Harlem's Vaccine Rates Below Average As Virus Holds Steady

HARLEM, NY — Harlem residents have gotten vaccinated at lower rates than the citywide average and the neighborhood's coronavirus rates have remained mostly steady in recent weeks, according to the latest city data.

Across the city, 37 percent of New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of Harlem's eight ZIP codes, however, all but one — 10035 in East Harlem — are below that rate.

Meanwhile, the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive has not declined steeply in the neighborhood despite the vaccine rollout.

While all eight Harlem ZIP codes have lower positivity rates than they did during the post-holiday surge in January, most saw little change between February and late March, testing data shows.

Positivity rates in all eight ZIP codes were between 3.69 and 7.96 percent for the week that ended on March 27. Most of those ZIP codes had already recorded lower rates earlier this winter before ticking back up again more recently.

Those trends are in keeping with what experts have dubbed a "high plateau" in New York City — consistently high virus rates, even as vaccinations ramp up and other parts of the country see declines.

The data suggests that the city's second wave "never really ended," the New York Times reported last week. More contagious variants which now make up a majority of the city's cases are partly to blame.

By mid-May, once vaccinations have become more widespread, virus cases may finally decline, experts have said.

Latest Harlem vaccine data

• 10026 – Central Harlem (South): 34 percent received one dose, 20 percent fully vaccinated
• 10027 – Central Harlem (South)/Morningside Heights/West Harlem: 33 percent received one dose, 19 percent fully vaccinated
• 10029 – East Harlem: 36 percent received one dose, 22 percent fully vaccinated
• 10030 – Central Harlem (North): 28 percent received one dose, 16 percent fully vaccinated
• 10031 – Hamilton Heights/West Harlem: 34 percent received one dose, 21 percent fully vaccinated
• 10035 – East Harlem: 39 percent received one dose, 23 percent fully vaccinated
• 10037 – Central Harlem (North)/East Harlem: 32 percent received one dose, 20 percent fully vaccinated
• 10039 – Central Harlem (North)/Washington Heights (South): 27 percent received one dose, 16 percent fully vaccinated

The vaccine rollout has sparked complaints in East Harlem in particular, which has been Manhattan's hardest-hit neighborhood by COVID-19.

Neighborhood leaders took aim at the city last week, saying East Harlem had not been adequately prioritized for the vaccine given its high death rates from COVID-19.

In fact, East Harlem residents are getting vaccinated at higher rates than those in Central and West Harlem, the data shows. Still, its vaccine rates remain lower than on the neighboring Upper East Side, which leads the pack in Manhattan.