Lines form for Covid testing in Times Square in New York on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. (ÂPhoto by Richard B. Levine)
NY: New York during the COVID-19 pandemic
NEW YORK CITY (77WABC) – New York City health officials are reportedly prioritizing COVID-19 tests for minorities.
Emails between Staten Island City Councilman Joe Borelli and a representative from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene indicate that city officials are prioritizing specific neighborhoods for COVID testing based on “race and inequity.”
‘Our office has been receiving calls regarding the mobile NYC H+H testing sites such as Wolfes Pond Park,’ Borelli staffer Briana Nasti wrote in a December 22nd email.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene responded the same day to Nasti and informed the Borelli staffer that the city is prioritizing neighborhoods flagged by the city’s Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity – which has identified 31 underserved neighborhoods to receive preferential COVID treatment from the city.
The task force said names were picked based on a DOHMH analysis of ‘health status, living conditions, social inequities, occupation and COVID-19 Wave 1 impact,’ though it did not release the methodology the agency uses to weigh the different factors.
The latest revelation comes as reports surfaced that non-white people are receiving priority from the state Health Department to receive life-saving monoclonal antibody treatments and Pfizer’s new anti-viral pills because of nationwide shortages.
Borelli also tweeted, “The race-based medicine guidance was only the beginning. They flat out told me they wouldn’t prioritize testing in my district bc we didn’t meet some racial rubric. @NYCMayor Adams must reverse this disgusting de Blasio policy & his racist medicine guidance.”
The race-based medicine guidance was only the beginning. They flat out told me they wouldnt prioritize testing in my district bc we didnt meet some racial rubric. @NYCMayor Adams must reverse this disgusting deBlasio policy & his racist medicine guidance https://t.co/SiOLXTWr8z
— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) January 1, 2022
