Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces 120 Pop-Up Vaccination Sites Over 12 Weeks as Part of State's #VaxtoSchool Campaign to Increase Vaccination Rates Among Younger New Yorkers

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced 120 new #VaxtoSchool pop-up vaccination sites will take place across New York over a 12-week-period as part of the #VaxtoSchool campaign to increase vaccination rates among younger New Yorkers. Over the next 12 weeks, the State Department of Health will be working with localities, community-based organizations and healthcare centers on-the-ground to establish these new sites in all regions of the state, supporting the State's goal of significantly increasing vaccination rates among this demographic. In partnership with the State, each region will be hosting two new events per week, and partners, host sites, and outreach efforts will be tailored to best meet the needs of the communities they are built to serve.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you very much. Can you hear me today? That truck's a little loud. Who brought that track? Alright. Alright. Alright. It's not my fault. Blame Metro Vision. Dr. Christina Pardo, first of all, to you and the family at this Life of Hope facility. It's so extraordinary, the work that's done here. Over 15 years ago, some members of this community came forward and said, our immigrants in Central Brooklyn need special attention. Let's give them a home to come to, let's take care of their basic needs. And what has gone on in this 15 years is that you've taken care of people sometimes in their darkest hours. And for that, on behalf of all New Yorkers, I want to say thank you to you as the director, but also everyone who's part of this family. Let's give them all a round of applause.

Council Member Farah Louis, we've seen each other many times and Council Member Mathieu Eugene, we saw each other at an anti-gun event a couple of weeks ago. Thank you for your leadership, both our council members.

Also, Nick Perry, who was represented by Monique Waterman is here and I spoke to the assembly member yesterday. He's recovering right now. He'll be fine in a couple of days, and I want to make sure we acknowledge his great representation of this district.

Joined by also a friend of mine, neighboring Senator Persaud, who will be giving a few remarks to close up the event here today.

We're here for one reason. One reason. That's to protect our children. And I come at this as a mother who knows from the second you first hold that baby, you are hardwired to do everything in your power to protect them. It's that simple. And it's the first time you put them in a car seat. The first time you tell them not to run into the street, you make sure they have a bike helmet on, you make sure they're wearing their seatbelts. And as they get older, you make sure that they're safe when they leave the house and you give them all the knowledge you have as an adult, to this child on what it takes for them to stay alive and to stay safe.

That's why it was an important priority of mine, as we knew our children were heading back to school, on my first day as governor four weeks ago, it seems a little longer, four weeks ago today, I announced a universal mask mandate, which seemed like a simple issue, ends up being fairly controversial in some circles, but it doesn't matter. Those masks are like the seatbelts, they protect your children.

And I'm glad there's been incredible compliance and to our education leaders, the principals of the various schools that are represented here, I thank them for enforcing this to make sure our kids are safe.

We also work closely with our schools to prioritize in person learning. Remote learning, interesting experiment. It ended up being a disaster. Yes, it was a better alternative than nothing, but we know we need our kids back in a classroom so they can make up for the lost year and start feeling that sense of normalcy that was long denied our children. And many of them ended up having hopefully short-term and not long-term impacts on their own mental health because of that isolation and separation.

But we had an opportunity back in May when 12 to 17 year olds were authorized by the CDC, and ultimately New York State, to be vaccinated. Now this goes back to May. This tool has been out there for months, knowing that kids would have the summer they'd be back in school in the fall. And there was a vulnerability created. Maybe back in May people thought, well, the virus is almost over, my child doesn't need it. We're going to get through this. And then the Delta variant just skyrocketed the number of cases because of the Delta variant. And as you're seeing cases all over America, the children are the ones getting sick.

It's like putting your kids in a car on a busy highway with no seatbelt. A young inexperienced driver and saying, good luck, good luck. You're out there. Good luck. I'm sure you'll be fine. We, as parents cannot do anything to endanger our children and keeping them unvaccinated during a global pandemic, which is not over yet, my friends, is something I can't comprehend as a parent. And I'm calling all parents to understand that, yes, if you needed more time to make sure that it was safe to see other people had gone forth. Look at your own state. We have over 13.5 million people vaccinated with at least one dose, 12 million with both doses and many, many young people.

But our numbers for this age group, about 54% statewide, and I know they're lower in this zip code.

So to increase the vaccination rate, I'm appealing to people personally, but also, we're hitting the road. We're taking vans out there. I announced a couple of weeks ago -we announced a 'vax to school' campaign, and we're targeting the communities with low vaccination rates, among young people, particularly communities of color.

And we set up a webpage for parents. We set up all kinds of information, and I also said, we're going to bring popups, so we'll make it so easy on you. And that's what you see behind me. And I want to thank our friends here on the ground for being willing to host this. And we're going to have over 120 sites and vans all over the state to make sure that parents, first of all, visibly see how easy this. And in partnership with the schools, let's get the parental consent forms in the hands of parents, make it normal, make it seem like just another routine, just like you couldn't go to kindergarten without your vaccinations. My friends, we all know that, and this program will run through the fall. And this clinic here is going to be from 11:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. tomorrow.

So, parents: protect your kids. This is the combination of their seatbelt, their bike, helmet, and car seat, everything else that you would do naturally to protect your child. Getting them vaccinated should be just as natural as that. It's safe. It's smart. And you'll not regret it, because I cannot imagine the regret a parent does feel when they had their child unvaccinated, that child gets sick or worse. I'm going to guess as a mom, that's the guilt you do not want to live with.

So I encourage you: Be smart. Come down here, visit our websites, check it out. And I thank everybody who's making sure the school environment is safe from the principals, to the administrators, and the teachers who've gone back and been vaccinated themselves. I hold you out as heroes for what you did last year, remotely, and for the passion that you bring to your jobs to make sure that all of these children, particularly here in New York, because those are the ones I'm concerned about, that they have a best shot at a healthy life. And that we all get through this pandemic together. And it starts in neighborhoods, right like this in central Brooklyn. I want to thank. To the media. Thank you for getting the word out. We need your voice. We need you to ramp this up and let people know that it's not too late. You can still do this. The vaccinations are available. They're free. And they're right here on the ground.

Thank you very much with that. I'd like to introduce a great friend of mine partner in government, Senator Roxanne Persaud.