Then Gov. Andrew Cuomo withheld COVID-19 vaccines at a mass vaccination site at Citi Field amid his feud with then-Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2021, Politico reported.
Cuomo withheld vaccinations from the facility for several weeks, upset that de Blasio, his longtime nemesis, would be the one to open the site, a former de Blasio administrator told Politico.
"It was a constant tension throughout the vaccine process — managing Cuomo's expectations that de Blasio couldn't touch the vaccine," a source told Politico.
More than weeks after de Blasio touted the Citi Field site, Cuomo was promoting a state-controlled vaccination facility at Yankee Stadium, Politico reported.
During the pandemic, Cuomo and de Blasio fought over school closures and citywide shutdown plans, and state officials withheld daily data from their city officials, Politico reported.
Cuomo's office threatened to arrest City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi over an interpretation of which first responders were eligible for early vaccines, Politico reported. A Cuomo spokesperson refuted the account to Politico.
"New Yorkers know it was Gov. Cuomo who led the way on COVID response and this is nothing more than silly, revisionist history from a bunch of de Blasio ex-pats obsessed with distracting from the fact that he was a terrible mayor," Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said to Politico. "This took place at a time when the federal government botched the vaccine supply chain and we were moving heaven and earth to get as many shots in as many arms as possible."
Vaccine sites that de Blasio could not control or take credit for were prioritized by state officials, Politico said.
A report issued by Mayor Eric Adams' office concluded that the feud hampered the response to COVID-19.
"The Cuomo administration was reluctant to share data with the City and often refused to give advance warning of policy changes and new directives," the report read. "This dynamic hindered the City's ability to plan and respond to the pandemic effectively."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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