after the deadline. The most striking example is the Fire Department. It too was at 77 percent the day of the deadline. It is now up to 92 percent plus. So, I fully believe that you're going to see a lot more people get vaccinated either because of their reasonable accommodation decision, leading them to have to make a choice. And they choose to get vaccinated, or they just, even if they're on leave without pay, saying, wait a minute, I need to get paid. I want to be a part of this. I'm coming back. I expect those numbers to go up in a very substantial way in the days ahead. Go ahead, Elizabeth.

Question: And I wanted to ask you whether you were planning to have restaurants, gyms, and cultural venues extend the vaccine mandate to those five and up before you leave office?

Mayor: We're talking about that right now, Elizabeth. Not there yet, but it's something we're talking about. Obviously, right now, as of this morning for the five to 11-year-olds. We're over 17 percent. That's a good start. It's only been a few weeks. But we need to get that number up a lot. So, we're trying to determine what's the best way to handle that. At some point, obviously they will be included as is true for the 12 to 17-year-olds. But exactly when and how we're talking about, we will certainly have more to say on that in the days ahead.

Moderator: The next is Chris Sommerfeld from the Daily News.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to circle back on the previous question about DOC. Does this mean the 77 percent vaccination rate, does that mean that vaccinated Correction officers are now going to be put on 12-hour shifts? And secondly, we spoke to some vaccinated Correction officers yesterday who felt betrayed for, you know, complying with the mandate and still being what they see as punished for having to go on 12-hour shifts. I guess I'm wondering what your message is to them?

Mayor: My message is to them, that we value them and we appreciate them. We appreciate every Correction officer, every employee who has done the right thing and gotten vaccinated. Everyone who's kept showing up in the middle of this crisis. We are going to work this through. We've seen it with every agency. There's a certain number of days where things need to sort out and they do sort out. And it's going to happen again here. I'll turn to Commissioner Schiraldi in a moment. But I think the central point is this. We have a level of vaccination that allows us to move forward. We know that number is going to go up. It has gone up with every single agency markedly, both because of the resolution of the reasonable accommodation and because people ultimately make the decision to come back. I want to give you an example, which is striking. The leave without pay number for the previous workforce. Remember that number looked very high at one point, it's now down under 2,000 people, for an entire workforce of over almost 400,000. So, we see that folks initially who choose to leave without pay pretty quickly in many, many cases, come back, get vaccinated. As we get more and more people vaccinated we're going to be able to have the different shifts, different strategies. But for the immediate term, we're taking precautions to make sure the work gets done. Commissioner Schiraldi?

Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi, Department of Correction: Thanks, Mayor de Blasio. Yeah, it was really heartening to see how much the vax rates increased, 31 percent since before your October 19th announcement. That was incredible. Also, the number of people who are non-uniform, we don't talk about that much. But we have a 93 percent vax rate amongst the non-uniform staff at DOC. But that was all really impressive. The percentage of people you had mentioned this, that have gotten a recent or have asked for reasonable accommodations is nine percent. So, when you add that up with 77, it's 86 percent. And now with the 12-hour shifts, that'll essentially bump up the number of staff we have available to us. And we hope to keep that temporary until we get enough people vaccinated and enough people come back to work. I think that in some respects -- remember a lot of people have already been working overtime here and pretty hefty overtime. In some respects, it's kind of evened that out. And some people who haven't worked quite as much on that would be working 12 hours. And again, we want to get rid of that as soon as we possibly can. That's not something we view as long term. Our hope is that it'll go the same way it did with other departments, where in the next few days people are telling us they got vaccinated more frequently and people will actually be getting vaccinated more frequently. So that will gradually get rid of those 12-hour shifts.

Mayor: Thank you very much, Commissioner. I want to do that math again for everyone. Again, 77 percent of the uniform force has met the vaccination requirement. Another nine percent has requested reasonable accommodation. They will continue to work in the meantime while that gets worked through. So, 86 percent is the functional figure. And again, we're going to see that number go up in the days and weeks ahead as it has with other agencies. And that's going to allow us to make adjustments and make sure that workers get that additional support. Go ahead, Chris.

Question: Thank you. On a different topic you know, just from firsthand experience, I went to a grocery store yesterday. I saw maybe a half dozen people walking around without masks. I guess I'm wondering if the pandemic has taught us anything over the past two years, it seems to be that public health precautions should be implemented sooner rather than later, and to act, you know, as cautiously as we possibly can. So, I guess I'm wondering why wait with mandating masks inside as opposed to just recommending it, which you are currently doing?

