City-run COVID-19 vaccination sites began offering doses of the vaccine for children 6 months through 5 years of age Wednesday morning across the five boroughs.
The shots are being offered at 10 city vaccine hubs, — including Times Square, the Queens Center Mall, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and Empire Outlets — where the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will be available.
Registration for the shots at city-run vaccination sites began Tuesday, though walk-ins are also welcome, according to city health officials.
Both Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan toured the Times Square city-run vaccination facility Wednesday morning, where NY1 reporter Alyssa Paolicelli captured the moment a toddler received her first dose of the vaccine.
The milestone comes as the city downgraded its COVID-19 alert level to "medium,” and as the Broadway League announced theaters will adopt a mask optional policy starting next month.
The city had been at a "high" alert level since May 17.
Privately run vaccine sites, like Montefiore’s Comprehensive Family Care Center in the Bronx, started offering the shot to the youngest New Yorkers Tuesday.
The Pfizer vaccine will also be available at non-city sites to children six months and above, according to the mayor’s office.
The FDA on Friday authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as 6 months old. On Saturday, a panel of independent advisers to the CDC unanimously voted to recommend the shots for kids under 5.
FDA reviewers said both brands’ vaccines appear to be safe and effective for children as young as 6 months old, and that side effects, including fever and fatigue, were generally minor in both, and less common than seen in adults.