Upper East Side Vaccinations Don't Surge Amid Mandates: Data

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Upper East Side residents have continued to get vaccinated in recent months, but rates have not surged even as students and teachers returned to school and new mandates took effect, data shows.

As of Thursday, about 79 percent of Upper East Side residents had gotten at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine, according to a Patch analysis of city data. At the start of June, that number was about 70 percent.

That makes the Upper East Side one of the city's more heavily vaccinated neighborhoods, though it remains well behind areas like Hell's Kitchen and Flushing, Queens, where virtually all people have gotten a shot.

And while state and local authorities have rolled out a mix of incentives and mandates in an effort to ramp up COVID-19 inoculations, shots have not surged on the Upper East Side since the summer began, the data shows.

The week from July 4-10 had more vaccinations than any other in the past three months, with 1,840 Upper East Side residents getting a shot. Since then, the pace has slowed: just 645 people got a shot in the week that ended Sept. 30.

Other neighborhoods with larger vaccination gaps to close showed more progress. In Harlem, the vaccination rate jumped 18 percentage points, from 47 percent in June to 65 percent by this week, according to another Patch analysis.

That rise coincided with recent mandates like "Key to NYC," requiring proof of vaccination at indoor restaurants, museums and gyms, which took effect Aug. 16 and began enforcement on Sept. 13. Citywide vaccination rates have likewise risen since then.

A statewide vaccine mandate for health workers went into effect Monday, spurring thousands of people to get their shots, while another mandate for city teachers was set to take effect 5 p.m. Friday.

All told, at least 159,964 people across the Upper East Side's five ZIP codes have gotten vaccinated as of Thursday. The 10075 ZIP code — a narrow strip between East 76th and 80th streets — had the highest rate, at about 89 percent. Neighboring 10028, which runs from 80th to 87th streets, was lowest, at 74 percent.

Here's the latest vaccination data for each Upper East Side ZIP code, as of Thursday:

• 10021 — Lenox Hill/Upper East Side: 76 percent first dose received, 72 percent fully vaccinated
• 10028 — Yorkville/Upper East Side: 74 percent first dose received, 70 percent fully vaccinated
• 10065 — Lenox Hill/Upper East Side: 84 percent first dose received, 78 percent fully vaccinated
• 10075 — Lenox Hill/Upper East Side: 89 percent first dose received, 84 percent fully vaccinated
• 10128 — Yorkville/Upper East Side: 79 percent first dose received, 74 percent fully vaccinated