Mayor: No, it's a good question. We talked about this yesterday. I'm happy to get the question again, because it's worth talking through. It is a question of what we think will work, Chris. We believe vaccination is the central strategy, and we've got to keep all the focus on vaccination. I never want people confused, to think that a mask takes the place of vaccination. It does not. It's night and day. I've said this many, many times. Vaccination is the way to stop COVID. We've still got a lot of young people who are not vaccinated. We've got a lot of adults who can still be vaccinated. We certainly have millions of people going to get in that booster. That's where the energy and focus is. We got a mask mandate as an option if we get more specific data that tells us is needed. But we believe right now, the thing that's going to truly make a difference right this minute is doubling down on vaccination.

Moderator: The next is Marla from WCBS 880.

Question: Good morning, Mayor. Getting back to the Correction officers and the vaccine mandate. The union, obviously unhappy about the emergency order and the switch to 12-hour shifts, and warning that you know, that could be dangerous and create an even more dangerous situation at Rikers. And wondering if you could respond to that? And then can you tell us about bringing on the new guards? How many new guards are actually on duty? And when would the bulk of them come online? And, you know, could it do anything to help you know, alleviate those 12-hour shifts?

Mayor: Thank you for the question, Marla. I'm going to turn to Commissioner Schiraldi in a moment. First of all, to say, as he said, the goal is to have that be a very limited period of time while we're using those shifts. It's a precaution right now. We've got very effective Correction officers who I know can do the job. My point is, regardless of what the union is saying, I know these folks are committed and they're going to do the job as they have through this whole crisis. The fact is, we know that things are working better at Rikers, because the population has gone down. And the Commissioner will go over the details, but it's not just are you bringing in more officers, which we are doing. He'll talk to you about what's going on with the classes going through and getting ready to join, but it's also reducing the population. The population has gone down markedly and that has really helped to improve the situation. Obviously, the lower, the population of inmates, the fewer officers you need, thank God. So, that's a big piece of the puzzle here as well. Commissioner, why don't you talk about the population situation and then, as well, the process of bringing in new officers.

Mayor: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You're absolutely right. We’re over 6,000 in September. And the Mayor really leaned into trying to get the population down in a variety of ways, one of which was heavily supporting Less is More and working with the State to take technical – people with technical violations away. So, that went from a little over 6,000. Now, we're a little over 5,200. So, about an 800-person decline in our inmate population. Then, we also remember in September, started really pushing with the Mayor's help on getting people back to work who were out sick, reducing AWOL’s – which means people who don't come to work and don't call in – reducing triple shifts and reducing unstaffed posts. So, just a few data on that, is that the number of people out on triple shifts has declined by 93 percent since September. The number of people AWOL’ing, or the number of times AWOL’s have occurred has declined by 82 percent. And number of unstaffed posts has declined by 78 percent. We're just beginning now to see the impact of that on what matters to us, which is violence and use of force. So, just a few data now. If you look at the last five months versus the five months before that, you had an 11 percent decline in use of force by Correctional staff, 19 percent decline in fights – these are all rates, by the way – and a 12 percent decline in assaults against staff. So, our thought is that, as we suspected, when we have more staff, and you're less tired, and posts are staffed, we're going to have less violence, less use of force, less assaults. So far – I mean, it's early, I’m not popping a champagne cork. We’re in the first quarter of, you know, a seven-game series right now. So, nothing to celebrate yet. But, so far, some early indicators are that the violence data, use of force data is bending in the right direction as the population declines, as we have fewer unstaffed posts and fewer triples.

Mayor: Yeah. And Commissioner, finish out the point about when additional staffing is coming from the recruitment process?

Commissioner Schiraldi: Sorry. I forgot that, Mr. Mayor. So, we have we – the first academy we launched was based on the list that I had when I got here, which was a 2019 list from DCAS, and, you know, we have to higher off that list. So, we did two things simultaneously. DCAS helped us by issuing another test. Meanwhile, we pull up the old tests for the first class. So, for that first class, we're going to have around 50. And I can get you the exact number, I don't want to give you a wrong number, because people sometimes drop out – around 50, starting in mid-December. Then, around another 20 – 20-something, starting in mid-January. The new DCAS test had over 1,600 people pass it. And so, we're screening them now for a December class. That December class will take four months, so it will start those people, however many are left – some of them will fall out for a variety of reasons – that 1,600 people will start – reduced number of 1,600 people will start in March. [Inaudible] all these data. You can contact our office and we'll give you the exact numbers on all of this.

