New York, Jan 5 (IANS): New York City officials plan to administer 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of January, as the city starts to vaccinate communities hit hard by the virus after front-line health workers and first responders, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the goal was attainable, although challenging, adding that 250 vaccination sites inside school gyms, community health centers and at some facilities currently used for testing the virus, will be used, said a report published in the Journal on Saturday, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The mayor said support from the federal and state governments is also essential, including additional authorization to inject those who are in groups of different priority for getting vaccinated.

"We need to go into overdrive now. We need every day to speed up and reach more people," he said.

So far, the city has administered a fraction of the vaccines it has received since being granted authorization in mid-December, 2020. As of December 31, the city has administered 88,410 doses of the more than 430,000 it has received, according to official data. The priority has been among health-care workers, and most vaccine doses have been given at local hospitals and nursing homes, officials said.

It could take months to get doses for the more than 8 million residents, which would mark the largest vaccine distribution in the city's history, said de Blasio.

As of Sunday afternoon, coronavirus deaths added up to 25,244 and confirmed cases to 439,921 in NYC, according to The City, a project that tracks the spread of confirmed Covid-19 infections and fatalities in New York City, based on information provided by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, among other sources.