You are reading

52 Percent of NYC Public School Students Are Fully Vaccinated, Check Your School’s Rate Here.

School vaccination rates across NYC vary from only 12% to 94%, data released Friday show. Above, James Gisondi brought his 12-year-old daughter Johanna Fonte to get vaccinated at Lehman High School in the Bronx. Christina Veiga / Chalkbeat


This article was originally published by Chalkbeat New York on Feb. 28
BY

Just over half of New York City public school students are fully vaccinated, according to data the education department released Friday.

In total, 59 percent of the city’s public school students have received at least one vaccine dose and nearly 52 percent are considered fully vaccinated.

The information is required under City Council law, and includes a breakdown of school-level vaccination rates and the number of students who have consented to in-school COVID testing. Updates will be shared every two weeks. The figures don’t include charter schools.

The data show that there are wide disparities by school and neighborhood. Schools in Brooklyn’s District 23, which includes Ocean Hill, Brownsville and parts of East New York, had the lowest rates of vaccination, with just 38 percent of students receiving at least one dose. Districts 16, which includes a significant chunk of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and 18, which includes Flatbush and Canarsie, both had vaccination rates of 43 percent. On Staten Island, the rate is 47 percent.

“In the coming months, we are working with our partner health care agencies on an outreach campaign to encourage vaccination in the communities with the lowest rates,” education department spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said in a statement.

Manhattan’s District 2 has the highest vaccination rate, with 80 percent of students receiving at least one dose. That district spans much of Lower Manhattan, some of Chinatown, and the Upper East Side. Not far behind: District 3 in Manhattan, which includes the Upper West Side and part of Harlem, at 77 percent. Next is District 26 in Bayside, Queens, where 74 percent of students have at least one dose.

At nearly 250 of the city’s schools, fewer than a third of students have received at least one dose. Out of the city’s nearly 1,600 district schools, the share of students who have been vaccinated with at least one dose ranges from just 12 percent to 94 percent.

The city had previously released information about vaccination rates among children, but had not provided data specific to public students or where they go to school.

Nationally, about 26 percent of children ages 5-11 are fully vaccinated and 57 percent of those 12-17 are, according to a New York Times database. Children ages 5-11 became eligible for the vaccine in November; children under 5 are still ineligible.

Public health experts say that information is important to weigh as the state considers whether to lift a mandate to wear masks in schools. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she will wait until after the mid-winter recess to make a decision. She has said she will weigh a combination of factors, including the positivity rate, vaccination rates, and hospital capacity. On Friday, New York City announced that students will no longer have to wear masks while outside on school grounds, including while playing school-sponsored sports.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Lawmakers secure federal funding to combat flooding in Queens after impact of Hurricane Ida and other storms

U.S. Congresswomen Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, announced on Jan. 7 that President Joe Biden has signed their legislation into law to address severe flooding in Queens.

The measure aims to mitigate future disasters like those caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021, which inundated the borough with record-shattering rainfall.

East Elmhurst senior arrested for stalking 12-year-old girl in broad daylight: NYPD

Police from the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights did not have far to go to locate a senior who allegedly stalked a 12-year-old girl in broad daylight in East Elmhurst.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6, a bearded older man approached a young girl as she walked along 81st Street near 31st Avenue. He grabbed her hand, but the girl managed to pull away. Undeterred, the man followed her and grabbed her hand a second time before eventually heading north on 81st Street, according to police. The girl was not injured during the incident.