Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City will begin paying children ages five to 11 $100 each to get vaccinated against Covid.
Earlier this week De Blasio announced that the city would begin vaccinating children ages five to 11 at city run sites starting Thursday and in schools on Monday after the FDA approved Pfizer's two-dose shot.
A total of 300,000 vaccine doses have been ordered in a mad dash to inoculate kids - even as controversy rages over whether the low-risk age group should get the jab.
De Blasio announced that following Wednesday's final authorization from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, city-run Covid vaccination sites will offer children ages 5-11 the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine.
In a press conference on Thursday, De Blasio confirmed that children will also be eligible for the $100 vaccine bonus first announced for adults who received the vaccine from June 30: ‘Everyone could use a little more money around the holidays.’
He acknowledged: 'it buys a whole lot of candy.'
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday that children ages five to 11 are eligible to receive $100 when they get vaccinated against Covid at a city-run vaccination site
Starting Monday every public school with students ages 5-11 years old will have a day for each school when vaccination is provided at the school building itself
NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi noted children have: 'endured so much during the pandemic and now it's their turn to have the same protection and grown-ups and teens albeit in a kid-sized dose.'
He said that the vaccine is safe and effective for children and that the city's health department has been working with about 1,500 pediatricians and family doctors to prepare to receives an initial order of 330,000 doses for children.
Dr. Chokshi stated that CDC data shows that if every New Yorker between the ages of 5 and 11 were to get vaccinated an estimated 38,000 Covid cases could be prevented.
CDC figures show that fewer than 700 children aged 18 and under have died of COVID since recording began in March 2020, amid concerns kids are at such low risk of serious infection that potential vaccine side effects - including heart inflammation - may not be worth the risk.
Dr. Kavita Patel said: 'For every nine New York City children that are vaccinated we're likely to prevent one case of Covid.'
The NYC mayor then went over the city's Covid numbers to date reporting that the big apple has administered 12,113,400 vaccinations.
He also reported that the city recorded 103 patients hospitalized for suspected Covid cases, confirmed positivity is at 15.7 percent, the hospitalization rate is at 0.53 percent per 100,000, and the number of new reported cases on a seven day average is at 579 cases.
Children were already lined up to be vaccinated on Thursday afternoon at the city-run vaccination site at Essex Crossing 244 Broome Street.
Those who spoke to DailyMail.com included seven-year-old immunocompromised Paulo and his dad Sokio - who did not want give a last name.
Sokio convinced his son to get vaccinated but Paulo will be the luckily one getting $100 richer.
'I understand the hesitancy, especially in people of color communities, But I think science is great and people are working hard to make things safer,' Sokio told DailyMail.com.
Paulo said it hurt: 'Kinda more than a flu shot.'
Eleven-year old Mia Taylor and her mom Tamara Jenkins were also ready to be vaccinated. Mia told DailyMail.com: 'I wanted to get it - now that I
