Forest Hills Fares Better In Vaccine Rates Borough-Wide: Data

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — As COVID-19 cases rise and mask recommendations come back, Forest Hills residents may be asking themselves what the vaccine rates are looking like in the area.

The answer: Better than expected.

Citywide, only 12 percent of residents have received new, bivalent COVID boosters, city data shows.

In Forest Hills, that number jumps to 19.5 percent.

Bivalent booster rates are at about 10 percent in Queens, similar to Brooklyn, but much lower than Manhattan's 23 percent rate.

Eastern Queens has weathered better compared to the rest of the neighborhoods in the borough. The sector encompassing southern Astoria, Long Island City, and Sunnyside marked a 21.5 percent bivalent booster rate.

Other neighborhoods with high booster rates include Bayside (15 percent), Flushing/Murray Hill (14.3 percent), and Ditmars Steinway (14 percent).

Neighborhoods in Southeastern Queens showed strikingly low rates, including Jamaica, Richmond Hill/South Ozone Park, and Queens Village, which all hovered just above 5 percent.

Last week, the state announced new guidance for bivalent COVID-19 booster doses, which are now available for eligible children down to 6 months of age. The updated boosters target the original virus strain and recently circulating variants, and are recommended for young New Yorkers and all those eligible.

To find a booster location near you, visit vaccinefinder.nyc.gov.