Mayor: Thanks so much, Commissioner. Marla, go ahead.

Question: Okay. Thanks. And on the supervised injection sites, I know it took years to get to the point where you're at now. Are there any immediate plans to expand it? And I'm just wondering if you might explain how these centers are able to operate in, you know, presumably in violation of a federal law, which outlaws the use of these injection sites.

Mayor: Well, Marla, crucial question. Thank you. And our Law Department, their analysis is, in fact, that the federal law is aimed at drug trafficking not at medical facilities. These are medical facilities. These are facilities specifically created to save lives. They’re overdose prevention centers. They are exactly what we say they are. And we believe that that actually is allowable. The fact is we're going to start with these two. There are some other places with tremendous need. Senator Gustavo Rivera mentioned his area of the Bronx, as one example. But we need partners, the nonprofit organizations that do work in the community that provide health care, that know how to do this work – we need the specific partners. And we need to work carefully and closely with community members, community leaders, with district attorneys, And I want to say, appreciate deeply the support of District Attorney Vance, in terms of these Manhattan sites. It's a careful, thoughtful process. So, there certainly will be some more in the future, but there'll be a process to determine how, and where, and when.

Moderator: Next is Emma Fitzsimmons from the New York Times.

Question: Hi. Good morning, Mayor. A question about the new sites, how do you plan to deal with concerns from the community about the placement of the centers? And do you plan to place or is there any planning to place any of these centers in wealthy areas of the city?

Mayor: So, Emma, as always, you've seen with a variety of things we've done, we will put any type of facility in any type of neighborhood, depending on need. And one of the things we've done very, very purposely – you can obviously see the example of homeless shelters. Most notably, you're quite familiar with the controversy around the shelter near Carnegie Hall. We've made a determined effort to ensure that any facility that serves people in need is all over the city, representing every community. Now, this situation has its own reality in terms of preventing overdoses. The first concern is to put the centers where we see the most overdose – the most overdoses happening, where we see the most problem with opioid use. These communities and Upper Manhattan, unfortunately, are two communities are really dealing with a profound challenge. Everyone knows there's some other parts of the city that have had particularly sharp challenges. So, we're going to be working to match to the need, first and foremost, where the need is. We want it to be as close to where people are in need, because we want people to come to these places to stop dying. We want to make sure that this is an option people know is there for them. But we also need community-based organizations that can do this work and that we have a lot of confidence in, can handle it properly. So, there will be expansion over time, but it will be very pinpoint in terms of where we find those two those two criteria coming together. Go ahead, Emma.

Question: Thanks. And then, one of the news stories today said there were 1,000 Correction officers. You were talking percentages, but is it true that 1,000 officers are still unvaccinated? And do you have any indication from members or from, you know, from the union itself that they will go the way of FDNY? Like, what happens if that rate doesn't come up?

Mayor: Emma, we're always ready for contingencies. And, you know, we've literally been through this cycle now over and over again. You remember there was a lot of concern about hospitals, initially. A lot of contingency planning, in the end. Now, with Health + Hospitals, we're around 95 percent vaccination. There was a lot of concern about schools. You remember those days and days and days of questions, you know, would there be enough teachers? Was it going to work? Department of Education is at 96 percent now. I dare say there was tremendous concern and controversy around the Fire Department. A lot of contingency planning. You saw it. We talked about it every day. Commissioner Nigro talked about it. Again, Fire Department, now over 92 percent. Every one of those agencies has kept functioning well. The same reality here, we know when you combine already the uniformed personnel who are vaccinated with the folks requesting the reasonable accommodation, functionally, that puts you at 86 percent right there.
And we know that number's going to go up. We just know it from all this experience. And, certainly, the jump that we've seen, an almost 30-percent jump because of this mandate, is evidence right there. So, we feel very confident in the contingency measures and very confident that you’re going to see a lot more people vaccinated in the Department of Correction. In terms of how many are on leave without pay at this hour, Commissioner, do you have that number in front of you? I think it's – I don't have it here. Do you have that exact number, Commissioner?

Commissioner Schiraldi: I don't, Mr. Mayor. I’m hesitant to give it without having to nail it down with my staff, because the numbers keep changing every 10 minutes. We’ll get it to you.

