In April, 1947 New York City faced a terrifying smallpox outbreak. 23 days later the City had vaccinated 6 million people.

We need to massively ramp up our COVID-19 vaccination.

We did it in 1947. We can do it now. A thread on how. 1/

So far NYC is averaging 40k covid vaccine doses per week. To get to herd immunity by mid-2021 we need to be doing at least 400k/week. (including 1st & 2nd doses)

We need a 1947-level mobilization to make this happen. 2/

In the 1947 smallpox outbreak the federal gov’t was largely MIA on the organization, planning, and administration of vaccination. (Sound familiar?) New York City was on its own then, but we rallied. 3/

In 1947 the smallpox vaccine was distributed not just out of hospitals but Health Dept clinics, public and parochial schools, police and fire stations, community centers, union halls, and more. 4/

In 1947 many vaccination sites were open 24/7. (By contrast covid vaccination so far in NYC is almost exclusively being done during business hours, with few done on weekends and almost none on holidays.) 5/

In 1947 the City enlisted an army of 1000s of workers for the vaccination program, drawing not just from the Health Dept but other City agencies, contracted health care professions, and many volunteers from the general population. 6/

Handling covid vaccines is of course vastly more difficult than dealing with the smallpox vaccine.

That argues for a robust City role in vaccination, because with the right commitment and resources it can bring the scale needed for this huge logistical challenge 7/

NYC should set up 100s of points of distribution (PODs) for covid vaccination in school gymnasiums, community centers, houses of worship, and public housing complexes. 8/

There will be many roles in the PODs which don’t require specialized medical training. (like signing people in, or managing lines). Why not hire young people or NYers out of work for these jobs? It could serve as a launching pad into the world of public health careers. 9/

The City should also offer logistical support to enable vaccination by smaller private providers like community clinics. This could include providing freezers, disposable supplies, IT system for scheduling/tracking, and specialized staff as needed (e.g. pharmacy techs). 10/

Does all this sound too ambitious? The NYC Health Dept has a plan on the shelf for emergency response to a bioterror attack such as anthrax. It calls for delivering antibiotics to the entire NYC population in **72 hours**. (in part by mobilizing 1000s of City workers). 11/

Yes implementing a mass-scale covid vaccination program would be extremely expensive. SO WHAT?!? Lives are on the line. And every week we shorten this pandemic is worth billions of dollars in economic activity. 12/

To recap: NYC doesn’t need an unprecedented mobilization on covid vaccination. Because there *is* a precedent in smallpox 1947.

We do need a massive investment of resources and energy to increase our current vaccination rate by 10x.

We did it before. We can do it again. 13/13

Learn more about NYC’s epic response to the 1947 smallpox outbreak, and the visionary leadership of Israel Weinstein, the health commissioner at the time: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/nyregion/nyc-smallpox-vaccine.html

Another piece of the history here! https://twitter.com/JamesSantelli/status/1346281090701524992?s=20