Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on CNN's Outfront With Erin Burnett

January 21, 2021

Erin Burnett: And I want to go now to the Mayor of New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio who has warned that his city could run out of vaccines today. The very city where of course Mr. Mayor, both you and I are sitting tonight. So is New York City out of vaccines?
 
Mayor Bill de Blasio: Erin we're almost out. I'll tell you something, I mean we are now vaccinating at the highest rate we've been at ever. 45,000 people on Monday. But we're running out of vaccine and we're not getting any assurance of major new shipments. I could be opening a 24/7 vaccine site at Citi Field where the Mets play, at Yankee Stadium. I want to be all over the five boroughs with major sites. And I can't open them because I'm not getting a major new supply. This is the fundamental problem right now, all over the country. But we're feeling it because as one of your guests said, the places that can do it fastest, really need to get the ball quickly. We need the supply because we can get it into arms, but it's just not there for us.
 
Burnett: Okay. So, I understand that. But on the website today, the City website, it says that you have had more than 1 million doses delivered to New York City, but only 539,000 have been administered. So that gap would seem to be not an issue of supply. Could you explain exactly what's happening with those numbers?
 
Mayor: Yeah. We've got a lot of appointments that are scheduled this week and next week that are going to use up everything we have. There are separate programs under those numbers for nursing homes run by the federal government. The bottom line is supply is not even close to keeping up with demand. Last week we did over 220,000 vaccinations. That's more people in New York City in one week than the entire population of Salt Lake City. It's going faster and faster. There's just no supply to keep up with it.
 
Burnett: Okay. So, I understand then what you're saying. You're talking about it's allocated. Okay. So then who do you blame the most for not having the supply you need? Is it the federal government or is it the Governor of New York? I mean, Andrew Cuomo allocates and he says, I'm going to allocate to regions that are getting their vaccines out faster. And obviously looking at your gap, New York City's rate, he points out is lower than others in the region. So is he the one not giving you the supply?
 
Mayor: No look, Erin New York City, at the rate we are going we're planning on 300,000 vaccinations this week alone. We will use up everything we have in no time. So that's not the question here. The problem is the federal government in the previous administration didn't use the Defense Production Act. Didn't really force the hand of the entire pharmaceutical industry and all the supply chain to make this a true national priority of maximum involvement from the military. And one more thing, they saddled us with rules that stop us from using those second doses. Right now, they're sitting – we have second doses sitting in reserve waiting weeks until they can be used. Those should be freed up right now to go into the arms of senior citizens who are living in fear. Let's turn those second doses into first doses right now. And then backfill with more supply in the coming weeks.
 
Burnett: Okay. So you're not frustrated at all with the Governor of New York when he says your rate is so much lower than anywhere else in the state? You're saying this is a federal issue?
 
Mayor: It's unquestionably the number one problem is federal. And what I say is it's clear from the sheer strength of our effort now. We did 45,000 people on Monday and that number is growing. New York City is going to run through everything we have in a matter of days. We need resupply. That's the clearest statement it could be to the State, to the federal government, to the manufacturers, get the vaccine where it can be put into arms urgently. That's what we're doing.
 
Burnett: Yeah. So let me just ask you the NYPD and FDNY, we are learning that they've stopped, or they're about to stop vaccinations for anyone who still needs to get a first dose because of the supply issues. Can you confirm that? And is there anything you can do so that these first responders can get their vaccines?
 
Mayor: I mean Erin, it is first responders, it's seniors. You know, some of our major hospitals have shut down their appointments and said they can't schedule any more. This is happening across the city and the state now. And what I want to do of course is restart all of that immediately. We could put people into new appointments in a matter of days, but we can't do it unless there's some major new supply. Look, the Biden administration, I'm praying in the next few days when they really get all the facts, when they really get visibility on the whole situation, they come back and they say, Hey, if New York City and other places are able to move quickly, we're going to shift some supply to where the hot hand is, right? I mean that's what I'm hoping, we'll hear, but we obviously need a much bigger solution. How can we say teachers, cops, firefighters, senior citizens, you just have to wait? That doesn't make sense to me. And we need a national solution.
 
Burnett: All right, Mayor de Blasio, thank you very much.
 
Mayor: Thank you.