NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has prevented thousands of cases of the virus and kept more than 8,000 people from dying so far, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, citing the results of a new analysis.
A Yale University study found that the five boroughs’ vaccine rollout had prevented more than 44,000 COVID-19-related hospitalizations, 252,000 cases and 8,300 fatalities as of July 1, de Blasio said at a news briefing Wednesday morning.
Nearly 99% of the New York City residents who died of complications related to COVID-19 between Jan. 1 and June 15 — 8,069 out of 8,163 — and 98.4% of those who were hospitalized with the virus — 36,628 out of 37,211 — were not fully vaccinated, the health department said in a press release.
“Today we have new evidence, from a powerful source, of just how much impact this vaccination effort has made, and it is a tribute to the vaccinators, it is a tribute to the health care heroes,” de Blasio said.
“We are everyday telling people how crucial it is to get vaccinated, but this study is going to help us, not just look at what happened and what it tells us for future challenges, it’s going to help us right now,” he added.
While more than 4.3 million New Yorkers are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, those who aren’t “are still at risk of COVID-19 and potentially severe outcomes like hospitalization and death,” the health department’s release noted.
In a statement, Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi assured New York City residents that vaccines are “safe and astonishingly effective at protecting you and your loved ones.”
“Our city has been through too much suffering to allow hospitalizations and death to needlessly continue,” he said. “The stakes are so high, and we simply cannot emphasize enough how urgent it is for New Yorkers to get vaccinated.”
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