COVID medical unit opens at Astoria Houses

The Floating Hospital will operate a COVID vaccination and testing center at Astoria Houses, Governor Kathy Hochul, Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday, April 14, 2022.

Photo via NYCHA/Twitter

By Rachel Vick

Residents of the Astoria Houses are getting additional access to free COVID-19 testing and vaccines, local lawmakers and community organizations announced Thursday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney joined local leaders and electeds to celebrate the temporary addition to the New York City Housing Authority development, which lacks access to COVID care.

​​"We need to make sure New York's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is inclusive, equitable and fair,” Hochul said. "That's why it's so important to have sites like this new medical care unit at the Astoria Houses, bringing much-needed resources and services to communities that had been left behind for far too long.”

The temporary medical care unit is made from 40-foot-long repurposed shipping containers — designed by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and The Tuchman Foundation — and will be operated by the Floating Hospital on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"These mobile medical units are an innovative solution to a very complex problem, which is what we are all about at NJIT,” said Dr. Oya I. Tukel, the dean of the Martin Tuchman School of Management at NJIT. “These units are fabricated from repurposed shipping containers and have proven effective as triage centers in real-world settings. What we are particularly proud of, in this instance, is the collaboration that took place that brought this approach into existence in response to a global problem.”

There is only one permanent vaccination site within half a mile of the Astoria Houses and two permanent vaccination sites in the 11102 zip code — where COVID-19 rates have been higher than both the borough and city averages.

The zip code also has higher than average COVID-related death rates, according to city data.

“The Floating Hospital is one of the oldest charitable hospitals and this is a great tool you have given to us… that is so important to this community,” said Cynthia Davis, the community outreach director for The Floating Hospital. “Here at Astoria Houses, we are here in your good times in your bad times.”