New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Jan. 15 that the city will run out of COVID-19 vaccines next week if it doesn't receive a larger supply.
"We will run out of vaccine next week in New York City. The supply should go to where there is an infrastructure to get it into people's arms. We know there is supply in this country not being used," Mr. de Blasio said.
He said the city has less than 186,000 first doses remaining as of Jan. 15, and two of the city's largest hospital systems, NYU Langone Health and Mount Sinai, are no longer booking appointments to receive the shots.
"We expect all systems to run out by the end of next week without supply," the mayor said.
Mount Sinai Hospital canceled five days of COVID-19 vaccine appointments after a supply shortage, 1010 WINS, a New York City radio station, reported.
A spokesperson confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review that the hospital canceled vaccine appointments between Jan. 15 and Jan. 19 due to "sudden changes in vaccine supply."
"We will inform our patients when more vaccine supplies become available and reopen vaccination appointments for eligible patients. For anyone with appointments scheduled after Tuesday, we will provide updates as soon as we know more," the spokesperson said.
NYU Langone Health told physicians Jan. 14 that it wasn't allocated doses for next week and wouldn't be able to continue giving shots without another shipment, Bloomberg reported.
New York City is slated to get 50,000 fewer doses next week than it did this week, despite more people being eligible, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Jan. 15, according to Bloomberg. He added that reduced federal supply has slowed distribution.