Brownsville School District Is The Least Vaccinated In NYC: Data

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — Only just over a third of students in Brownsville's school district have gotten vaccinated against the coronavirus, the lowest rate in the city, according to new data released by the Department of Education.

Only 38 percent of students in District 23 — which also includes Ocean Hill and parts of East New York — had gotten at least one dose of the vaccine as of Friday, the lowest rate among all of the city's school districts, the data shows.

The low vaccine rate, first reported on by Chalkbeat, compares to 59 percent of public school students citywide who have received at least one vaccine dose. In the district with the highest vaccine rate, Manhattan's District 2, 80 percent of students had gotten their first shot, according to the data.

Education officials have promised to work on increasing vaccination in those districts with low rates.

"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 to Chalkbeat.

The new data, released under City Council requirements, comes as New York City officials consider lifting the mask mandate in schools. Mayor Eric Adams has said he will make the decision by March 4.

Students will be allowed to go mask-free outdoors only starting next week.

Brownsville's District 23 isn't the only Brooklyn district where vaccination rates remain low.

District 16 in Bed-Stuy and District 18 in Flatbush both had rates of 43 percent, according to the data, which will be updated every two weeks.

Parts of Brooklyn have consistently had some of the lowest vaccine rates in the city. As of Tuesday, the rate of residents of all ages who had gotten at least one dose in the neighborhood's ZIP codes ranged from 68 percent in 11233 and 99 percent in the small 11239 ZIP code, data shows.

On a school level, nearly 250 of the city's schools have fewer than a third of its students receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. The data did not include charter schools.