Fort Greene Kids Are Less Vaccinated Than Other NYC Areas: Data

BROOKLYN, NY — Public school students in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have mostly been vaccinated against COVID-19, but at rates lower than the rest of the city, recently-released Department of Education data shows.

In the neighborhood's 13 public schools 56.5 percent of students have gotten at least one vaccine dose, amounting to 8,004 students in total, according to DOE data showing the vaccination rate among eligible students at each of the city's nearly 1,500 schools.

That's slightly lower than the citywide average of 59.3 percent, according to the data, which was released Friday and reflects vaccination rates as of Feb. 22.

The neighborhood's vaccination numbers, however, slightly exceed the vaccination rate in Brooklyn's District 13, which encompasses Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Heights, and Downtown Brooklyn: about 54 percent of students in the district have gotten at least one vaccine dose, data shows.

While public school students in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have mostly been vaccinated against COVID-19, rates at local schools still range from over 90 percent to under one-third vaccinated.

The most-vaccinated school in the area is Brooklyn Technical High School, where 91.6 percent of the 5,922 students, who are in grades 8 through 12, have gotten at least one vaccine dose, according to the city.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, P.S. 067 — located on St. Edwards Street across Fort Greene Park from Brooklyn Technical High School — is the neighborhoods' least-vaccinated school: only 27.5 percent of kids at this Pre-K-through-5 school have gotten a vaccine dose, the data shows.

"New York City led the way ensuring every adult in our buildings is vaccinated, mandating vaccinations for students participating in high-risk activities, and hosting clinics in schools where over 50,000 students received life-saving vaccines," DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said when the data was released on Friday.

"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."

Officials also announced Friday that New York City public school students could go mask-free outdoors starting this week.

See a breakdown of the vaccination data at Fort Greene and Clinton Hill's public schools here:

Patch editor Nick Garber contributed to this report.