Manhattan Surpasses 25% Vaccination Rate, Leading NYC

NEW YORK, NY — Manhattan reached a milestone this week in its coronavirus vaccine rollout: more than a quarter of the borough's 1.6 million residents have now gotten at least one shot.

The borough hit the 25 percent threshold on Wednesday, the first borough to cross that mark, according to the city's data. By Thursday, it had grown to 27 percent, while Staten Island had also reached 25 percent.

Despite being less hard-hit by COVID-19 than boroughs like the Bronx and Queens, Manhattan has consistently led the five boroughs in vaccination rates since the city began releasing geographic data last month.

That includes especially affluent neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, where 26 percent of residents in one ZIP code were fully vaccinated by Thursday — the highest in the borough.

Manhattan has also achieved its high rates despite being the only borough without a mass-vaccination site that serves its residents exclusively.

Elected officials from the borough have pushed the city to open such a site in Manhattan, saying large hubs like the Javits Center, which are open to people from across the state, are often too busy to accommodate locals.

Citywide, 20 percent of New Yorkers had gotten at least one shot by Thursday, with the Bronx trailing among the five boroughs at 18 percent.

Asian New Yorkers have gotten vaccinated at the highest rate — 23 percent — followed by 21 percent for whites, and 11 percent for both Black and Latino residents.