Hundreds of New Yorkers took to vaccination site after Facebook post said there were more than 400 spare injections

• A post on Facebook said there were over 400 additional doses of the vaccine available in New York City for walk-in appointments that had to be used by 7 p.m.

• Swarms of New Yorkers lined up at the Brooklyn Grand Army Terminal to search for the vaccine, but officials said there was not enough for walk-in people.

• The mayor’s office told Insider the city has a “variety” of ways to ensure that excess doses are used, and added that this vaccination site is open 24 hours a day.

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Related: What It’s Like To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine

Crowds of New Yorkers rushed to a vaccination site in Brooklyn after a Facebook post on Thursday afternoon said there were spare COVID-19 injections that needed to be used quickly.

A post that read: “PLEASE SHARE: We need to dispense over 410 doses over the next 4 hours at Brooklyn Army Terminal (by 7:00 p.m.), taking anyone from the community aged 18 and over, without an appointment or sooner than expected “has been shared and reposted in parent groups and other Facebook circles.

But as crowds descended on the Brooklyn Army Terminal by car and on foot, the mayor’s office tweeted that the shots are only for people with dates, and the Facebook post was a “fake. “rumor.

At the same time, however, people in the queue, including Insider deputy editor Hannah Freedman, who arrived around 5 p.m., said they were told about the walk-in tours. were an option, and were directed into a separate queue for alternate plans. This line eventually broke when medics and police came down saying there was no more gunfire.

Mixed messages

About 500 people lined up at the Brooklyn Army Terminal around 5 p.m., wrote author and columnist Jessica Valenti in a tweet that has since been deleted.

Another Twitter user, Stephen Lurie, posted a video of people lining up at Brooklyn Army. He wrote that it looked like over 400 people were there and a security guard was telling people to go home, but they asked for more information and refused to leave.

The story continues

Bill Neidhardt, press secretary to Mayor Bill de Blasio, decided to shut down the quick-release information on Twitter, writing in a tweet that the mayor’s office would send someone to clarify the line.

New York City Councilor Justin Brannan also tweeted, urging New Yorkers to move away from Brooklyn Army Terminal.

Brannan told Insider in an email that the claim for additional vaccines was “100% BOGUS.”

The New York City Mayor’s Office confirmed to Insider that there is no official waiting list for people who are not in priority groups to get their shots before the scheduled date. Vaccination sites work with municipal authorities to reach eligible citizens so that no dose is wasted.

The Brooklyn Army Terminal is also a 24/7 vaccination site, so thawing leftover vaccines at the end of the day was not a problem there.

“The city has a variety of ways to use doses,” a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said, adding that vaccination sites are working with city authorities to reach eligible citizens so that no dose is is wasted.

Currently, the city is vaccinating its healthcare workers, nursing home residents, grocery store workers, first responders and transit workers, as well as teachers, people living or working. in homeless shelters or group homes and anyone over 65.

To make an appointment, New Yorkers in priority groups can use the city’s online registration form or call 877-VAX-4NYC.

Hilary Brueck contributed reporting.

Read the original article on Business Insider