Crunching the numbers COVID-19: Virus cases on the rise in areas of New York where less than half of people are vaccinated

Six of New York City’s 10 zip codes with the highest COVID-19 positivity rates over the past week have had less than half of their population vaccinated against it, according to the latest data from the Department of Health. the virus.

The latest figures come as the Delta variant continues to spread across the city, accounting for more than a quarter of all new COVID-19 cases reported in the five boroughs in the past four weeks. The variant, considered to be more contagious and potent than standard COVID-19, poses a particularly serious risk to the health of unvaccinated individuals.

The vaccines available – either the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine or the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna sera – are effective against the Delta variant of COVID-19 and other forms of the virus. Although even vaccinated people can still contract COVID-19, the antibodies built up in their immune system from the vaccine are effective in preventing serious and potentially fatal symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 99% of all deaths from COVID-19 in June in the United States involve unvaccinated people.

Over the past week, Cypress Hills and East New York, Brooklyn (zip code 11208) recorded the most new cases of COVID-19 in New York City, with 33 reported between July 1 and July 7, resulting in a positivity rate of 2.89% over 7 days. . But the city’s health department also reported that only 44% of eligible residents in the community had received a dose of the vaccine, and only 39% of residents are fully immunized.

Likewise, four areas of Staten Island in the city’s list of the city’s top 10 7-day COVID-19 positivity rates also had vaccination rates entirely below 50%.

Yet the Top 10 list also includes two neighborhoods where the full vaccination rate exceeded 60%: City Island, Bronx (10,464, 4.35% 7-day positivity, 3 new cases, 61% full vaccination) and Douglaston / Little Neck, Queens (11,363, 3.45% positivity at 7 days, 2 new cases, 69% fully vaccinated).

Sample sizes, however, were small for these and other areas listed in COVID-19 test data from July 1-7, as the Department of Health reported many of them failed to provide. an adequate test sample. In other words, not enough people in these areas received a COVID-19 test to provide a more accurate picture of the spread of the virus over the period.

Nonetheless, the city’s health service reported that 24 neighborhoods in the five arrondissements had a full vaccination rate of less than 40% as of July 11. Edgemere / Far Rockaway, Queens (11691) has the lowest rate in the entire city, with 32% full vaccination. and 36% of residents who received a dose. Ironically, however, the region only had four new cases and a 0.53% 7-day positivity rate between July 1 and July 7, one of the lowest in the entire city.

In total, nearly 4.4 million New Yorkers are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Manhattan continues to have the highest percentage of fully vaccinated residents of any borough at 64%, followed by Queens at 58%, Staten Island at 49%, Brooklyn at 46% and the Bronx at 43%.