Mayor: Okay. Emma, we'll follow up. And the Commissioner makes a good point when he says the numbers change every few minutes. One of the things we saw, Emma, literally the day after the deadline last time is the number of people got vaccinated that next day and then the day after that. So, these numbers will keep evolving, but we'll get you the latest number in just a short while.

Moderator: Next is Andrew Siff from WNBC.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call. On the Omicron variant, I was wondering if your health team has seen the reports that two Israeli doctors who were fully vaccinated, including boosters, tested positive for Omicron? And, with that in mind, what are the city's current numbers with regard to breakthrough infections regarding the Delta variant, so we have sort of something to compare it to when inevitably that variant is here? To examine whether it's even better at evading the immune system.

Mayor: Very important question. I appreciate it. We have Dr. Chokshi, and Dr. Katz, and I think we have Dr. Long as well. So, let me see which doctor is most familiar with that information coming out of Israel. Who would like to speak to that?

President Katz: I’ll start, sir, as a clinical issue, just to say that what the reports are – what matters is, are people getting seriously ill? I mean that – there's no question about the fact that the COVID virus continues to circulate. It will continue to mutate as well. What I'm focused on and what we all need to look at is, are people getting sick? Are they getting hospitalized? Are we losing lives as we did in the beginning of this pandemic before we had vaccination? And so, it's not at all surprising that people who are vaccinated may still have a positive nasal swab. As long as they stay healthy or have minimal symptoms, I think we have to view that as a major victory. And all the data so far suggests that this is – the Omicron is a manageable infection in the sense that vaccinated people are not getting highly sick. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Thank you. Any of the other doctors want to add?

Commissioner Chokshi: Yes. I'm happy to add. And Dr. Katz is exactly right. What I would add, Andrew, is that we do have to be careful in these early days as we're building our understanding of the Omicron variant to extrapolate too much from, you know, the preliminary reports that we're hearing. The plural of anecdote is not data and it will take more time for us to have a rigorous understanding of the key questions that I've laid out about Omicron, which are transmissibility, severity of disease, and how it affects immunity. So, we will, of course, keep New Yorkers posted as the science is elucidated. But, right now, it's too early to draw very many conclusions on any of those three dimensions. Andrew, you also asked about breakthrough infections. All of that data is on the Health Department's website with respect to risk of breakthrough infections. The one salient data point that I'll highlight is that unvaccinated New Yorkers remain at significantly higher risk for infection, hospitalization, and death compared to vaccinated New Yorkers. When it comes to cases, unvaccinated New Yorkers are seven times more likely to be infected in this era of when Delta is dominant compared to vaccinated New Yorkers. So, our message remains very clear, get vaccinated and get your booster.

Mayor: And Dr. Long, anything you want to add?

Executive Director Long: Yeah, one thing. Andrew, I appreciate your point around breakthrough infections. And I think one important point, which is what Dr. Chokshi was just saying, is what can we do now to fight? There was a study that came out this week in JAMA Internal Medicine that found if you get your booster – and this is actually was done in Israel – you have an 86 percent reduction in the odds of having a positive test for COVID. So, that's a profound effect of the booster. And now, the CDC has recommended that all people that meet the eligibility in terms of the time window should get the booster. This is something that's very important for New Yorkers to do to continue to keep our cities safe. An 86 percent reduction and the odds of testing positive is a very powerful statistic that shows that.

Mayor: And Dave Chokshi gets, once again, quote of the day award for the plural of anecdote is not data. Very powerful point. Andrew, go ahead.

Question: Thank you very much for all of that. And following up on what Juliet asked about the capacity issues in two hospitals in the city on the new State list, I'm wondering what is it that's impacting the capacity at, for example, Queens Hospital Center at all, since, Mayor, you've said before that the mandates haven't had an impact on service. On Monday, Governor Hochul acknowledged that the health care mandates have affected hospital capacity upstate. So, I'm just wondering, is there a, sort of, a small, incremental impact on the number of available beds and that's why those hospitals are now on the list?

Mayor: Andrew, I'm going to ask for your clarification, because I'm not familiar with the remarks from the Governor you're referring to about the mandates. Clarify what you mean about the interplay of the mandates and the hospital capacity.

Question: What Governor Hochul said was, the small number of health care workers who have refused to get vaccinated and therefore are not coming to work, she said that is impacting the ability of certain hospitals to staff at the normal number of available beds. And so, I'm asking if that is the case as well for the City hospitals that are now on the list.

