Manhattan leads the way in COVID-19 vaccines
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
More than 4 million New York City
residents are now fully vaccinated
against COVID-19, according
to the city’s Health Department — but that
numbers accounts only for about 41% of
the city’s entire population.
While the vaccination effort remains
brisk since the fi rst New Yorker received
a dose back on Dec. 14, 2020, both
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew
Cuomo have acknowledged it will
take an increased, incentive-laden effort
to get more residents inoculated against
the potentially deadly virus, and bring the
pandemic to an end.
Of the fi ve boroughs, Manhattan stands
out as the citywide leader in vaccinations.
The Health Department reports that 61%
of the island’s population has received at
least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,
and 53% of residents are now considered
fully vaccinated.
To be considered fully vaccinated, a
person must have received either the oneand
done Johnson & Johnson vaccine or
both doses of either the Pfi zer or Moderna
vaccines, which are administered 21 to 28
days apart.
Manhattan’s fi rst dose and fully vaccinated
rates exceed the citywide average of
A couple receives free vaccinations for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
during the opening of the MTA’s public vaccination program where rail
customers also receive free rail passes at Grand Central Station Terminal
train station in Manhattan.
49% with at least one dose and 41% fully
vaccinated. To date, Queens is the only
other borough which exceeds the citywide
averages (54% with at least one dose, 43%
fully vaccinated).
Across the city, the fully vaccinated rates
PHOTO BY REUTERS/CARLO ALLEGRI
in each ZIP code range from as little as
23% to as high as 83%.
Manhattan’s Financial District (ZIP
code 10004) boasts both the highest singledose
and fully vaccinated rates in both the
borough and the entire city. The city’s
Health Department says that 100% of the
vaccine-eligible population have received at
least one dose, while 83% of them are now
fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, six communities in New
York City did not report a single new case
of COVID-19 over the last week, including
two areas of the Financial District (10004
and 10005) and Tribeca (10007) in Manhattan.
City Island and Hunts Point in the
Bronx (10464 and 10474, respectively)
and the Arverne/Broad Channel area of
Queens (11693) also had zero new COVID
19 cases.
State Health Department data that the
Governor’s offi ce released on Saturday continued
to underscore the declining number
of COVID-19 cases in New York City. The
state reported that the fi ve boroughs had a
7-day positivity rate of 0.75%, though 495
of the 1,347 new COVID-19 positive test
results (36.7%) that the state received on
May 22 came from New York City.
Sadly, 10 New York City residents
died of COVID-19 on Saturday — six in
Brooklyn and two each in Manhattan and
Staten Island.
Meanwhile, you can get a COVID-19
vaccine in New York City without an appointment
at any of the city’s vaccination
hubs. Visit vaccinefi nder.nyc.gov to fi nd a
location near you.
NYC subways hit another pandemic ridership high
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Little by little, New Yorkers continue
to return to the rails as the city’s
recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic
continues.
The MTA announced on Friday that
more than 2.3 million people rode the
subway last Friday, May 21 — another new
pandemic record that also represented a
week-over-week ridership growth of about
100,000 riders. That happened two days
after most COVID-19 restrictions in New
York City were lifted, and four days after
24-hour subway service was restored for
the fi rst time in more than a year.
But the MTA still has a long way to go
before returning to pre-pandemic ridership
levels.
The 2,330,089 subway trips recorded on
May 21 represent about 42% of the 5.5 million
daily subway rides before COVID-19
was fi rst offi cially detected in New York
City on March 1, 2020. Within weeks of
the fi rst diagnosis, all non-essential business
had stopped — and subway ridership
plummeted by more than 90%.
Passengers ride aboard the MTA’s New York City Transit subway, in New York,
U.S., May 3, 2021.
As the city’s mass transit system
crawls toward recovery, however, the
PHOTO BY REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID
MTA’s bridges and tunnels are now back
to pre-pandemic levels. On May 21, the
MTA recorded 965,528 vehicles using
its nine crossings, which represents the
highest number recorded since Feb. 14,
2020.
Moreover, the MTA says that the city
also logged on May 21 1,182,899 bus trips
and 4,258 rides on the Staten Island Railway
— resulting in 3,517,246 total trips on
New York City Transit.
The commuter rails are also seeing a
ridership uptick, according to the MTA.
On May 21, 110,000 customers rode the
Long Island Rail Road and another 94,500
people took Metro-North Railroad; both
figures also represent new pandemic
records.
Still, acting MTA New York City Transit
President Sarah Feinberg expressed optimism
that the best is yet to come for the
subways.
“This new record shows people are returning
to their everyday lives and returning
to the subway for their community needs,”
Feinberg said. “There is more progress to
be made, more milestones ahead, but we are
very encouraged to see this trend continue
into the summer.”
Schneps Media May 27, 2021 3
/nder.nyc.gov
