Yankee Stadium will officially open its doors as a COVID-19 vaccination site for Bronx residents this Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

The Yankees reached out months before the vaccine was administered to be a site for mass vaccination, and the city announced that it would be one of their host locations back in January.

"It's abundantly clear that Black, Latino and poor communities have been hit the hardest by COVID, and the Bronx is no exception," Cuomo said in a statement. "Our efforts to target vaccinations by locations with higher positivity rates have been working to not only keep the infection rate down, but to help ensure equity in our vaccine distribution process, and opening a mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium - the Bronx's most iconic landmark - is the perfect solution to helping this borough get vaccinated and defeat COVID once and for all."

Mayor de Blasio added:

“Yankee Stadium has always been known for its World Series banners, but now it'll be recognized as a place where the people of the surrounding community in the Bronx can receive the vaccine doses that they need and deserve. This is about justice and standing up for the neighborhoods that were hardest hit by COVID-19."

As of Jan. 12, the Bronx had the sixth-highest coronavirus death toll among counties in the U.S. at 5,208, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.

“The New York Yankees recognize the devastating effect COVID-19 has had on our borough, and it is our privilege to have Yankee Stadium as a host site for providing vaccines to Bronx residents,” the Yankees said. “These vaccinations will make an immediate difference in improving the health of our local community — which has been so overwhelmed by this pandemic — and we extend our appreciation to all those involved with bringing this effort to fruition, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, the State of New York, Mayor Bill De Blasio, the City of New York and SOMOS Community Care. We will do whatever is needed to make this a success."

Across town, Citi Field will also be serving as a host site for the vaccinations in the near future.

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