Mayor: Okay. I'll turn to Dr. Katz and Dr. Chokshi, but I want to emphasize, look, very important to recognize the reason so many people are vaccinated is because of the mandates. The reason so many health care workers are at their posts, and they are safe, and their patients are safe is because of the mandates. And very few people in the scheme of things did not follow those mandates. Certainly, look at our public health system – 95-percent plus, right now vaccinated. So, the mandates were absolutely necessary. In fact, we need more mandates in this city, in this state to keep people safe. In terms of capacity, we always know there are tools that any hospital can use to address a need, including other ways of getting additional help or working with other hospitals to lighten the burden. But the thing that was 100 percent necessary is the mandates. In fact, we’ve got to keep expanding them. In terms of what it's meant for your staffing levels and what's happening in these two hospitals here in the city, Dr. Katz, and then Dr. Chokshi.

President Katz: Thank you, sir. And I think you've done a good job of explaining it. Upstate and several areas, especially in Western New York, where vaccination rates are quite low, they have had difficulty maintaining sufficient number of vaccinated staff. That has not been true in New York City. We're both at Health + Hospitals and at the other systems, overwhelmingly, New Yorkers doing health care work have agreed to be vaccinated. And we've had very few people we lost due to unwillingness to be vaccinated. All hospitals have ups and downs in their census, and I have to move staff as well as patients – it's an every-day activity. But my system, overall, we have more than 10 percent of staff beds that are currently vacant. So, I can't always predict at every single hospital what the day will bring. Sometimes one hospital has a particularly large number of patients. We have seen a large number of people without COVID who've had illnesses that, during COVID, they were not able to take care of and are now having repercussions of untreated diabetes, untreated hypertension. So, we have had a lot more volume of patients not with COVID. And with the upswing, we've had more patients with COVID. But we're in an excellent position to deploy resources at all our hospitals. It's an every-day activity. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Chokshi, do you want to add anything?

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

Mayor: Okay, great. Thank you.

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. Next is Marcia Kramer from WCBS.

Question: Mr. Mayor, good morning. I'd like to ask you, given the fact that Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter has announced that she'll be leaving the system at the end of the year. What are the challenges you think the next Schools Chancellor will face going forward?

Mayor: The most important is to keep our kids safe and everyone who works in our schools safe as we fight COVID and, hopefully, end the COVID era in 2022. So, that close coordination between Department of Education, Department of Health, and all the other leaders in our health care leadership – that really, really matters, Marcia. I’ve got to tell you – and I want to give tremendous compliment to Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter, she has been absolutely outstanding, helped this city to move forward during COVID, helped to keep our kids safe, worked really beautifully with our health care leadership, particularly Dr. Chokshi and – excuse me, Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Varma worked closely, closely with the Chancellor on a lot of the planning. So, I think that's job-one, given what we are dealing with right now. Beyond that, I think it's deepening the efforts to help kids come back from COVID. You know, we've done academic screenings of all the kids' mental health screenings to help support them. A lot of great work has been done by our educators and staff to help kids overcome everything they've been through with COVID. It's been incredibly difficult for our kids. So, a lot of progress is being made. The next Chancellor is going to have to double down on that help that, help that generation that went through COVID overcome it and move forward. Go ahead, Marcia.

Question: So, my next question is this. So, the new Mayor-elect Eric Adams has zeroed in on the Education Department as an area that he wants to streamline and make be more efficient, because he says it doesn't do a good job of educating minority students. So, first of all, he said that he wants to look at the bureaucracy that was created by former Chancellor Richard Carranza, to see if you need all those people. And, secondly, he wants to look at all the programs that are done, because, he says, “We're getting an inferior product that doesn't make sense, that's the height of dysfunctionality. It’s not going to continue under the administration of Eric Adams.” So, what do you – how do you feel about his feelings that you have to do more to educate minority students and to streamline the department and to look at the bureaucracy and whether you need it all?

