Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. Of course, I want to talk about the really important announcement yesterday by President Biden, and it's a really hopeful announcement for this city and for this country. But first, last night in the Bronx, I just want to talk about this. One of our police officers, Officer Daniel Vargas, doing the most crucial work, the bravest work, defending us on the streets of the Bronx, part of the Gun Suppression Unit of the NYPD, the cops who go out and get guns off the streets, extraordinarily brave officers who do the most fundamental work of stopping violence – Officer Vargas, out there last night, protecting his fellow Bronxites. He's a proud son of the Bronx, protecting New Yorkers, and shot while doing his job. And, thank God, he's going to be okay. I spent time with him last night, and with his family. Thank God, it looks like he will make a very strong recovery, but a reminder of the absolutely crucial work that our officers do, the bravery they show, and further evidence – and we never want it to be this way, but it's a reminder to all New Yorkers that our officers are out there constantly getting guns off the streets more and more each day, each week. And this is a key part of how we turn the tide and get our city safer as we go through 2021.
So, speaking of getting our city safer, the reality, I'm so pleased to say, is that we're seeing real efforts in Washington D.C. to help us. And, boy, that's a refreshing thing to be able to say, because I couldn't say that for a long time in 2020. We got confusion, and we got backsliding, and we got a lack of owning responsibility, but now we're seeing the exact opposite – President Biden's owning the mission. He is giving us clear, clear indications of where he is going and that he wants to keep upping the bar, making this vaccination effort stronger and stronger all the time. Look, this new leadership is making a difference. We're getting a clear sense of where our country's going, what's going to happen to our supply, additional short-term supply, which we need, but, crucially, the President's decision to go ahead and order 200 million more doses of the vaccine and speed up this process – really good news for all of us. For New York City, what it means immediately, we'll be getting 30 percent more doses of the Moderna vaccine, starting next week. That means about 17,000 more doses each week for us. That means 17,000 more shots of hope, 17,000 more New Yorkers who are safer and are feeling that confidence and that sense of peace that comes with getting vaccinated, even just the first time, and knowing that things are going to be better. So, this is really, really important for us. And when you think about it – again, I'm the first to say, we're going to need a lot more than that, but I'm also really happy to get those 17,000 new doses. And I think about the senior citizens in my life, I think about the folks who work in my neighborhood, who protect all of us. I think of the folks in the grocery store. I think of the folks in the local hospital. I think of all the folks who need the vaccine. We're able to reach so many more because of what the President has done. That's tremendously helpful. And we're going to keep pushing for more beyond that.
Just to give you a sense of where we stand now, as New York City, from the beginning of our vaccination effort, here's today's number – we have vaccinated 673,405 doses. We have provided 673,405 doses of the vaccine, since the beginning. To give you a perspective, that is more people than in the entire city of Detroit, Michigan. And this effort will keep growing so long as we have the supply. Now, what can we do about it? The supply – I've talked about several things that would help us go faster – more supply from the federal government and the manufacturers, more flexibility from the federal government, the State, the ability to use those second doses now that aren't going to be used until – you know, can't be used for weeks. Let's put them into play now. But there's one more thing I want to talk about – the ability of the federal government to use the Defense Production Act to expand production. Remember, Defense Production Act allows the federal government to act as if in wartime and say to private businesses and manufacturers, you're now serving the people, you're going to do what we need you to do 24-seven, whatever it takes. Here's an obvious example, and I hope that the federal government acts forcefully. And you know what, if they do, we can talk about a whole new reality, because we now have proven that we can vaccinate 500,000 – we can give 500,000 doses a week if we had the supply. Let's innovate the new ways all over the country and get that supply in the hands of New York City and cities and towns and counties all over the country, and turn the page.
Okay. Quick point before we go to indicators. So, last night – and I want to thank Katie Honan, of the Journal who suggested on a cold winter night, that'd be a good night for going to outdoor dining. And I didn't have enough time to sit down and really have a full meal, but I did want to patronize one of our restaurants and also emphasize that Restaurant Week is going on, but it's Restaurant Week To Go. So, I went up to Felice 83 on the Upper East Side. This – again, this is the first ever Restaurant Week To Go. And what a great restaurant that is. And they were ready for me, I want to thank the owner, Jacopo Giustiniani, and the manager, Flavio Forgione, for their great work. They have a great, great establishment. Now, they said something interesting last night. I was over there somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 o’clock, 8:30 PM. They said they had already done 100 takeout meals and it was because of Restaurant Week To Go, that there's a really incredible response to this. And so, everyone, look, I know there's people constantly saying, hey, how can I help my fellow New Yorker? What can I do? Here's a simple thing – help our restaurant industry, help our amazing restaurants, help the people who work in them and take advantage of a Restaurant Week To Go. $20 and 21 cents, you'll get an amazing deal. And if you want to see the list of restaurants, go to nycgo.com/restaurantweek.
All right, quickly, our indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 279 patients. And hospitalization rate per 100,000 – 5.15. Number two, current new cases – today's number, 4,621. That's on a seven-day average. Number three, percentage of New York City residents who tested positive, seven-day rolling average – today’s report, 8.08%
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