Harlem Kids Are Less Vaccinated Than Rest Of NYC, New Data Shows

HARLEM, NY — Public school students in Harlem have mostly been vaccinated against COVID-19, but at rates lower than the rest of the city, according to newly released data.

For the first time, the Department of Education released data on Friday showing vaccination rates among students age 5 and older at each of the city's nearly 1,500 schools, broken down by school district.

In Central Harlem's District 5, about 54.6 percent of students have gotten at least one vaccine dose, or 8,071 students in total. That's slightly lower than the citywide average of 59.3 percent, according to the data, which reflects vaccination rates as of Feb. 22.

Rates are slightly higher in East Harlem's District 4, where 62.7 percent of students have gotten at least one shot.

The data suggests that Harlem's children are lagging adults when it comes to getting vaccinated: about 89 percent of Harlem adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose. (The vaccine only became available in November for children ages 5 to 11.)

Harlem's school districts also trail far behind some neighboring districts' vaccination rates. Three-quarters of students in the Upper West Side's District 3 have gotten at least one shot, while Lower Manhattan's District 2 has an 80 percent vaccination rate among its students — the highest in the city.

That discrepancy, too, mirrors the adult data, where Harlem's vaccination rates are several percentage points behind neighborhoods like the Upper West and East sides.

Zooming in more closely, the most-vaccinated Harlem school is the High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City College. About 93.9 percent of the 520 students have gotten at least one vaccine dose at this high school, according to the city.

Not far behind is Central Park East High School, on Madison Avenue and East 106th Street, which has an 89.3 percent vaccination rate, followed by the Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science, and Engineering on West 123rd Street, where 87.9 percent of kids have gotten the shot.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, P.S. 38 Roberto Clemente on East 103rd Street is Harlem's least-vaccinated school: only 23.8 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.