Mayor: Remember, to begin – just the obvious fact, our school system here in the city, the biggest in the nation, is over 80 percent kids of color to begin with. And we have to serve all of them and all kids. So, his impulse to say, we need to keep doing better, I agree with that. Also, every mayor, because one thing we have that really does make sense and must be continued is mayors are accountable for our schools now. There's mayoral control of education. That is absolutely crucial. Every mayor takes on that responsibility, has to look closely at Department of Education and determine what are the next reforms and changes that are needed. We all know there's a long way to go in terms of improving education. I will say, I have a lot of respect for our educators and our school staff, a lot of respect for the folks at the DOE leadership who have seen us through COVID. I want to make sure everyone understands what heroes they have been, and how much they've achieved, and how much they've moved the school system forward with the highest graduation rate ever. We have pre-K, 3-K for All. These are amazing concepts that didn't exist in the past. A lot of progress has occurred. But, of course, there's more to do in education. And I have a lot of confidence that Eric Adams is going to find the next steps.

Moderator: The last question for today goes to Julia Marsh from the Post.

Question: Hey. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Can I check my math on Department of Correction without it being counted as a question?

Mayor: Yeah, sure. Do your math first.

Question: Okay. So, I was joking to my colleagues that we need Andrew Yang here, but then you did some math for us, so we were all set for a minute.

Mayor: I'm glad I could show you math skills.

Question: So, we've been told by the Department of Correction that there are 800 – I'm sorry, 8,800 uniformed staff. You said that 77 percent are vaccinated. That would be 6,776 vaccinated. Nine percent exemptions would be 792 exemptions. Then, there's the remaining 14 percent, which I assume are on unpaid leave, that would be 1,232. Is that the accurate?

Mayor: Well, I'm impressed by your math skills. I'm going to turn to Commissioner Schiraldi, and I want to emphasize, as I turn to the Commissioner, Julia, that, again, the numbers, literally, are changing as we speak. And that's a good thing, because more people are coming in and getting vaccinated. I want to stay top-line and then the Commissioner will jump in. And we're talking uniform staff – the civilian staff has even higher levels of vaccination, but uniformed staff, 77 percent have met the vaccination requirement as of yesterday. We've got nine percent that have requested reasonable accommodation. That process will play out. So, that's 86 percent. The remainder in leave without pay, officially. But, again, with a clear recognition that, that number is going to reduce. And I remind you that overall leave without pay number has gone down markedly for all the other agencies really, really sharply. So, in terms of Julia's math, Commissioner, does that sound right to you or anything you want to modify?

Commissioner Schiraldi: There's a whole bunch that doesn't work there, Julia. And I, honestly, can get you this once we’re offline, but I'll give you some top lines right now, as the Mayor said. First of all, just to start with, we have 7,814 uniformed employees – not the 8,800 number that you used, that's an old number. Total uniformed staff vaccinated, 6,016 – 77 percent. And then, we've got another group that have made reasonable accommodation requests – 708. That's another nine percent that have made reasonable accommodation requests. I know the next thing you're going to want to do is do all the subtraction and say, oh, all the rest are going to be on ALWP. There’s just a little problem with that, which is, as you know, we have a pretty substantial number of people out on long-term sick, family medical leave. You know, we've been talking about this to the media for quite a while. So, if you're not on long-term sick, you're not really considered ALWP. So, if you want – and that's just a level of math that I think is going to get everybody on this a headache. So, if you want, I can walk you through all of that so you know what group of people is likely to get ALWP. We are not ALWP’ing somebody on long-term sick, on family medical leave, on vacation, or on military. We're not ALWP’ing those. So, we have to do a little subtraction. It just doesn't work well for, sort of, [inaudible] at this time.

Mayor: Thank you, Commissioner. Okay. Julia, now, fire away with your questions.

Question: Back to my questions. Thank you. So, back to these safe injection sites. The program director of the East Harlem Center said that there were five overdoses yesterday. Obviously, you know, thank God nobody died. But I'm wondering, is there anything that that's done at these centers to try to just prevent people from overdosing in the first place? You know, monitoring the amount they're using, whatever they're using at that point? And I wondered if Dr. Chokshi could point to a study that proves that these centers save lives. From everything I've read, there's evidence of no deaths but nothing conclusive about an overall reduction in overdose deaths over time.

Mayor: So, I’ll turn to Dr. Chokshi on all the above. But I want to say, with the information you started with, with five people who overdosed – Julia, I think the counterfactual is powerful here. Five people who could well have overdosed someplace else with no medical support present and we well know we could have lost one, or two, or all five of those people. And that's the whole point. When there's medical personnel present, people's lives are saved. When there's not, we lose people all the time. We know this. So, I think, in some ways, this is a real common-sense matter. But Dr. Chokshi, in terms of the studies and answering how it works in that situation to make sure that people are safe. Go ahead.

