Number of First Vaccinations Increase 80% Since July, Due to Mandates, Incentives

     Although New York City saw a brief lull in its vaccination rate earlier in the summer, last week, the city’s COVID vaccination drive revved back up: when more than 104,000 New Yorkers received their first shot.

     The city’s vaccination surge, which is 82% higher than it was in July and has increased for the third week in a row is, many feel, the result of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s requirements, mandates, and incentives.

     For instance, this summer, the mayor has required the city’s more than 300,000 municipal employees to get vaccinated or face weekly testing, offered $100 debit cards and many other goodies, such as pre-paid Metro cards and tickets to entertainment and sporting events, to anyone who gets their shots at a city-run clinics, and strongly suggested many indoor businesses to require proof of vaccination for employees and customers.

     When asked this morning, about what the mayor has so far discussed with Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who will become New York’s governor on Aug. 24, he said the together, they both felt the priorities for the city and that state were, “fighting the Delta variant and bringing our city and state back.

     “We said, you know, 'We have a lot of work to do together, and we need to do it in a collegial fashion.'”

     This morning, the mayor also said that he “feels pretty good about” the 4.7 million New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated and the 5.2 million who have had at least one dose: a number that shows that more than 60% of the city has had one shot, and more than 70% of adults are fully vaccinated.

     “So, those are good numbers, and they keep climbing,” said the mayor, who said he would provide an update on vaccine incentives later today. “The incentives are clearly working. The mandates are starting to have an impact.

     Today’s hospitalization rate, which is the indicator on which the mayor said he will be focusing on the most, is 1.04 per 100,000: a number the mayor said is “higher than it was a few weeks ago, but still well within the range that we need to be in.”

     Also, Mayor de Blasio said that those who now hospitalized, who are mostly unvaccinated, with COVID “are having better outcomes than what we've ever seen previously.” 

     The mayor added that he “doesn’t like one bit” that the city currently has 1,650 patients who have COVID, but that that is “a situation we can handle.

     “The number one thing is vaccinations. We're making some more progress.”

 Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.