He hopes it’s a shot heard ’round the borough!
Staten Island Councilman Joe Borelli tweeted Friday that he’s enrolled himself in a coronavirus vaccine trial — and that he hopes going public with news will encourage New Yorkers to get immunized as the shots become widely available later this year.
“I thought I’d make a good test dummy,” the Republican pol told The Post.
Borelli has been criticized by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Staten Island Borough President Jimmy Oddo — a fellow Republican — for criticizing and disobeying restrictions imposed on the borough over the coronavirus outbreak there.
Staten Island accounts for roughly a quarter of the COVID-19 deaths in the five boroughs over the last month, despite having just 5 percent of the Big Apple’s population.
“It will take a number of people to get vaccinated for our lives to get back to normal,” he said, responding to the criticism. “So, at least people, if they’re yelling at me, know that I’ve put my own self on the firing life.”
Borelli said he was asked not to provide the name of the company doing the trial.
The city lawmaker was not the only politician to sign up for a vaccine trial during the pandemic.
State Sen. Brad Holyman (D-Manhattan) also received a jab as part of the trials for Pfizer’s vaccine, which is on the cusp of federal approval.