Commissioner Chokshi: Thank you, sir. And Julia, I think, you know, much of the answer is actually tucked in your question with respect to our overdose prevention centers work and how they save lives. First of all, the premise of OPCs is, of course, to prevent overdoses and, particularly, to prevent fatal overdoses. This is done in the moment, you know, through the medical supervision that we've described and as the Mayor alluded to. But it's very important – and the reason that we call them overdose prevention centers in the first place alludes to the fact that this is also about connecting people to care. This is about the – you know, the trusted relationships that allow people to navigate to accessing treatment like buprenorphine, which is very important with respect to treating opioid-use disorder. It's about preventing HIV and Hepatitis. And we know that – you know, that is something that particularly for people who use injectable drugs is a major concern as well. So, there is reams of scientific evidence on the benefits of OPC’s, particularly the mortality benefits. Much of this was summarized in the feasibility study that the Health Department and the City released in 2018, and there have been additional studies since then that underscore the benefits that are described.

Mayor: And Dave, you'll make sure that you can refer our colleagues in the media to some of the most powerful studies. Is there one in particular that you would say if people wanted to get the best and most current understanding, is there one study in particular you might point to?

Commissioner Chokshi: Certainly, there are systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Those are two of the types of studies that actually combine data across dozens of other studies. And there was one that was just published within the last couple of months, which does summarize many of those benefits. I'll be happy to show that with Julia and follow up. And of course, for anyone else who would like to see it.

Mayor: Just for everyone's benefit, just cite the entity that put out that study, if you have it?

Commissioner Chokshi: Sorry, sir, I don't have it at my fingertips, but we can follow up with them.

Mayor: Okay, Excellent. Go ahead, Julia.

Question: Thank you very much for that. Another question, I'm trying to understand what exactly the City's involvement is here? I know these sites are run by nonprofits. Is there any – and I was told yesterday that there's no public funding? Is there any funding for example, through the Fund for Public Health in New York City? And did the City issue permits? Did they have to get licenses from the State? What kind of regulation is there and what does that look like? Are there, you know, inspections by the Health Department?

Mayor: Wait a minute. That's more questions than we can handle in one question. So, I'm going to take, I'm going to composite your question and then obviously our team will follow up with you on everything. But we just can't, that's such a multi-part question. We can't handle it.

Question: Okay. Thanks. I tried to ask yesterday, and the Health Department said that they don't know because it's not run by the City.

Mayor: Okay. We’ll – definitely our team here at City Hall, will follow up with you as well. Look, a crucial point to begin. And then Dr. Chokshi will continue. Not run by the City is exactly right. Run by nonprofit organizations that have for several decades been working in the community, doing things like needle exchange. Now they will be doing this work, which will save lives. I'm quite convinced. So, this is their work. The City provides broad support to these organizations, but this initiative is their own. Dr. Chokshi, anything else you want to add from there about how we approach working with these groups?

Commissioner Chokshi: That captures it, sir. These are private providers, as you've already said. They are syringe service programs that we've been working with intensively for several years when we provide the broad support that the Mayor has already mentioned. We also take this very seriously, you know, not just for the sites themselves, which it's very important to clarify. These are additional services at existing sites rather than new centers that are being created. But we think about this within the neighborhoods and the communities that they're a part of. And you heard about this really eloquently from the local elected officials who were on the call earlier. And we have a partner to make sure that for things like syringe litter in the surrounding neighborhoods, addressing public drug use, helping to navigate people to care whether at these centers or at other facilities like Health + Hospitals facilities. Those are all things that we do to create a, you know, a holistic approach to caring for people who use drugs in these neighborhoods. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you, Doctor. And as we conclude today, look, really want us to tell you that there's so many people in this city who put amazing passion and effort into saving lives. And the folks doing this work that started just yesterday to stop overdoses, to save lives. You heard it from one of our colleagues in public service. If someone's gone, if we lose them to an overdose, there's no discussion of treatment once someone's dead. If you keep people alive, all things are possible to get people to treatment, to get them to a better life. This is why it's so important. But the people do this work to save lives, I want to thank them. Thank everyone who worked to make this possible. And it is in the context of this entire reality we've dealt with, with COVID, which has also amplified the opioid crisis. Think about all the New Yorkers every day who are working to protect people from COVID, our health care heroes, our Test and Trace Corps, all of our colleagues at Health + Hospitals, Health Department. I salute all of them because every day they're looking out for every one of you. Thank you, everybody.

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